Forever second
Forever second is the second novel by the English writer David Nicholls . The original edition was published in 2005 under the title The Understudy by Hodder & Stoughton , London . The German translation was first published in 2006 by the Verlag Kein & Aber ( ISBN 3-0369-5542-9 ). The autobiographical comedy satirizes a theater actor's search for the big breakthrough.
action
Stephen C. McQueen is an unsuccessful actor who lives in London and plays mostly television corpses. His only leading role is that of a singing squirrel in a children's song DVD. Since his wife left him for another man, Stephen has been living in a one-room apartment, without a refrigerator and job prospects. Stephen is still hoping for his breakthrough as an actor, even though he's past thirty. That is why he also works as a jump-in at the theater. Stephen stands ready to replace the star of the play, Josh Harper, in the event of illness. Josh is an audience-and-critically-loved upcoming Hollywood star. Freshly named the twelfth sexiest man in the world, Josh has already won a BAFTA award and shot his first action blockbuster.
Josh is never sick, so that Stephen is denied his hoped-for leading role. When it comes almost to an emergency because Josh only appears at the last minute for the performance, Stephen is already in the mask - in vain. As a friendly gesture, Josh then invites Stephen to a party, or at least that's how Stephen understands the invitation. On site, however, he realizes that he should earn something extra as a server. Too embarrassed to leave, Stephen accepts the task. The evening is turbulent: Josh's wife, the American Nora, hooks up with Stephen and gossips about Josh, Stephen gets drunk to the point of unconsciousness and wakes up the next morning in his bed with Josh's BAFTA award. He stole it.
Stephen's life is heading for a crisis. After the night of partying, he picks up his daughter Sophie, who lives with his ex-wife and her new husband, too late for the Sunday together. The day is not going well. By chance he soon discovers that Josh is cheating on his wife with the lead actress in the play. Josh asks Stephen to keep quiet about the affair, which puts Stephen in a bind: he and Nora have become friends, and Stephen has long since fallen in love with her. When Josh promises to be able to get "sick" for two to three days just before Christmas, so that Stephen would get his moment in the spotlight, he finally agrees on the condition that Josh end the affair.
When Josh subsequently confides in Stephen about a second affair with a TV actress, Stephen reveals the secret meeting place of the two to the gossip press. A media scandal ensues that grows over Stephen's head. The deeply injured Nora seeks refuge in Stephen's apartment and there, in turn, drinks herself into senselessness. Stephen finds and cares for her after this nocturnal incident, without going into her alcohol-driven seduction attempts. The next day, however, Nora finds her husband's BAFTA award, which Stephen did not dare to return, and confronts Stephen. She's also furious when she finds out that Stephen has kept Josh's affair a secret. Stephen tries to explain himself and tells Nora that he loves her. Thereupon she leaves the apartment disturbed. Stephen follows her into the street, where he is caught by Josh, who in turn accuses the two of the affair. There is a fight between the men. When Josh tries to beat Stephen while he is lying on the floor, Nora hits him in the face with his own BAFTA award.
Josh needs medical attention and is absent. Stephen thus gets his chance as a substitute. After initial uncertainty, he delivers a decent performance - for an almost empty hall. Many guests have returned their tickets for lack of Josh Harper. However, Stephen's ex-wife and daughter are in the audience and very proud of him.
Immediately after the performance, Stephen is fired without notice at Josh's behest. It remains his only showing in the lead role. When Stephen comes home that evening, to his surprise, Nora is waiting for him. They work through the events and together take a train to Paris.
style
The novel is set not only in the theater and cinema environment, but also refers consistently to Hollywood cinema of the 1950s and its classic acting greats. The main character Stephen C. McQueen regularly quotes texts, actions and style of his role models like Cary Grant or Stewart Granger . Individual chapters are also introduced with contextual script dialogues that Stephen creates to express his thoughts. In addition to the classic film references, references to pop culture also play a special role: Josh Harper is drawn as a collector of “ Star Wars ” memorabilia . Some of his collectibles, such as a Han Solo plastic figure, are used as leitmotifs .
Reviews
- Kristina Maidt-Zinke attests to humor in the novel because the author succeeds in satirising his own experiences: "Nicholls, who seems to perfectly embody the British virtue of understatement, was initially an actor, but one of the kind he colored in his autobiographical Roman Ewig Second (2006) characterized in a most amusing way. "
- Kristian Thees calls the book at SWR3 a "good mood novel with a lot of British humor" and beyond: "The book is a romantic comedy with a lot of situational comedy and lots of funny formulations [...]"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reviews: "Two in one day". In: Spiegel online. Retrieved September 11, 2016 .
- ↑ Kristina Maidt-Zinke: David Nicholls: At least no burglars . In: The time . April 15, 2015, ISSN 0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed on September 11, 2016]).
- ↑ Kristian Thees: Forever Second | SWR3.de. Retrieved September 11, 2016 .