The Notebook

Rating:
Summary: Could not put down this true tale of romance!
Review: Couldn't put it down! Was like being a 1st hand witness to the intimate details of what made 2 people 1 -- reminded me of my grandparents who have been married 61 years and together 68 -- passion is a miracle and this couple was likely to experience it

Rating:
Summary: An easy, forgettable read
Review: Nothing really happens in this book. It reads like a high school student assignment. The end has a touching aspect to it which brought it up from a one-star review to a two-star review. If there's bad weather at the beach and it's the only book there, go ahead and read it. If, however, you have the choice to do anything else with the precious moments in your life, do that instead. There are better love stories.

Rating:
Summary: Every page will enrapture you to read the next!
Review: This romantic book was the best I've read in a long time. Every page made you want to read the next. The characters came alive to you as you put yourself in the story. I really admired the patience that the male character had in waiting for his beloved to return to him. Sparks is very good in detailing the feelings of the characters as well as the surroundings. The only disappointment was that on one part near the end, it leaves the rest to your imagination, but Sparks is such a good writer! I found myself enraptured in this story that I read the entire book in two hours!

Rating:
Summary: Lots of mush & gush
Review: I found the story engaging, but not very believable. These 2 people are portrayed as too "perfect." Maybe I'm cynical, but I got tired of all the "mush & gush." He was perfect, she was perfect, their children were perfect, their home was perfect, their lifestyle was perfect, their faces & bodies were perfect, their relationship was perfect... Whew! Give me a break. I closed the book dazed & confused. It seemed like the story just stopped. It didn't end. I've concluded that the narrator died at that moment, but that's not so according to my friends. My book club is in a heated debate over this. This debate has been the most interesting part of reading this book... wondering what on earth Nicholas Sparks is describing there at the end - death or new life? I reread it several times looking for the answer, but I'm still at a loss. Perhaps THAT is what Sparks intended? To keep us guessing & wondering & drawing our own conclusions???

Rating:
Summary: Truly one of the best books I've ever read...
Review: I read The Notebook in 2 days because I could not put it down - except to sleep! I normally read thrillers and mysteries but my mom raved about The Notebook so I gave it a try. The only word of caution would be to have a very large box of tissues close at hand. I have lent this book to several friends (and one of their mom's) and all have loved this book.

Rating:
Summary: A terrible, maudlin book
Review: I think I picked out the book because I liked the cover and I liked the Bridges of Madison County. I read it one night when I couldn't sleep and realized in the middle that I must be reading something equivalent to a Harlequin romance. (I've never read a Harlequin romance, so I don't know.) I had to skim over a great deal of it because the writing was so bad. The mother's actions were unbelievable; "true love" at age 15 is very rare; and the Alzheimer's situation was unrealistic. I couldn't believe the fiance would have submitted without a fight, since he was such a control freak. The writing was too simplistic, trite, and maudlin. I felt cheated out of the money I spent to buy the book. I wish I could give it no stars.

Rating:
Summary: Greatest love story ever told
Review: I was enthralled by the twists and turns of this short novel. I wish that everyone had the opportunity to love the way that the characters in this novel loved one another. I also wish that this book had been made into a movie instead of "Message In A Bottle" which was a good read and a good movie....but doesn't hold a candle to the story presented in The Notebook.

Rating:
Summary: A touching story of the one love we are all searching for...
Review: ...but most of us will never find. I read through it in one day, couldn't put it away. It made me cry sometimes, especially at he end. I hope that Nicholas Sparks will go for more wonderful books like this one.

Rating:
Summary: simply said, i just loved it!!!
Review: All I can say about The Notebook by sparks is that it was wonderful. The story made me cry, and felt simpathy for the couple. And with this story i realized how rare true love is.. Many people might think that they can live without love, but i tell you that one way or another you and everyone in this earth will live times that wished had someone to care for them.........

Rating:
Summary: Badly written yet strangely compelling
Review: I almost threw this book down in frustration at the awful cliches of character and the syrupy style (which is repeated in Message in a Bottle). It reads like the film script it is surely destined to become...ie he wore a blue denim shirt and jeans (you can just imagine Hollywood actor in them). However something strange happened to me as I was reading it. I had just complained to my husband about it when something I read totally touched my heart, and I started to cry. This book is about love and devotion, working through hard times together. A powerful and universal theme. We as a race almost need to re-learn what true love is. Not just a feeling that happens, but in action, how we speak to one another, how we behave and act towards one another. what we are prepared to do to help one another. I am not talking co-dependent relationships here, I am talking reciprocity where both partners give of themselves equally. And towards the end of the book Noah is left to hold the torch of their love for both of them. A profoundly moving book and surprisingly so, given the characters are so weakly drawn. The number of rave reviews is surely a sign of how much we all need to read about reciprocal loving relationships and the power of holding possibilities for one another. Thanks Nicholas, you have inspired me to pick up my own pen!