The Notebook (Lida Hills)

The Notebook
By Nicholas Sparks.
Warner Books
207 pages

I decided to read The Notebook for several reasons. Firstly, I’ve seen the movie The Notebook and absolutely love it. It is one of my favorite movies so I decided to try the book and compare. Also I heard that the book is much better than the movie so I wanted to see for myself.

The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks is one of the best romantic novels of all time. It is about two completely opposite people who fall deeply in love with one another. It starts when they are younger and Noah sees this beautiful girl named Allie. Unfortunately Allie is not feeling the same towards Noah. As days pass Allie and Noah get to know each other more and their love begins. Together they share the most exciting and exhilarating summer of their lives, full with laughter, love, and new experiences. The only let down is Allie’s family is rich and do not approve of Noah because he does not have the same status as them. The summer nears to the end and Allie’s family moves out of the summer house, leaving Noah and Allie with no other option but to end their relationship. Throughout the rest of the book you go through the pain and hardship with both of them dealing with life without one another. As you read on you get to understand how great love can be and how your love can conquer anything.

This book is intended for the hopeless romantic because it is a sweet story proving that love can endure any situation.

Nicholas Spark’s writing style is very descriptive and complex. All of the passages and letters in the novel provide many complex words that give the reader a vision or understating of what he is trying to say. An example is “And that leaves me with the belief that miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things.” (Sparks 5)

Through out the novel there are many passages that stuck with me. The first passage is “She reached over and touched his hand, hesitantly, gently; amazed that after all these years he’d somehow known exactly what she’d needed to hear. When there eyes locked, she once again realized how special he was. And for just a fleeting moment, a tiny wisp of time that hung in the air like fireflies in the summer skies, she wondered if she in love with him again.” (Sparks 64) I really like this one because it is so filled with details and you feel like you are in the moment with them. Also this passage shows when she realizes that the feelings she had when they were younger are still there.
The second passage is “God, she’s beautiful, he thought. And inside, he ached. For something had happened during dinner. Quite simply, he had fallen in love again. He knew that now as they sat next to one another. Fallen in love with a new Allie, not just her memory. But then, he had never really stopped, and this, he realized was his destiny.” (Sparks 70) This passage was powerful. I liked how this one describes the moment that Noah had realized the love he had towards Allie. I also thought it was a very sweet.
The third passage that really struck me was “…I kiss her lips; her cheeks, and listen as she takes a breath. She murmurs softly, “Oh Noah…I’ve missed you.” Another miracle-the greatest of all!-and there’s no way I can stop the tears as we begin to slip towards heaven itself. For at that moment, the world is full of wonder…” (Sparks 207) That passage is one of my favorites because it thought it was bittersweet. It was a great way to end the book but at the same time very sad. It made me happy that Allie finally remembered Noah at the very end.

To me the primary theme of this book is love can do amazing things. Two examples are “When the lump in this throat subsided, he whispered to her, “You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have. I love you, Allie, more than you can ever imagine. I always have, and I always will.” (Sparks 126) “…She worried about the feelings that had taken its place, the stirrings that had begun to sift and swirl in her pores like gold dust in river pans. She’d tried to deny them, hide from them, but no she realized that she didn’t want them to stop. It had been years since she’d felt this way.” (Sparks 71-72) Both of these passages demonstrate the theme because Allie and Noah were apart for so many years but that didn’t matter because their love hadn’t changed a bit. It shows that people and situations can tear a couple apart but love can bring them back to one another, no matter how long it takes.

I give The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks an A. This novel deserves this grade because it is a charming book about love. The author is extremely descriptive and makes the reader feel as though they are there. The love Noah and Allie share is intense, sweet, and at the same time sad. The story is exciting and makes it difficult for you to put down.