{"id":3774,"date":"2007-05-19T16:10:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-19T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/?p=3774"},"modified":"2017-11-29T06:47:02","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T12:47:02","slug":"book-report-chapter-two-by-neil-simon-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brianjnoggle.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/19\/book-report-chapter-two-by-neil-simon-1974\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Report: Chapter Two by Neil Simon (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of all the Neil Simon plays I’ve read (I Ought To Be In Pictures<\/i><\/a> and Biloxi Blues<\/a><\/i> recently), I like this one the best. It details two middle-aged (in 1974, this was 42 and 32) people coming out of their first marriages. The man is a widower still grieving for his wife, the woman a divorc\u00e9e. Their friends are trying to set them up with people, and a chance meeting in a restaurant puts these two on a collision course of love. When the man dials her accidentally, it starts a whirlwind romance and marriage that aren’t as rosy as they could be, as the man still wants to hold onto his self-pity in losing his wife.<\/p>\n

Unlike Biloxi Blues<\/i>, there’s a unifying and identifiable theme here: the way middle-aged (in 1974) people deal with long-term relationships and the loss of the same. It’s billed as a comic play, but it’s definitely more serious than straight-ahead comedy. Also, I like the set designed by the playwright, which requires no scene changes even though it shows two scenes–the apartments of his and hers–and allows interaction via telephone. Smooth.<\/p>\n

Side note: the original production used Judd Hirsch as the man character; I just read a complete episode guide for Judd Hirsch’s comedy television series (Taxi<\/i>). Isn’t it funny how the mind imposes order on disorder (that is, my reading list and my wandering journey through the same)?<\/p>\n

Books mentioned in this review:<\/b><\/p>\n