Mark Victor Young uses two epigraphs to introduce Once Were Friends: a quote from Shakespeare's Henry V and one from Shakespeare on Management, and in these two quotes lie the crux of the story -- like A Thousand Acres or The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Young has updated a Shakespearean play by placing the narrative in a modern scenario; in this case, transposing the battlefield to the boardroom. And just as that sounds like a natural leap when you think about it, it works out really well on the page.
Much like Henry V, Hal Mercer has inherited his father's company -- his kingdom -- after a raucous, carefree youth; but as with Henry V, it would be wrong to underestimate this newly focussed leader. Hal determines that the only way to strengthen (perhaps to save) the company he has inherited is to merge with -- and if need be, make a hostile takeover of -- the much larger rival: D'Arville Industries. Hal must also confront the re-emergence of Kate D'Arville into his life; the only woman he has ever loved, and the daughter of the rival CEO. What Young does really well here is to make both sides sympathetic -- through the back and forth of the boardroom battles, even if the reader would like to see Hal come out on top, Kate is also fighting for the survival of her family's company (and is not helped by the actions and attitudes of her powerful brother and heir apparent, Chuck). Ultimately,the drama is resolved at the big industry Trade Show (fittingly held on October 25th, the date of Henry V's own decisive Battle of Agincourt).
There are many such tie-ins with the play and real history (from character names like "Archie Bishop" for the Archbishop of Canterbury to plot points that I might have anticipated if I knew the source better) and each chapter has an epigraph from Henry V which were of varying degrees of effectiveness: famous quotes like "once more unto the breach, dear friends" or "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" are interesting to see tied in, but often, the epigraphs seemed to serve the structure instead of the story. I also wasn't convinced about the turn that Pete's character takes, and if that's from the play, I think it could have been better foreshadowed. And one last complaint -- it was really distracting to me that I didn't learn what Mercer Incorporated or D'Arville Industries were manufacturing and selling; widgets or wingnuts, a book that has people talking corporate lingo about efficiencies and units should have told me what those units were.
On the other hand, the writing was interesting ( His thick red hair and salt and paprika goatee was flecked with sweat and sawdust) and the characters were strong, and as I've never read or seen Henry V (or have a ready knowledge of English history), I didn't know how the story would end -- and was eager to find out. I also liked this bit:
Much like Henry V, Hal Mercer has inherited his father's company -- his kingdom -- after a raucous, carefree youth; but as with Henry V, it would be wrong to underestimate this newly focussed leader. Hal determines that the only way to strengthen (perhaps to save) the company he has inherited is to merge with -- and if need be, make a hostile takeover of -- the much larger rival: D'Arville Industries. Hal must also confront the re-emergence of Kate D'Arville into his life; the only woman he has ever loved, and the daughter of the rival CEO. What Young does really well here is to make both sides sympathetic -- through the back and forth of the boardroom battles, even if the reader would like to see Hal come out on top, Kate is also fighting for the survival of her family's company (and is not helped by the actions and attitudes of her powerful brother and heir apparent, Chuck). Ultimately,the drama is resolved at the big industry Trade Show (fittingly held on October 25th, the date of Henry V's own decisive Battle of Agincourt).
There are many such tie-ins with the play and real history (from character names like "Archie Bishop" for the Archbishop of Canterbury to plot points that I might have anticipated if I knew the source better) and each chapter has an epigraph from Henry V which were of varying degrees of effectiveness: famous quotes like "once more unto the breach, dear friends" or "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" are interesting to see tied in, but often, the epigraphs seemed to serve the structure instead of the story. I also wasn't convinced about the turn that Pete's character takes, and if that's from the play, I think it could have been better foreshadowed. And one last complaint -- it was really distracting to me that I didn't learn what Mercer Incorporated or D'Arville Industries were manufacturing and selling; widgets or wingnuts, a book that has people talking corporate lingo about efficiencies and units should have told me what those units were.
On the other hand, the writing was interesting ( His thick red hair and salt and paprika goatee was flecked with sweat and sawdust) and the characters were strong, and as I've never read or seen Henry V (or have a ready knowledge of English history), I didn't know how the story would end -- and was eager to find out. I also liked this bit:
Here was he, embracing the purity and the whatsit of Art and staunchly, resoundingly rejecting the perversity and infamy of the world of commerce. This final act the punctuation at the end of what could have been a life sentence.So far as I can tell, this is Young's first novel and it was an enjoyable read. I would probably give it 3.5 stars if I could, but will happily round it up.
