Everything about The Paper Chase totally explained
The Paper Chase is a
1970 novel, as well as a
1973 film based on the novel and a
television series based on the movie.
Written by
John Jay Osborn, Jr., a
1970 graduate of
Harvard Law School, the book tells the story of Hart, a first-year
law student at Harvard, and his experiences with
Professor Charles Kingsfield, the brilliant, demanding
contracts instructor whom he both idolizes and finds incredibly intimidating.
Plot
The story centres on James Hart, a brilliant young law student from the U.S. Midwest who attends Harvard Law School and becomes obsessed with one of his teachers, Professor Kingsfield. Hart becomes an expert on Kingsfield's subject, Contracts; he reads everything about the subject, including all of Kingsfield's papers, most of which are not on the reading list. He goes so far as to break into the law library to read Kingsfield's original law school notes. Hart becomes such an expert that Kingsfield asks him to contribute to a paper.
At the same time he begins a relationship with a girl named Susan who turns out to be Kingsfield's daughter. Susan stands aloof from the law-school rat-race and is able to dismiss all the things Hart cares about the most.
Structure
The novel is divided into three sections: Fall (chapters 1–15), Winter (chapters 16–33), and Spring (chapters 34–58).
Chapters 1, 3, 13, 27, and 35 begin with quotes that set the tone for those chapters.
30th anniversary edition
In 2003 a 30th-anniversary edition of
The Paper Chase was released by Whitston Publishing which contains both a new preface and an afterword by the author, with the latter containing material deleted from the original novel.
Adaptations
Film
The 1973 movie, based "almost word for word" on the novel according to Osborn, starred
John Houseman as Kingsfield and
Timothy Bottoms as Hart.
Television series
The
CBS television network aired a one-hour drama series in the
1978–
1979 season based on the movie. John Houseman reprised his
movie role, and
James Stephens played Hart. In
1983, pay-
cable network
Showtime brought back the show with both Houseman and Stephens. At the end of three seasons on Showtime, Hart finally graduated from law school.
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Paper Chase'.
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