Author: Nicholas Sparks
# of Pages: 207
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
"I love you Allie. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I've ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours. And, my darling, you will always be mine. (The Notebook page 170)"
The Notebook is best described as a grand love story between two unlikely soul mates. Noah and Allie meet in the summer of 1932 as teenagers and instantly fall deeply in love. However, Allie's family (a white collar family best known for cotton farming) is only in New Bern, North Carolina for the summer whereas Noah (a family of working classmen) lives there. The summer comes to an end, signaling the end of this great love story. Determined to not let their love die, Noah writes Allie letters for years but the letters never get to Allie because her mother (who doesn't approve of their so called "puppy-love") hides them. As fate would have it, Allie returns to New Bern in October of 1946 just weeks before she is betrothed to another man whom her parents approve of. While she has no clear intention of rekindling her love with Noah, they do and Allie is faced with the tough decision of following her heart or pleasing her parents.
Not many books can both make the reader want to break and sob, while warming their heart at the same time. The Notebook accomplishes this in a mere 207 pages. The book is simple. There isn't a huge conflict because, based on the fact that the entire book talks about the love between Noah and Allie, the reader can infer who Allie will end up with. What makes this book so special is not a complicated plot or even a new idea, as love stories had been written and told for centuries before this book was written, but rather the way the story is told. Unlike most books, The Notebook is told using two point of views. It begins and ends in first person, but is mainly told using the omniscient point of view, which is quite rare. I believe that this omniscient point of view is what made the story so relatable. Instead of experiencing the love story from only one person's view, the reader gets to look into the emotions of both characters involved and see one grand love affair come to life with each turned page. This story also comes to an end. There is no cliff-hanger that allows the imagination to fill in the blanks, but a clear ending where you know what will happen to the characters, another component that makes the story realistic.
Nicholas Sparks's writing style is very unique. While most authors will establish a setting at the beginning of the book, Sparks keeps building on this imagery throughout the entire book. Events that occur are matched with a setting, as are time periods. Sparks also uses onomatopoeias and metaphors to make the setting come to life. Readers will feel as if they are watching the love story unfold before their own eyes because of the detail that goes into describing the setting. Three different settings are used as well, but all come together to make sense at the very end.
Both the realism of the story as well as the writing style used, makes The Notebook a great read but what makes it so valuable is the story itself. This grand love story makes the reader yearn for an experience close to this. Allie and Noah describe their falling in love as something magical and beautiful. Their individual personalities grow because of the presence of their counterpart. The beauty of their life together moves the reader to tears and warms their heart. This beautiful love story is something everybody wants and everybody hopes for. The Notebook inspires people to follow their heart and that's what makes it such a valuable book.
I thought you did a great job of showing why this book has great value, and this is a book that I plan to read in the future. Your blog just makes me even more excited to read this book.
ReplyDeleteI definitely recommend this book! I'm so glad someone else will be able to see how special this book is!
DeleteYour blog is great, it gives just enough information for me to want to read the book. I have seen the movie, but after reading your view, I can tell the book is just as good and that intrigues me. Nicholas Sparks is an amazing writer, I did read his book Safe Haven and it was phenomenal. I am excited to read this book and feel the same emotion and inspiration as you have described.
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie Safe Haven, and it was great! Maybe I'll read the book next. I hope you do get around to reading this book, it really is something special. I usually don't cry when reading books (except when reading The Fault in our Stars) but I cried multiple times when reading this book. Its just such a beautiful story.
Delete