“We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.”
----

This book is the reason why I’m an hopeless romantic and I was never more proud to be one. Considering the fact that I love the movie and cried like a baby while watching it, I should’ve been prepared for this book. In fact, I knew I would love the story the second I thrifted the book. But still, I was not prepared for the last 60 pages. at. all.

In the beginning we follow Noah Calhoun and Allison Nelson in the 1940s in North Carolina. One summer they meet – and obviously - this summer is becoming a dream for both of them. But in the end they still live in different social strata and have to figure out what they want their life to look like.

Yes, this story is no new invention, but that’s good, because it was never the aim of the book to create something new.

“I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough..”

The notebook is about love, but not about the basic love you find in other books, it’s about real, deep and indestructible love. The love with which Noah loved Allie and Allie loved Noah.

Written in the most incredible heart-warming and heart-breaking way, we follow their relationship, through good times, bad times, sickness and health.

Noah and Allie cherish each other so much. Reading about their love and also reading about how hard it actually is to love someone, was just incredible. All the things you endure for the other. I’m still tearing up now, because in my mind I’m still in the last 60 pages of the book. I want to find this love in my life, I want to have a Noah, who talks about me the way he did about Allie.

I won’t spoil too much of the book, because I’m selfish and want you all to read it. And please do actually read it, I swear you won’t regret it. The notebook has now become one of my favourite books.

<33

The tears...oh the angsty teen tears. Check out my video 5 Books that *Actually* Made Me Cry for all the juicy details.

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No need for the tissue box here!

my heart is too shriveled for this

quite possibly the sweetest love story ever. I wept like a baby.

Have you ever come across something so undeniably cute that you feel like you may be crushed by the weight of squee that’s about to explode from you chest.


Kind of like when you see this?

That’s what reading The Notebook was like. The romantic tone of The Notebook was both its greatest asset and biggest downfall. Nobody wants to be crushed by squee anymore
than they want to drown in their own tears and The Notebook wants to destroy you. Never doubt that. Whether it’s leaching your bodily liquids out of you until you resemble The Ice Man or boring you to death.

Really, those are the only two options you’ve got with this book. Who can stand to see something as cute as that kitten up there all day every day? You need something not so cute to break up the boredom. Similarly, in The Notebook, the long, romantic verses filled with poetry and stunning imagery will ultimately become tiresome the longer you read it.

Probably it’s just me. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not exactly the most romantic person out there. In my relationship it’s my husband who is the romantic. He’s the one that makes me breakfast in bed every single morning and puts a rose from the garden on my tray. He’s the one that calls me to see how my day’s gone and sends me soppy, romantic messages.

If you’re a sentimental, sweet kind of person (two adjectives nobody has ever applied to me) then I’m sure you’d like this book and it would do you justice. For those who like a little more “action” in the literary sack then this book may tend to waffle on and be overly mushy.


Now THAT’S more like it!

The Notebook (The Notebook #1), Nicholas Sparks

The Notebook is an achingly tender story about the enduring power of love. A story about two teenagers from opposite sides of the track who meet one fateful summer and fall in love for a lifetime.

In The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks write the novel by the grandparents of his wife, who had been married for more than 60 years when he met them.

In The Notebook, he tried to express the long romantic love of that couple. The story takes place before and after the war.

The novel opens with Noah Calhoun, an old man, reading to a woman in a nursing home. He tells her the following story: Noah, 24, returns from World War II to his town of New Bern, North Carolina. He finishes restoring an antebellum-style house, after his father's death. Meanwhile, Allie, 24, sees the house in the newspaper and decides to pay him a visit.

They are meeting, again, after a 7-year separation, which followed their brief but passionate summer romance when her family was visiting the town. They were separated by class, as she was the daughter of a wealthy family, and he worked as a laborer in a lumberyard.

Seeing each other brings on a flood of memories and strong emotions in both of them. They have dinner together and talk about their lives and the past. Allie learns that Noah had written letters to her for one year after their breakup.

She realizes that her mother hid the letters so that Allie could never receive them and would conclude that Noah had forgotten about her. They talk about what could have happened between them without her mother's interference.

At the end of the night, Noah invites Allie to come back the next day and promises her a surprise. She decides to see him again. During this time, her fiance, Lon, tries to reach her at the hotel. When Allie does not respond to his calls, he begins to worry.

The next day, Noah takes Allie on a canoe ride in a small lake where swans and geese swim. She is enchanted. On their way back, they are caught in a storm and end up soaked. When they return to his house, they talk again about how important they were to each other, and how their feelings have not changed. Noah and Allie share a kiss and make love.

Allie's mother shows up the next morning and gives Allie the letters from Noah. When her mother leaves, Allie is torn and has a decision to make. She knows she loves Noah, but she does not want to hurt Lon. Noah begs her to stay with him, but she decides to leave. She cries all the way back to the hotel and starts reading the letters her mother returned to her. At the hotel, her fiance Lon is waiting in the lobby.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هشتم ماه فوریه سال2000میلادی

عنوان: دفتر خاطرات؛ نویسنده: نیکولاس اسپارکس؛ مترجم: نفیسه معتکف؛ نشر تهران، لیوسا، سال1378، در213ص، شابک9645634032؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا سده 20م

مهدی سجودی مقدم نیز با عنوان: دفترچه خاطرات (و با عنوان فرعی: «شورِ عشق») کتاب را ترجمه و توسط انتشارات «مهراندیش» منتشر شده است

رمانی عاشقانه است، از «نیکلاس اسپارکس»، که براساس داستانی واقعی، نگاشته شده است؛ این کتاب، بعدها مبنای اقتباسی سینمایی، به همین نام شد؛ داستان، در دوران پیش و پس از جنگ، رخ می‌دهد؛ «نوآ» و «آلی»، تابستان خوبی را، با هم سپری می‌کنند، اما خانوده ی «آلی»، و واقعیت‌های اقتصادی – اجتماعی آن دوران، مانع از به هم رسیدن این دو جوان، می‌شود؛ هرچه «نوا» تلاش می‌کند، پس از جدایی نیز، با «آلی» ارتباط داشته باشد، نامه‌ هایش بی‌ پاسخ می‌مانند؛ عاقبت «نوآ»، در آخرین نامه‌ اش، به عشق جاودان، و نامیرای خویش اعتراف می‌کند؛ «نوآ»، به شمال سفر می‌کند، تا شغلی مناسب پیدا کند، و یاد و خاطره ی «آلی» را، از یاد ببرد، و عاقبت، به جنگ می‌رود؛ پس از خدمت به کشورش، به خانه باز می‌گردد، تا خانه‌ ای قدیمی را، بازسازی کند؛ مقاله‌ ای در روزنامه، در مورد تلاش‌های او، برای همین کار، توجه «آلی» را، جلب می‌کند، و پس از چهارده سال، نزد او می‌رود؛ دو روزی را، با هم می‌گذرانند، و «آلی» تصمیم می‌گیرد، بین دو مردی که دوست میدارد، یکی را برگزیند؛ ...؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 28/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 06/09/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Eine wirklich schöne Liebesgeschichte, aber wenn man den Film schon kennt, muss man nicht das Buch dazu lesen. Ich glaube ich mochte den Film sogar mehr als das Buch

i feel like people who hate allie and noah’s relationship in the movie for being toxic need to read this because like… where art thou drama?

As an author, I learned that this romantic, simple style is not my cup of tea. Although I enjoy cheesy comedies (the work of Capra springs to mind), I don't yearn to write them myself. The original love story of this novel was a little too pat and plain-- it was too clear that this was the love of a lifetime. Perhaps I'm jaded, but I really think a lifetime of love is more irritating-- after all, no two people can be absolutely perfect for each other. In fact, that irritation and friction, and learning how to live with each other is what impresses me so much about long term relationships. I'm amazed that my parents are still together 29 years later because I know they've annoyed the hell out of each other-- and yet they were willing to work through that frustration because they believed their relationship (and our family) was worth it. The writing style in the beginning of the novel reminded me of my own writing during high school-- that rush of first love, that hope that you've found that one person to complete you and make your life worthwhile.

For me, the most interesting, compelling part of The Notebook was the last segment. (If you haven't read the book, be aware that rest of this review will contain spoilers.) When the main character's love for his wife of forty-nine years triumphs even through Alzheimer's relentless blanket of memories, I was inspired. More than their love for each other, and the miracle that was their relationship, I was touched by Noah's willingness to live life in the present moment. At the end of their life together, Noah's goal each day is to fall in love with his wife again, even though she doesn't remember him. Even if he never sees that flash of recognition in her eyes, he is satisfied, as shown by this passage:

There is beauty where we sit this afternoon, Allie and I. This is the pinnacle of my life. They are here at the creek: the birds, the geese, my friends. Their bodies float on the cool water, which reflects bits and pieces of their colors and make them seem larger than they really are. Allie too is taken in by their wonder, and little by little we get to know each other again.

My goal is to say and truly believe that line in the middle every day: "This is the pinnacle of my life." That is the best lesson of the novel: to find happiness in simply being alive and appreciating the beauty and love around us.

(What? I read a cheesy book! You'd BETTER expect a cheesy review!)

“After dinner, I become afraid despite myself. I know I should be joyous, for this reunion is the proof that love can still be ours, but I know the bell has tolled this evening. The sun has long since set and the thief is about to come, and there is nothing I can do to stop it. So I stare at her and wait and live a lifetime in these last remaining moments.”

It is a touching, poignant and compelling story that will forever linger in you with nostalgia. It resonates with an emotional vibrancy that will enchant one, making it remarkable and memorable.

This is the best love story I've read so far. The beauty lies in the sweet little moments larger than life that they have spent together in a small south american village. The romance between Noah and Allie is Sublime!

Nicholas Sparks avoided much of Drama to make it a perfect Romance in the midst of nature. All the Love Letters and Poetry of Whitman, Tennyson, Thomas and Browning was described aesthetically.

I have a lot of feelings with this book which is difficult to express.

Where I got the book: I have absolutely no idea what this was doing on the Shelf of Shame. I'm really hoping it was a freebie from some event, because seriously, I wouldn't have bought it would I? Another Bad Book Buddy Read with Crystal Starr Light.

Bottom line:



Well, there's no accounting for taste, and if you like sappy Twoo Luv stories this is your man. My mileage varied, mostly because I was reading critically with ALL my teeth and claws out, so I'll forgive you if you enjoyed it because yeah, I can see where the enjoyment could happen.

My emotions changed as I read through this novel. They were, in order, Incredulity, Boredom and Depression.

Incredulity

Well, THAT got off to a good start when I realized that pretty much the entire novel was going to be a flashback.



And increased exponentially when I encountered clichés such as the poetry-book-that-stopped-a-bullet and girl-undresses-in-front-of-mirror.



This is the scene-setting exposition part of the story, which continues for an alarming 38 pages but really should have been much longer, because it's a sketch of a teenage love story (yawn) with parental opposition (YAWN) and How The War Matured Me.



And of course Noah is a gentle poet who likes to take things slooooooowly and commune with Nature, sort of like Walt Whitman with less hair (Whitman is liberally quoted, which vexed me because quoting poetry in novels is a pet peeve of mine. Also song lyrics.)

Boredom

The yawns set in big time once we got into the Twoo Luv story of how Allie decides to cheat on her fiancé by looking up her old boyfriend, making sure her dress gets REALLY WET so that her nipples stand out like hard little diamonds or something, and then rubbing her hands all over Noah's chest. Oh yeah, and suggesting he crack open a bottle just in case her inhibitions don't drop low enough.

This, naturally, leads to a massive bonkathon extending over several days.



After which Allie, who should pretty much be unable to walk by now, actually has the gall to do the it's-not-you-it's-me speech and LEAVE. Only to be bounced back by an even MORE clichéd scene involving Mom and, I swear I'm not making this up, the words Follow Your Heart.



Depression

And then the story jumps forward half a century and everyone's dying which SHOULD cheer me up, given what I think about these two, but in fact it reminds me that all Twoo Luv stories pretty much end this way. There's a REASON why we usually end with a wedding, you know. At my age I do NOT need reminding that if we're lucky we'll end up holding each other's arthritic hands in a nursing home.

And what really gets me is that of course they've lived wildly successful artistic lives because OF COURSE Noah has reawakened the artist in Allie that was stomped on by Life and she's become famous. Even though the Allie we see in the backstory is just a bundle of sexual and emotional neediness with none of the drive and passion of a real artist. I mean if she were that great she'd be producing art without Noah having to tell her to do it, right? And then when we jump forward she's completely lost the plot anyway, so basically Allie remains entirely devoid of character. And Noah's just Wet Poet Type, Standard Issue.

Did I say earlier that I can see why people enjoy this book? Well, yes. If you like stories without much depth that are engineered to get the tears flowing and make you feel all AHHHHH at the end, grab a box of tissues and dig in. On second thought, watch the movie because I believe it may be better. Oh look, here it is!



Yep, its all wet.