Word: chapter
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Wohl organizes his book nationally. He devotes chapters to France, Germany, England, Italy and Spain. In the very first chapter, Wohl presents a cluttered montage of the French intellectual scenario around...
Wohl presents ten intellectuals in this chapter ranging from Henri Massis, whom he describes as "not an original thinker," but "an aspiring man of letters who throbbed with the ill-conceived ambition of becoming a French leader of youth and spiritual guide," to Henri de Montherlant, who described himself as "a Knight of nothingness...
...their predecessors lie intriguing portraits of exciting thinkers like Montherlant. Wohl devotes only three pages to Montherlant, an author whose heroes "enjoy the sensation of being able to dispose of their lives the way they chose." This "knight of nothingness" shines as the only important thinker in the first chapter, and he is an obvious predecessor of the existentialists. Yet Wohl makes no attempt to draw out the connection with existential thought. The analysis of Montherlant is a concise summation devoid of historical, literary or sociological context...
What's even more troublesome is the way director Robert Moore chooses to transform Simon's play into film. It's obvious Chapter Two was a play first, because virtually all of the heavy dialogue takes place in one room. The camera moves aimlessly from corner to corner, without knowing where to focus after a while. And when Caan and Mason aren't thrashing out all of the problems in their stalemate of a marriage, there's no action to speak of, only snapshots of the honeymoon couple in Bermuds...
...knowing where it's going, only partially because he's distracted by the loss of his wife. His brother Leo (impressively played by Joe Bologna) fixes him up with many women as he steps out into the world again, including a ghastly disco queen named Bambi. For George Schneider, chapter two in his life needs drastic revision unitl he catches up with Jennie McClaine, Little known New York actress. Convincing her that "nothing is inevitable because dates are man-made," he wines and dines her into a marriage after only two weeks, much to the surprise of Leo, and Jennie...