The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook (Calhoun Family Saga, #1)

by Nicholas Sparks

Celebrating 25 years of The Notebook - the classic novel which became the heart-wrenching film.

*

Once again, just as I do every day, I begin to read the notebook aloud...

Noah Calhoun has returned from war and, in an attempt to escape the ghosts of battle, he sets his mind and his body to restoring an old plantation home to its former beauty.

But he is haunted by memories of the beautiful girl he met there years before. A girl who stole his heart at the funfair, whose parents didn't approve, a girl he wrote to every day for a year.

When Allie Hamilton shows up on his doorstep, exactly as he has held her in his memory for all these years, Noah has one last chance to win her back. Only this time, it's not just her parents in the way - Allie is engaged and she's not a woman to go back on her promises.

The Notebook is the love story to end all love stories - it will break your heart, heal it back up and break it all over again.

Praise for Nicholas Sparks:

'A fiercely romantic and touching tale' Heat

'An A-grade romantic read' OK!

'Pulls at the heartstrings' Sunday Times

'An absorbing page-turner' Daily Mail

'This one won't leave a dry eye' Daily Mirror

Reviewed by Jo on

3 of 5 stars

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The basic premise of The Notebook is so beautiful there are no words. The story of an old man who reads to his Alzeimer-suffering wife the story of how they got together every day in the hopes of bringing her back to him is so fantastically beautiful, the idea alone makes me want to cry. I have no shame telling you that when I first watched the movie several years ago, I was crying through most of the film and it have been my favourite ever since; it's just so beautiful.

Nicholas Sparks has this wonderful way of writing, where I think I would enjoy reading even if he wrote something where the plot was completely ridiculous. The way he writes is almost poetical, and the way he describes, for example, Noah just sitting on the porch in the evening playing his guitar - nothing all that spectacular - makes it sound like something so amazing. His description and imagery, I find, are just so calming, that while reading I feel like I'm in a dream-like state, with a sense of wonder over the smallest things.

The story, however, fell a little short for me. I characters didn't seem all that believable to me, the things Noah and Allie thought and said, the way they formed their sentences, it just isn't how people talk. They were structured, not automatic as they would be for normal conversation/thinking. And they kept talking about their love for each other, but I didn't really feel it. There was a lack of, well, passion.

It was a good read, a sad but strangely optimistic read, but it was fantastic. I was warned to keep the tissues near me during this book. They weren't really needed; I cried once, when a particular part of the story reminded me of what happens at a particular point in the film, whih never fails to make me sob like a child. It was the reminder of the film that brought the emotion, rather than the stroy itself. The plot didn't stir any emotion in me, it was the writing that did.

Great if you're looking for a quick read that is beautifully written, but not overly heavy on the heart.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 20 August, 2009: Finished reading
  • 20 August, 2009: Reviewed