The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook

By Nicholas Sparks

Publisher: Warner Books, 1996

213 pages, Library book (hardcover)

Date Finished: 3/9/2011

Genres: Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction

A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her. The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love, a story of miracles that will stay with you forever. Set amid the austere beauty of coastal North Carolina in 1946, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner returned home from World War II. Noah, thirty-one, is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories. . . until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Allie Nelson, twenty-nine, is now engaged to another man, but realizes that the original passion she felt for Noah has not dimmed with the passage of time. Still, the obstacles that once ended their previous relationship remain, and the gulf between their worlds is too vast to ignore. With her impending marriage only weeks away, Allie is forced to confront her hopes and dreams for the future, a future that only she can shape. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments, and fundamental changes that affect us all. Shining with a beauty that is rarely found in current literature, The Notebook establishes Nicholas Sparks as a classic storyteller with a unique insight into the only emotion that really matters.
~from goodreads.com~

~First Line: "Who am I?"
~Last Line: "For at that moment, the world is full of wonder as I feel her fingers reach for the buttons on my shirt and slowly, ever so slowly, she begins to undo them one by one."

Review: Sadly, I've never seen this movie before. I know: Tragic (notice the capital t). But I really do hope I see it sometime soon; it was an amazing novel. Sparks just keeps making a great impression on my with his work.

The main characters, Nick and Allie, meet each other one summer and are just love struck. I loved both of their characters. They would do anything for each other, and I liked that.

The whole plot of the book was just marvelous. As usual, Sparks' prologue pulled me in automatically. The old man's story stopped abruptly, and it all ended with him looking at his poor wife everyday and thinking about the beautiful life they'd had together. Too gorgeous.

The characters were well-defined. There were some points where I could actually guess hat the charries were thinking or what they were going to do. Bit that part wasn't too bad. I loved how years later after their first summer, Allie and Nick reunite. It was just so cute and romantic to me.

I'm not sure which was more of my favorite character, Nick or Allie. Ther were both so amazing that I just really can't pick. Their love for each other was so out there; they're tied I suppose.

The Notebook, overall, was a really good book. Now I just need to see the film. You know what other movie I still need to see? The Last Song. Sad, I know, lol :).

Plot Rating: 4.5
Character Rating: 4.5
Cover Rating: 4
GoodReads Rating: 5

Overall rating:
and a half :)