6
Feb132010
Be My Valentine – BOOK REVIEW: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
by Carolyn • Posted in 4 Star Reviews
Title: The Notebook
Author: Nicholas Sparks
Publisher: Sphere
Publication Date: 1 Nov 2007
Paperback: 189 pages
Genre: Romance
Rating: 8/10
Summary:
North Carolina, October 1946. Noah Calhoun has recently returned from war: he tries to forget the horrors he has seen and experienced by restoring an old plantation home. But though his days are spent working, his nights too often give way to dreams of his past.
Fourteen years ago, Noah fell in Love with a girl, and he is still haunted by her memory but convinced he will never find her again. But when the past slips into the present, Noah realises his ghosts are never far away.
Review:
The Notebook is a difficult book to review. I have seen the film, which I absolutely loved, and which is now one of my all time favourite romance flicks. As I read the book I could only imagine the characters as they were in the film. Fortunately for me, this was fine as I think the actors are great, and now I have also read the book, a perfect match for Allie and Noah.
I also had difficulty with reading the actual story that was told within the pages. I kept filling in the blanks with scenes from the film. I think this was because the book didn’t show the whole story of Allie and Noah, just the part where they see each other again after many years apart. The young romance we are shown in the movie are just fleeting memories and flashbacks in the book. The movie gives us a lot more detail of certain times in Allie and Noah’s life that weren’t actually developed fully in the book.
The Notebook is a very quick read at only 189 pages and a part of me wishes that it was a lot longer. I wish the book showed us the story of young Allie and Noah and let us live and feel their romance and passion and what it meant to them. The fact they fell in love again after fourteen years apart with just a few minutes together would have been more deeply felt by me had I lived through their romance all those years ago.
The film also had a profound affect on me regarding Noah and Allie and the difficulties they faced in old age. I think the impact would have been far greater when reading the book, if I had been shown the whole story of Allie and Noah. And I think this is why I prefer the movie to the book, which is very unusual for me, as I usually dislike or am disappointed with movie adaptations as directors seem to change so much. But the director of The Notebook film was very respectful and there are only minor changes and maybe a different interpretation of the ending. But again, I was okay with it as I actually preferred it to the ending of the book, which was a little ambiguous for my taste.
Overall I loved The Notebook. Sparks did a great job capturing emotions and pulling hard on my heart strings. It still brought tears to my eyes, although didn’t have me blubbering like the movie. This is a sweet love story. It’s sad as well as beautiful. It also reminds us of our own mortality, of love, loss, life and death. And it broke my heart.
Verdict:
If you enjoy reading love stories or watching romance movies then this book is certainly for you. I really enjoyed it, but for me it doesn’t come close to the impact that the film had on me, but this may be because I already knew the story and what was coming. However, I whole heartedly recommend this book, you won’t be disappointed (I also say, go rent the movie!)
This book was from my own personal library.
6 Comments
Nice review. I liked the book, but much prefer the film. It left me blubbing like an idiot!
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Nice review BCC. I actually preferred the movie over the book and I don't say that often.
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I just read and reviewed The Notebook last week. I agree completely. The movie was really great and turned out to be very true to the book. I too could only picture the actors as the characters but it didn't seem to upset my reading of it. I liked the ending of the movie better than the book too. Great review.
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Most of the time I usually say the book is better but the movie was definitely better for me in this case.
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Thanks for stopping by everyone – I'm not usually one for movie adaptations either, so I am very surprised by myself when I say I prefer the movie, but I just do. I have watched it several times now and I still blub like a baby every time. And Ryan Gosling *sigh*
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I actually loved the book more than the movie!
"The Wedding" is kinda like the 2nd part of "The Notebook". It dips a little bit into Noah and Allie after "The Notebook" but it mainly focuses on one of their kids.
It's still a very interesting read.
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