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Summary: THE POWER OF LOVE!
Review: As a rule, I am not a fan of romance novels but how could anyone resist the beautiful writing of Nicholas Sparks. Some may call "Message in a Bottle" and "The Notebook" a little on the "sentimental sappy side" but the message contained in both these books is unforgettable. Sparks has a writing style which is unbelievably pure and refreshing. He has that rare ability of making the reader feel raw emotion, as if the reader where actually a part of the story.It is often said, we find only one true love in our lifetime and when that happens, it lasts for all eternity. In this novel, the youthful love of Noah and Allie outstands the test of time. Though the couple go their separate ways, they are reunited in later years but only after Allie becomes engaged to a successful lawyer by the name of Lon. With sparks of love still flaring, Allie listens to her head, rather than her heart and returns to Lon. Their time together is brief and she finally tells Lon of her feelings for Noah. Lon, with heavy heart, accepts her decision to return to Noah. Noah and Allie marry and spend 49 beautiful years together before tragedy strikes. Growing old and with failing health, Noah and Allie must both come to terms with life-threatening illnesses. This is a story of amazing love and the power love has to overcome all obstacles. "The Notebook" is based on the story of Nicholas Sparks' wife's parents. The book will bring tears to your eyes, and warmth to your heart as this incredible story proves that the power of love, and fate, can truly conquer all life's trials and tribulations.
Rating:
Summary: Honey-Flavored Love Story
Review: Such passion,unrelenting devotion,and sweetness in the face of cold hard tragedy--life is always tragic eventually. I see people in the rehab hospital like that--spouses carrying little sacks of special things to their darlings. No wonder THE NOTEBOOK is popular. And I have loved like that. How comforting, how inspiring to listen to the story of another's complete love for a spouse who for one reason or another is losing time.Jane Riley, author of SOLOMON'S PORCH, THE STORY OF BEN AND ROSE
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Love Story
Review: The Notebook was such a touching book that I cried & smiled while I read it. I would highly recommend reading this book before reading any of Nicholas Sparks' other books.
Rating:
Summary: Superb Storytelling
Review: An extraordinarily powerful novel. Touches all the bases of the classical love story, which I believe this will be counted among them. Nicholas Sparks has a time tested style: authentic characters woven into a floating prose. This novel should be handed out as standard issue in English Lit classes, given away to friends and lovers, and shared between wives and husbands. Trust this author. He does not cheat and offer cheap soap-opera gimmicks or cheese to keep the story moving and flowing. This is the first Nicholas Sparks novel that I have read. It's not going to be last.
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Summary: My Life Repeated
Review: This is one of his second best novels. I read Message in A Bottle and it was excellent. He is a very intuitive writer and very deep coming from a man's perspective. He tugs at the heart strings but also shows much caring and love in his writing. I have had a similar situation in my own life but not everything is the same...
Rating:
Summary: The most romantic account of true love and destiny!
Review: Fantastic account of that never-ending first love that stays with us all forever. The Notebook has a romantic setting, with genuine characters, that are inspired by the real-life love story of the grandparents of the author's wife. It will make your heart swell with happiness, and your eyes fill with tears. Everyone needs a little bit of Noah and Allie in their lives.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Romatic Novel
Review: I'm not one to go for love stories but the THE NOTEBOOK is one of the best little novels I've read in quite some time. It's a book about patience, perseverance, depth of character, and love. The book is evocative and really tugs at the hartstrings, from the early unrequited love of Noah Calhoun, to love found, to his ultimate acts of devotion in his old age. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Notebook
Review: Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson fell in love fourteen years ago in New Bern, North Carolina. They spent one summer together, but this summer would change their lives forever. Will their love survive trying ends? Noah Calhoun, a well-rounded character, comes back to his hometown, New Bern, after being away fourteen years. In order to get over the loss of his first love, Noah moves away; he comes back in order to start over and to finally put the past, and her, behind him.
After fourteen years, Allie, also a well-rounded character in the novel, returns to New Bern to see Noah on hearing of his homecoming. She feels obligated to tell Noah the news of her engagement. She knows deep in her heart he is the only one for her, but feels time has distanced them. While seeing each other again, sparks begin to fly, and they each fall in love once again. Allie is torn between Lon, her fiancé, and Noah, her first and only love. Even though she wants to stay with Noah, she feels she would be unfair to Lon and would never be able to forgive herself. Allie leaves Noah to return to Lon. Noah knows deep in his heart her choice will result in him never seeing her again. Noah's heart breaks once again, just like it did fourteen years ago, when she left the first time. Allie is torn between her head and her heart, but chooses Lon over Noah anyway. The notebook ends here, but the novel does not. Allie returns to Lon but only for a short time. She tells Lon of her true feelings for Noah. He is heartbroken and upset, but he shows his true love for her by letting her go. Allie picks her heart, chooses Noah, and returns for the last time to New Bern. Noah and Allie marry and live a complete life of forty-nine years together, but after forty-five years of marriage their lives take a terrible turn. Both Allie and Noah are diagnosed with malignant diseases. Their love for one another is ultimately tested, but their true love survives in the end. The Notebook is a formula fiction novel. Noah meets Allie. Noah loses Allie. Noah gets Allie back. The boy-girl analogy is summarized and developed through the novel's plot. Although the plot is strengthened with other analogies, the formula fiction is the most obvious. The true and pure power of love to overpower and overcome all obstacles is the reoccurring theme in The Notebook. Noah and Allie's love is evaluated many times in this novel. Their true love, as all true love does, survives in the end. The theme develops throughout the novel; though it is never stated, of course, you understand it as the plot thickens. Through love and tragedy, Sparks created a wonderful work of literature in some minds. Whether you view The Notebook as a love story or heartbreaking story, you should be intrigued none-the-less. I, personally, view this book as a wonderful escape novel and enjoyed reading it.
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Summary: A LOVE THAT NEVER DIES
Review: I loved this story! Their hearts were seperated by time and distance. Then several years later, they meet again. Has their loved faded, or Is that old flame still there? Read it and find out. It was interesting to see how our decisions we make, can change our lives, and the lives of those around us. This is a tear jerker, but it also makes you smile. It's important to recognize, how precious love is and savor every moment.
Rating: 
Summary: so died Emma Bovary
Review: It was books like this that killed Emma Bovary, and would that she had taken them all with her to her grave. An elderly man reads to an elderly woman every day from an aged notebook that he carries around with him. Within its pages is told the story of Noah Taylor Calhoun, a young Southerner, and of his great teenage passion for Allison Nelson. Alas, their affair came a cropper because she was of higher social station then him. But in the intervening years, during which he has sought his fortune in the North and fought in WWII, both have been unable to completely commit their hearts to others, because of the bond that still exists between them. But now, as she is about to marry an upper crust lawyer, Allison journeys to Noah's farm, where he has essentially secluded himself, to see what remains of the desire they once shared. Well, guess what ? A fair bit remains. And as the newly reunited lovers reminisce and feel out the situation, so to speak, Allison's mother and her fiancé come rushing into town to see just what she's getting herself into. Will Allison choose Noah or the lawyer, and which one is the old man who's reading her the notebook ? For one incredibly brief moment, I actually entertained the idea that Nicholas Sparks was going to throw us a curve and that it would turn out that the lawyer and Allison had shared fifty years of loving marriage, such that he remained so devoted that he could even read to her about these painful memories, that the message of the book would be that passion is all well and good, and exciting enough when you are young and stupid, but that it is a transitory and relatively meaningless thing, while love endures, and genuine love lasts for a lifetime. There's even a line that raises the possibility, when Allison acknowledges to herself that she doesn't actually love Noah, but is instead in love with the youthful lust they once had for one another. But Sparks tips his hand when she recalls the words her mother used to get her to break off with Noah all those years ago : [S]ometimes, our future is dictated by what we are, as opposed to what we want. Clearly this sentiment is intended to be abhorrent to us. Contrast it with the admonition she receives from Noah : You can't live your life for other people. You've got to do what's right for you, even if it hurts
some people you love. Ah, such is the monstrously selfish ethos of the romantic : we each only have one great love; it's rarely the person we're with at the moment; but when the "right" person comes along, all boorish behavior on our parts is to be excused; seize the moment--the consequences be damned; gimme, gimme, gimme, I want, I want... GRADE : D
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