The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
3stars (2.6)
From Kobo:
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 Review:
This is the story of Noah and Allie Calhoun. They spent a summer together as teenagers and fell in love. Both did not forget each other nor did they ever find that type of love they share over that brief time with anyone else. Fourteen years later, Allie is engaged and seeks out Noah for what seems to be closure but ends up being a rekindling. Later in life the couple discovers Allie has Alzheimer's. They move into a nursing home where Noah reads from a Notebook (containing stories of their life) to her every day.
There I go again reading another sappy story. This is a touching love story. Allie disease is a hard disease to deal with for the person affected and his/her family and friends. I used to work for Lifeline (you've heard of it "I've fallen and I can't get up" commercials) and it was hard to deal with as a stranger on the other end of the line. I think what makes this story so popular is that this disease is scary for nearly anyone who has heard of it (especially the older one gets) and to have someone would have the love, dedication, and patience to confront such heartbreak and frustration everyday is enviable.
The characters lacked any depth. The book focused on the love the two shared but you didn't really get to know them as outside of that love.Who were they before that met, who were they during the relationship, who would they have been had they not gotten back together? These questions were never explored (there were brief glimpses). I would have love to have known how they continued to deepen their bond. All in all it was a good love story that makes you long for their kind of love.
