7 Jan 2013

Book Review: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. 

Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, thirty-one, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories. . until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Allie Nelson, twenty-nine, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. 

Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. With her impending marriage only weeks away, Allie is forced to confront her hopes and dreams for the future, a future that only she can shape. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. 

The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments, and fundamental changes that affect us all. Shining with a beauty that is rarely found in current literature, The Notebook establishes Nicholas Sparks as a classic storyteller with a unique insight into the only emotion that really matters.

Published:   2004
Publisher:  Bantam
Goodreads Link: Click here 
Source:  Bought

My Review   10 out of 10

Some of you may know that I am re-reading all of the Nicholas Sparks books this year and The Notebook is the the pick for this month, being the oldest Nicholas Sparks novel.  I thought about re-reading these books probably around the middle of last year and was so excited to get started, especially knowing that this book was the top of the list.  Although The Wedding is my absolute favourite, The Notebook definitely comes second.  

I just adore the characters of Noah and Allie in every way that is told in the story.  I can't talk much about this part because it would spoil the story, which I will not do, but all I will say is that I loved these characters and the love they show throughout the entire novel.  

I have yet to re-watch the movie but from memory there are some differences between the two and a major difference at the end of the story.  For example, in the movie there is more background about Allie's mother and why she is so adamant that Allie should not be with Noah when in the book its just glanced over (unless I missed something there).  

What I loved most about this story is the theme of love and romance standing still through time, never lost.  From the beginning of the story, where you see Noah and Allie meet you instantly get a 'feeling' that there is something special between them. 

Such a beautiful story and I can't wait to re-read it again and again.... 

Best wishes

Debs
 

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