Three Weeks With My Brother

Rating:
Summary: A Discovery of Hope, Love and Faith
Review: Nicholas Sparks hit a snag while writing his most recent novel. He diverted his attention to the mail and saw a brochure from the alumni office of his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame. The offering is a three-week trip around the world titled "Heaven and Earth." The idea kindles a fire within him, and the spark ignites his passion. His wife, Cathy, responsible for the daily needs of five children, declines to go with him. But she encourages him to take the trip as a break from his hectic work schedule. Micah, Sparks's brother, packs his bag and the two set off for "Lands of the Sky Worshippers."

Sparks writes with special fervor about their experiences during the globe-circling event. Micah's fun-loving personality contrasts with the introspectiveness of his brother. Together, they absorb the vast panorama of knowledge open to them. But each reacts to places they visit in a different manner. While Micah sees the humor in a centuries-old statuary, Nicholas cites the historic value to civilization that each place has given. From ruins of the Incan and Mayan tribes to the mysteries of Easter Island, the brothers visit cultural wonders and relate to them with reflections upon their childhood.

Not only is THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER a journal of their travels to exotic places, it also contains personal memories jarred into their present by the sights they witness. The Sparks brothers grew up in a family that, today, would be hard put to term functional. Poverty was the veil that clouded them from birth into adolescence. Both parents struggled to earn a subsistence living for their two sons and daughter Dana.

The brothers recall a family vacation to the Grand Canyon while they bask on the beach in Roratonga, in the South Pacific. The story of a family crammed into a Volkswagen for the trip, traversing steamy desert by day and freezing in the rolling motel at night, conjures frightful pictures. Their father, a scholarly man, can show a volatile side when his children misbehave. A park ranger demands their exit when the three perch on rocks outside safe limits and terrify other tourists. Dad's rage erupts to a DEFCON 5.

THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER is laced with photos that provide the background for a fabulous travelogue. More important are those that trace the family's history. These pictures give color to a childhood filled with struggles. Micah's attitude is one of carefree acceptance, while Nicholas reveres him but is unable to live with the same nonchalance as his brother. When tragedy strikes them, not once but three times, they cope in quite different ways. However, they come together as a unit and move forward as a family.

Nicholas has retained religious upbringing and remains strengthened by his faith. Micah has rejected religious discipline and seldom attends a church. They discuss the source of past pain and their respective abilities to accept or reject the outcomes. Both discover truths they hold dear from the years shared together that marked them as brothers. The book is a story of two journeys, one that travels to exotic places and another that leads to the bonding of best friends.

Sparks's previous books, THE WEDDING, THE NOTEBOOK and MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE, are works that evoke pathos and sympathy. THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER is a humorous, yet tragic, memoir that is a discovery of hope, love and faith. Its shared authorship is testament to the lasting bond between Nicholas and his brother, Micah Sparks.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Rating:
Summary: Touching travelogue/memoir
Review: Nicholas Sparks is at the height of popularity as a writer when he receives a brochure about a trip around the world. The thought of the brochure stays in the back of his mind until he decides to take action and begin planning the trip. He invites his wife but she feels that family responsibilities for their five children are too heavy for both of them to be gone at the same time. At this point Nicholas knows that there is only one person to invite--his brother Micah. The two of them set off like a couple of school boys and they discover that the trip is a wonderful time for them to bond and heal, as well as to sightsee. Each chapter covers a different location, and as they are having new adventures together, they reminisce about their growing-up years. During the course of the book, it is revealed that the Sparks family has endured much more tragedy than most families, and it is interesting to see how Nicholas uses these tragedies for the basis of his novels. The memoirs of his family were much more interesting to me than the travelogue, but the combination of the two make for a very intriguing book.

Rating:
Summary: Lifestyles of the Rich and the Spoiled?
Review: Nicholas Sparks made a million dollars off his first novel, "The Notebook." His books have been made into movies. Some might say he lives the charmed life. So why should we care that he got to travel around the world with his brother? Who wants to read about spoiled rich people and their international trots?

This book will convince you to look at others through a new set of glasses. Not only does "Nicky" reveal the wonders and shortfalls of cultures from Cambodia to Easter Island to Norway, he also shows us the heartbreak of his own family. Without revealing all, let me say that he tells a readable tale of his own childhood, spliced in with scenes of his three week journey with his brother. At times, the story is laugh-out loud funny; at others, it is sobering and poignant.

Yes, I may have harbored a bit of envy for Mr. Sparks' "charmed life." Now I harbor feelings of admiration, compassion, and brotherhood. Thank you, Nick, for opening your heart and your life to encourage those of us traveling the same path.

Rating:
Summary: Band of Brothers
Review: No one reads Nicholas Sparks for a serious literary thrill, but he delivers another emotionally pleasing story about life and the journey, this time about bonding with, and understanding, his brother. Sure, it's travel wisdom lite, but the relationship between the Sparks brothers is interesting and multifaceted. If you liked "The Notebook," you'll be happy. My favorite recent book about families is "I Sleep At Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets," by Bruce Stockler--a hilarious, emotionally complex and insightful look at fatherhood, marriage, career and what it means to be a man.

Rating:
Summary: life and times
Review: Patricia Myers, A reviewer,

To read the personal account of someones life is and will always be far more appealing in my eyes. This book is rich in detail. Has sad but poignant accounts like that found in another favorite of mine, 'Nightmares Echo'. There is sadness, happiness and the feelings of guilt like I found in 'Running With Scissors'. Don't be mistaken, this book is rich with dialogue and filled with the life and times of these brothers trying to make their way through life. This is a best seller and rightfully so.

Rating:
Summary: life and times
Review: Patricia Myers, Non fiction reader
To read the personal account of someones life is and will always be far more appealing in my eyes. This book is rich in detail. Has sad but poignant accounts like that found in another favorite of mine, 'Nightmares Echo'. There is sadness, happiness and the feelings of guilt like I found in 'Running With Scissors'. Don't be mistaken, this book is rich with dialogue and filled with the life and times of these brothers trying to make their way through life. This is a best seller and rightfully so.

Rating:
Summary: An Exotic Trip to the World Outside and Inside
Review: Somewhere around forty years of age one begins to think differently of that brother that we picked on when younger. About that time mortality in the forms of parents growing old and passing on. The bloom of first love is long past and the spectre of divorce court may have appeared. Somewhere around this time you begin to realize that your brother is about the only family you have left.

Nicholas and Micah Sparks set off on a vacation together that took them to several exotic places around the world. Outwardly this is a trip of a lifetime to these wonderful place. But inwardly the trip may have even more exotic. This is a time for two men to bond together, laying aside the childhood differences from their growing up years and preparing them for the years yet to come.

I've been there with my brother, but certainly don't have the literary skills to make a record like the one here. The best I can do is to send my copy of the book to my brother.

Rating:
Summary: An extremely enjoyable read
Review: This book is one of the best books I have ever read. The stories Sparks tells about his experiences made me laugh out loud at times and made me cry at others. This is not only his story of a trip around the world with his brother, but a story of growing up and the tragedies they have faced together. His story is a special one and one definately worth reading. I will be reading this one over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: I laughed...I cried
Review: This book is wonderful for all sorts of reasons. If you like travel books, you will enjoy his trip around the world. If you like "growing up" stories you will have tears of joy from laughing at the exploits of Nick and his brother. Need to know how to raise a family? Want to know about prayer? Death and dying? It is all here from the awarding winning author. This is his life written from a vulnerable and personal perspective.

Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK AND READ IT!
Review: This guy is super, you can just tell by reading his books that he is likeable and very smart. His books engross me in a way that no other ever has... this one is the best, but I feel this only because it was the latest one I have read. He is so sensitive and and the same time can really crack me up, then a few pages later have me crying. He is my ABSOLUTE favorite writer and like a few others that have reviewed this book, will be patiently waiting for the next one to come out! Love you Nicky! Best of all to you and your family!