source: purchased
title: The Notebook
author: Nicholas Sparks
genre: romance
pages: 165
published: 1996
first line: Who am I?
rated: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Blurb:
Every so often a love story so captures our hearts that it becomes more than a story-it becomes an experience to remember forever. The Notebook is such a book. It is a celebration of how passion can be ageless and timeless, a tale that moves us to laughter and tears and makes us believe in true love all over again…
At thirty-one, Noah Calhoun, back in coastal North Carolina after World War II, is haunted by images of the girl he lost more than a decade earlier. At twenty-nine, socialite Allie Nelson is about to marry a wealthy lawyer, but she cannot stop thinking about the boy who long ago stole her heart. Thus begins the story of a love so enduring and deep it can turn tragedy into triumph, and may even have the power to create a miracle…
My thoughts:
Let me start my review off with a *sigh*.
Sigh.
I have shied from reading The Notebook
Published in 1996, The Notebook
While the book and the movie differ in a few ways, they are pretty much the same. I wanted to read my favorite lines :”She had come back into his life like a sudden flame, blazing and streaming into his heart. Noah stayed up all night contemplating the certain agony he knew would be his, if he were to lose her twice….” But, alas it wasn’t to be, those lines are solely in the film version as were a few other favorites.
I like Noah’s character very much. He is a strong hero, quiet and poetic. Whats not to like? In the novel you really see that he is a lover of poetry and melts Allie’s heart with the way he speaks to her. His being poetic is one of the reasons she falls in love with him. I also enjoyed the beautiful love letters he writes to her.
“A living poem” had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others.
p.31
While I enjoyed the novel, the film version is still my favorite. It was nice however to finally read the book. I did get teary eyed towards the end even though I knew what was going to happen and seeing it through Noah’s eyes got me.
Author Nicholas Sparks has a way with words and the sweet romances he pens tend to whisk me away very easily. He has got such a great handle on writing romances and love stories that are heartfelt. The Notebook is a favorite, right up there with Nights in Rodanthe
Noah watched her from the corner of his eye. God, she’s beautiful, he thought. And inside, he ached.
p.46
About the author:
Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with over 100 million copies sold worldwide, in more than 50 languages, including over 65 million copies in the United States alone.
Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was published in 1996 by Warner Books.
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Disclaimer: This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. I purchased my copy of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.
the bookworm 
I have not read this nor have I seen the movie.
I tend to like stories that involve things from the past welling up into the present.
It is interesting that you prefer the film version of this story.
I have similar feelings about some book/film combinations. I often feel this way when I think that book is non that great but that the story makes for better film material.
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I watched the movie, meh
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Naida, I know you enjoy reading romances, so I’m glad you had the chance to read The Notebook! Thank you for sharing some thoughts and impressions about the book. I didn’t realize the author was so young when he wrote it (but that makes sense). I read this several years ago (as I’ve mentioned before), and have also seen the movie a few times.
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Hi Naida,
I have only read one Nicholas Sparks book and to be honest, I didn’t find it quite as ‘slushy’ as this one sounds.
However as you have also read a couple of his later books, do you think that his writing style and depth of storylines, has improved with age and experience?
“’A living poem’ had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others” – would have to be the most descriptive and romantic words I have come across in a book share, for quite some time 🙂
Like many other commenters, I don’t tend to both read the book and watch the film of a story, it’s strictly one or the other for me.
Thanks for sharing such an honest review. I hope that all is well with you 🙂
Yvonne
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This book made me cry and cry at the end . . . Both the book and movie. I read it years ago, but the ending has stuck with me.
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I have neither seen it nor read it but so many of my friends rave about it. I think I need to check it out, I may start with the movie as you prefered it and go from there.
Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net
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Gota get the movie from the library as I probably won’t read the book!
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Whilst not a particular fan of this author myself I know his books are hugely popular.
It’s interesting to note that whilst you enjoyed the novel, the film version is still your favourite. Something I have heard several times, not only about this book but also about several of his other books that have been dramatised.
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I’ve seen several of the movie adaptations of his novels but have never read one. Maybe I should give one a whirl one of these days! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
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I remember reading this book and loving it. I haven’t watched the film adaptation though.
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I haven’t read any of Nicholas Sparks’s books or watched the movie adaptation of The Notebook, but posts like this tempt me to 🙂
Recently I watched a romance you might be interested in. If you haven’t seen it, it’s The Age of Adaline. The movie isn’t as strong as it could have been (I think the filmmakers chose to gloss over parts of the story & character that were interesting, and they went instead with a more predictable set of scenes in the middle). But Blake Lively is really good in it as the lead role. And it also involves US history (the main character is a woman who has stopped aging, and is really 107 but looks like she’s in her late 20s/early 30s). Plus she works in an archive library at the start of the movie and the lead actor woos her with some books at one point.
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