Review: Closer

Closer by Patrick Marber

About: The play focuses on the complex relationships, politics and morality of four people trading partners in search of love and lust. It uniquely blends elements of tragedy, comedy, and melodrama and challenges audience perceptions at every turn. Marber turns upside down romantic notions of love and sex uniting two people as one and pointedly challenges the idealistic notion that total honesty is the best way to preserve a relationship. As the four characters move in and out of relationships and expose their individual bleak takes on those relationships, the audience sees their self-delusions and their futile journey to find what they really desire in life. Marber's writing is noted for rapid dialogue with a staccato rhythm and intense exchanges that are at times abrasive and explicit in nature and are infused throughout with dark humor. (from amazon.com)

Review: I got this book from a second hand store for $0.75. I saw the cover and immediately remembered the movie with Natalie Portman, Julie Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen so I thought this book would be interesting. Once I opened up the book I realized it was a play, which was a change since I haven't read a play since Shakespeare in high school. I feel like a flew through the book since it was short sentences with only dialogue, but I found the book intriguing. It jumps around a lot from one year, to a month to the next day. Its about four peoples relationships and how they were intertwined sexually and emotionally. It was a quick read but I found it very realistic. These people's lives and how each relationship changed each person in different ways. I didn't particularly like any character, nor did I dislike them. It was more of an observation of their lives than a judgement of their character. I was going to wait till I saw the movie to do a comparison but its hard enough finding time to read these days. Hopefully you'll pick up the book or see the film.