Five Days Apart

by Chris Binchy

In bestselling Irish author Chris Binchy’s first U.S. publication, a lifelong Dublin friendship is strained to breaking when two young men fall in love with the same unforgettable woman. The Irish Independent Review has called Binchy’s writing “wide-ranging, complex, profound, and very satisfying,” and this classic tale of friendship and romance is a perfect showcase of his formidable talent.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Irish Literature

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2010

About the author

Chris Binchy is the author of People Like Us, Open-handed, and The Very Man, which was short-listed for the Irish Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. His aunt was author Maeve Binchy.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dust jacket of "Five Days Apart" invites comparisons to Nick Hornby or Jonthan Tropper. And on one level, there are some similarities there in terms of having a book populated by flawed male protagonists who haven't necessarily grown up just yet.

But that's really where the comparison ends when it comes to "Five Days Apart." We meet David, who for all intents and purposes is a geek. He's brilliant at solving problems and technical issues but he's tongue-tied when it comes to beautiful women. On the other side is his lifelong best friend, Alex who has all the right moves with the ladies but is struggling in the intellectual pursuits. Enter Camille, who David makes eye contact with at a party. Unable to work up the courage to break the ice with her, David asks Alex to help and inadvertently gets Camille and Alex together.

Graduating and taking a good job, David finds new self confidence, but he can't forget Camille. Convinced she's the love of his life, David goes to win her back (or just win her) from Alex.

"Five Days Apart" wants to be an examination of the nuances of male friendships and, at times, it works fairly well. However, the novel ultimately doesn't break any new ground or really deliver the kind of depth of character that is evident in books by Tropper or Hornby. There are some interesting choices made my various characters but none of it feels authentic enough to sustain much interest. In the end, I kept reading more to find out if what I predicted would happen would come to pass rather than any genuine interest in the characters.

A missed opportunity.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just read all the negative reviews on this book and I'll say "ditto". Really pointless and depressing. Not one attractive character in the entire book. The worst is the 'vacation' that David treats himself to. Dismal.

[cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't enjoy giving negative reviews. I took enough education courses to want to find something to praise in every book. Unfortunately, this one really did nothing for me and all I can say is that it was a really quick read so I didn't have to endure it for long.

The basic plot is Shy Boy spots Girl. Shy Boy points her out to Friend. Friend (maybe misunderstanding) dates Girl. Relationships evolve. In a way, it might be termed Boy Lit...more of a guy tale but in the Chick Lit mold. I'm picky with my Chick Lit though (I like some but it's a tough bar) and this didn't cut it for me. I never grew to care much about the characters...I don't need to "like" a protagonist but I need to feel compelled by at least one character and that didn't happen there. I do see the tie to Nick Hornby in terms of the simple narrational style, but it didn't pull me in and I can't see myself recommending it for any type of reader

(Review based on advance copy of the book provided by HarperCollins)

[Melliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don't know what to say about this book!

First of all, its author is billed as "bestselling" and with a "formidable talent" and all I can say to that is...Really?! If so, maybe this was an unfortunate choice from among his titles? He certainly didn't live up to Auntie's standards with this one.

Second, the description of the book claims that two men fall in love with an "unforgettable" woman. Apart from one passage where it talks about how she is direct and friendly and draws people in, and another where the eyes of every man in a bar follow her across the room (which could happen with the plainest, least charismatic girl when she's the only one in the bar!), there is no evidence to suggest this woman rises above the mundane.

The style of writing is odd. The entire book is told by one of the two friends, and his narration is as stilted as he is, which initially intrigued me (the sole reason why it rose above one star in the rating). The protagonist, David, seemed like a serious, non-comical version of Graeme Simsion's Don Tillman in The Rosie Project—a socially awkward computer geek who is probably somewhere on the autism spectrum, given his inability to understand or interact with virtually anyone without a great amount of thought, reasoning, and preparation. Also reminiscent of Simsion's book, David's best friend, Alex, is a hail-fellow-well-met kind of a guy, with friends in every bar and a way with the ladies. It is inevitable that when David draws Alex's attention to a woman with whom he is taken, that Alex will ultimately take her. Although David asks Alex for help to make a connection with her, Alex misperceives the extent of David's interest and does his usual thing to make his own impression, and before you know it, Camille and Alex are an item and David is the bitterly unhappy third wheel.

At this point in the book, based on a cryptic remark of David's, I thought the way we were going to go with this story was for David to somehow take Alex out of the picture so he could win Camille for himself. I actually thought, based on his flat affect combined with his extreme self-absorption, that this guy was going to turn out to be a sociopath along the lines of the protagonist in the book You, by Caroline Kepnes! No such luck. Instead, we get another 200-odd pages of David living his life and detailing his job opportunities, his extremely dismal vacation in Brazil, and his various encounters with Alex, Camille, and Alex-and-Camille.

Finally, once Alex does his usual thing of alienating himself from whoever he is dating by creating obstacles to the relationship, David has his shot, and...that would be spoiling the rest. But it's not much of a spoiler, because this book has the flattest, most unsatisfying conclusion in the history of Lad Lit. Seriously, don't bother.

[Corey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sucks. Why are books like this written? How are books like this published? This is why it's a bad idea to select books at random from the Recommended or New Fiction shelf at the library. Anything can sound good on a dust jacket.
It reads like a terribly monotonous romantic comedy that hellishly cycles in upon itself. What's supposed to be a "wonderfully charming, bitersweet" love story with "slow burning intensity" is laughably tame. The cup here overfloweth with original ideas. A guy who can't get girls has a friend who fucks bitches on the reg? His friend fucks the girl of his dreams (who he's never talked to, being so shy and all)? They start dating? Mr. Shyguy swallows his pride and spends all his time being the third wheel? Everybody in the story does nothing but work, drink, and recover from hangovers? They break up? He gets the girl? WHOOPS. Sorry for the spoilers.
On the plus side, it's so short that I read it in one day. I finished reading it because it's the only book I have with me at work and I only have three periods of students now and I have to do something all day. Strike Out!

[Ami · Rating 1 out of 5]

Total waste of time.
It's not like it was a terrible book, but it certainly wasn't good. It had no merit whatsoever. Not an interesting story, not an interesting way of writing, nothing. Nothing! I can't believe I finished it. I kept thinking, "There's got to be more to this." But I was wrong. Why was it even published??
The first person narrator is kind of an insecure guy who falls in love at first sight with some girl at a party. Because he's shy, he enlists his suave friend to introduce them. Guess what happens? Right, the suave guy and the girl end up together. Then the narrator gets a job. Then the guy friends fight. The end.
That's seriously all there is.
So lame. I'm not even going to push the spoiler button because no one should read this.
Oh yeah, and it bugs me that it never explains why the title is what it is.

[Mandy]

Not a terrible book, I just didn't love it. Trying to only read things I really love. So many books and so little time!

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much. Wallflower, David, loses dream girl, Camille, to his charming best friend, Alex, then tries to deal with his feelings about it, while becoming close to the girl as a third wheel. At a point David crosses a line, imperiling his 20 year friendship. What's interesting is the characters lack of understanding of their own motivations. Is David under-mining Alex's relationship with Camille? Did Alex behave badly, knowing how David felt about her, in starting a relationship with Camille? The author is wise about life, love, and human motivations. His prose is interesting. I'll read others by Chris Binchy.

[Diane M. Thornbery · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thought-provoking examination of friendship at a very intense period of time - the cusp of adulthood. The expectations, roles, rules, and changes in all of the above when a third party is inserted. Not a book to be read for its plot, but for rich characterizations as the narrator's views about his friend, himself, and the third party show insight as well as self-delusion, but mostly growth and understanding.

[TK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book. The ending was a complete anti-climax, though. Barely an ending at all.

Also, while he grew a bit over the course of the book, David was more than a little creepy early on, came off like an incel or something, honestly. That trip to Brazil was completely out of nowhere too, and kinda broke up the narrative pacing a bit weirdly.

I'd say this is a 3, or 3.5 star novel, but honestly it's a bit forgettable overall.

[Sharon Brimhall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh, plodding, rambling, sad

I was sooooo hoping this would “pick-up”. The concept was an intriguing plot. Two men, long time friends, in love with the same woman. Not an unrealistic possibility. So, how do these guys hash this out? It could have taken so many directions. Valium on the page....sadly.

[Doreen Cavazza · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It's a story that doesn't rely on glitz and glamour, no explosions, no car chases. It's a story that kept me interested, and though it was a more melancholy feel it was, for me, a page turner.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. Unassuming style, simply written, love triangle, really enjoyed this book.

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Depressing. Abandoned on page 40. Realized within first chapter that this one wasn't for me.

[Mary Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intellectual

Investigation of a person’s reactions to events in his life. Very slow plOT. Not my kind of book. May get you will understand iTS purpose better than I did.

[Linda Warren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish which is unusual for me. Depressing hard to follow and not worth the effort.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as it gave me insight into the younger generation.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t remember when I first heard about this, but I put it on my “to watch for” list sometime last year without really knowing anything about it, and when I saw it in the Library last week snatched it up. The jacket blurbs put it in the “Lad Lit” tradition of Nick Hornsby, Roddy Doyle and Michael Chabon, and while the three main characters are young, outwardly attractive and flawed, the similarity stops there. I was also reminded of H.E. Bates' 1952 autobiographical novel Love for Lydia, which I read over thirty-years ago. (I may have to reread that.)

David (the narrator) is dull and shy, a nerd filled with self-doubt, but apparently not lacking in cash: he lives in an apartment that his parents bought for him when he entered university. Nice. His oldest and best friend Alex couldn’t be more different: he’s outgoing and confident, easy to talk with and popular with the ladies, though he’s also flighty—a love ‘em and leave ‘em type—lives in a kip with two other fellas, is perpetually late and reserves his moments of self-doubt for private times with David. The girl that comes between them, Camille, is beautiful and confident as well, so easy with her beauty that she appears to have an aura; but we’re told very little else about her.

The plot is basic: David sees Camille across the room at a party, and falls in love (at first sight). He enlists Alex to break the ice and make an introduction, but Camille is more attracted to Alex’s self-confidence and they become “a couple”. David feels betrayed and sulks for the next two-hundred and fifty pages: through graduation, job interviews, early success with work, an extended holiday in Brazil (of all places), a dramatic new career path; David sulks. After an initial period where their friendship is strained because of the perceived betrayal, Alex invites David to spend time with him and Camille: at bars and for dinner, picnics and bowling. Over and over again, which I thought odd: someone should have realised enough already. It wouldn’t be David to realise it, of course; he’s still carrying a torch for Camille, thrilled to near her, in her circle, in spite of the pain and lingering resentment. Or perhaps because of it, so he could nurture and feed his whinging and self-pity.

As time passes, however, Alex begins to feel trapped in the relationship; it’s more than he wants. In spite of his history of taking on new and exciting things only to chuck them off when the next shiny object appears, he seems dedicated to working in film, even if as a dogsbody on shoots for television adverts. As Alex becomes more involved in film and theatre, he begins to leave his old friends behind. David seems to think as a way to get out of the relationship. So when he meets Alex by accident in an after-hours place amongst a crowd of theatre people, a pretty young one of whom is being very friendly, David confronts his lifelong friend about his bad behaviour.

And then David does the shitty thing: he tells Camille what he’s seen, about Alex and the theatre girl, and gets her to go to bed with him. He permanently ruptures his life-long friendship, and though Camille realises her mistake, David is willing to lie in wait until she comes around again. Presumably they live happily ever after; we never know: The End.

If this dénouement had come in the middle of the novel, Binchy might have been able to examine what it all meant. Unfortunately, these characters never “grow”: they are just as shallow and self-centred at the end of the novel as at the beginning. And though the novel is nominally set in Dublin, aside from an occasional mention of “Trinity” or certain streets, there is nothing “Irish” about it at all. We know there are lots of pubs.

Overall, Five Days Apart is a disappointment. (The title is never referenced or explained.) The setting is anonymous; the characters thinly drawn (especially Camille—besides being beautiful, we know nothing about her, what she does or studied). The protagonist’s most dramatic moment goes unexamined. And yet I stayed up late to finish it. Binchy writes well enough to keep the pages turning, but just; perhaps there was always the hope that on the next page there might be “more”. Unfortunately, there wasn’t.

[Lydia Laceby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally Reviewed at Novel Escapes

I found Five Days Apart an interesting view on male relationships and the women that come between them. It was well written and had an intriguing premise, but after my initial interest, I grew weary of waiting for something to happen. I was intrigued to find out how the trio would end up and did like the main character enough to care what happened to him, but was ultimately disappointed.

At times I wanted David to do something, to figure things out and to get on with it. He gradually does, but the progress was slow, which slowed the plot. I can see though, having known many men who move like turtles, how accurate Binchy’s portrayal might actually be, but it didn’t help keep my interest. I didn’t love David’s character. I disliked Alex even less and didn’t even warm much to Camille.

Nephew of the infamous Maeve Binchy, Chris Binchy shows adept writing skills with impeccable scenes, dialogue and description in his American debut. There were scenes in Brazil I could vividly picture and practically taste, but even here action was lacking. Overall I wasn’t as pleased with Five Days Apart as I wanted to be, finding it a dry, slow read.

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike many other reviewers, I didn't think this book was awful. Wow, that's a ringing endorsement, isn't it? I'd give it 2.5 stars. I found it to be tedious at many times, but it was the plot (if you can call it a plot) that I found tedious, not the writing itself. It's definitely low-key. It charts the very slow progress of three relationships -- two young guys in Dublin who have been life-long friends, one of the guys and a young woman who becomes his girlfriend, and the girlfriend and the other guy. One guy is handsome and charismatic but irresponsible (the boyfriend) and the other is a shy, insecure, brilliant computer geek. Of course the shy guy is in love with the beautiful girlfriend and that's the main focus of the book. It was slow-moving, but I would give another of his books a try.

[Chrissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably would've gotten a 1.5 if allowed by the rating system. I'm curious to read another of his novels, only because it sounds like they may have been better. But this one, his first and only American release, reads really amateurish, both in story design and in writing. After a really heavy book before this (The Finkler Question), I was looking for a fun Nick Hornby-ish read. Instead, I got a knock-off, and not a good one. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but would recommend you try one of his earlier titles. This one, I'm afraid, fell short and then some. That said, if anyone does decide to read it, can you let me know the origin of the title??? I can't find in the text where 5 days in particular is of any relevance whatsoever. Still, I'm in the mood to say "Cheers" and the like after reading it.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Other reviewers have used the word “monotone” to describe this book and I would have to agree with that assessment. David, our narrator, is practically an Asperger’s victim, with his social ineptitude and distance from his own life. He’s one of those characters whose life just seems to happen around them, rather than being an active participant. But unlike some of Steve Martin’s similarly challenged characters, and even though I kept rooting for David to prevail, ultimately I was disappointed. It’s almost as if Mr. Binchy, in an effort to distance himself from his aunt’s cozy friendship stories, has gone to extreme measures to make the coldest lad-lit tale possible. I feel like Mr. Binchy has lots of talent; it’s just mired in the deep freeze.

[morninglightmama · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh. One-dimensional characters who experience zero growth (and possibly even a bit of backsliding) and a repetitive plot line that doesn't go anywhere make for a boring story in which I cared very little for or about any of the three main characters. David is paranoid and stuck in his own head in a way that someone like Holden Caulfield can pull off while still remaining interesting, but for David this plays out in an exhausting and exasperating manner. Alex is just a cad, and nothing much more. Camille, the object of David's obsession and Alex's girlfriend, is never fleshed out enough to be a full character, unfortunately. I just didn't think there was much to this one at all.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book to say the least. Not entirely what I thought it would be like. I'm not to sure if I like it, I mean I enjoyed the process of reading it. There were certainly moments in the book that I enjoyed. Good writing and such. But the story was unusual, not your typical romance story. The ending was bitter sweet for me, it was almost sad actually. I liked the characters, their development throughout the story was good. But it was all very meh, which is reflected in my rating. Not saying its a bad book, I just wouldn't re-read it that's all.

[Christopher Cariola · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is nice to have an easy and quick read from time to time but this book is so bland that the quick and easy aspects of it was relieving. The characters are boring and stereotypical. The love triangle is pointless.
Usually a book has a point or moral to it. This book just had 200 plus pages of wasted paper. There was nothing humorous or interesting about this book that would make sense for a publisher to publish it.

[Gracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good for a book about nothing. Or possibly about a social misfit who somehow is both hyper-aware of his social ineptitude & woefully unaware of the reality of the relationships he does engage in. I see that I liked it better than most, but I really did like it. The gradual insight given into the main character really was masterfully done.

Again, it seems like it might be a book about nothing, but it's just subtle. And likely not for everyone.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating read, tightly written, thought provoking. Draws you into the emotions and dynamics of friendship and love triangles. The characters are very multi-dimensional. Definitely makes you examine the things you have said or done in the name of "friendship" and/or "love". Not easily forgotten.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a love triangle book. Two best friends and the woman they both love. Ho hum? Not at all. This is well written and characters the author makes you really care about. Somebody has to get hurt, or maybe they all get hurt, and changed. I highly recommend this short (260 pp.) but beautiful novel by Irish author Chris Binchy.

[Silvore · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't much special about this book. Boy meets girl, boy's best friend becomes involved with girl, best friend loses girl, boy becomes involved with girl. I enjoyed the setting in Ireland, but besides that there wasn't anything that set this book apart. It's not a bad book, but it isn't anything I would recommend to people or wish to reread. It's just plain.

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

David meets Camille at a party. While trying to get them together, his friend Alex falls for her instead. On and on goes this tale of love gone bad and the inevitable triangle to an almost happy ending. Still can't figure out the significance of the title...