I've seen this movie countless times - why the hell did it take me so long to finally read this book?!

I have no idea how many books I've read by Nicholas Sparks - but I do plan to read every single one of his (just like I plan to read every Jodi Picoult book). Now I love this movie, I never cried while watching it like some people, but I did enjoy the heck out of it. So, I was really surprised that I never read the book yet. Of course once I realized my big mistake I had to redeem myself.

I loved The Notebook! There's just something about Noah and Allie. Their relationship just feels so real, whether it's in the book or in the movie. You just fall in love with so early on and root for them throughout the entire book.

Now even though I said I didn't cry while watching the movie nor while reading the book - that doesn't mean I didn't get sad. Oh no, there were sad parts in both which of course made me sad. Very emotional - just not the constant ugly crying or the tears slowly falling down my cheeks. Yeah, sorry guys - I basically have no soul.

I did love this book. I could totally see myself rereading this book every year. Hell, it makes me want to find the movie and watch it right now. I'm excited for the next book in this series and I hope it's just as good if not better than this one.

Bring it on Nicholas Sparks!

کلیشه و دیگر هیچ

So if you are following me for long, you know I have a strange relationship with Nicholas Sparks books, I watched all of the adapted movies 5-6 years back and loved those, I wasn’t into English books reading back them. A walk to remember was my first Read and my favourite on of his. I also enjoyed Dear John but after that, all of the other started to feel the same. So I took a break a few months ago, Recently I decided to give Notebook a try( Notebook was the only movie I didn’t like, It was over-rated for me).

“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..”

So the Notebook also gave me the same vibes, same kind of characters who cheat on someone, but that someone isn’t a lead character so no one mind it at all, the same world, same instant connection…Whatever one did other forget it and forgive easily or wait for other for the whole life, I liked these stories back then now I just don’t feel any connection…When characters are teenage I can relate that they are reckless but most of the characters are in their 20’s or 30’s still they are hesitant to make decisions, It just doesn’t sit with me well.

“You can’t live your life for other people. You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if it hurts some people you love.”

It was the last chance I gave to his books, I read the blurb of his new book and it also sounds same to me. So I am sorry to say It is Good Bye Nicholas Sparks.

and just as a reminder, cheating on your fiancé won't propel you in a fantastically romantic love story, it will simply make a horrible person out of you !

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من کی هستم، و این داستان چگونه به پایان خواهد رسید؟ خورشید طلوع کرده است و کنار پنجره‌ای نشسته‌ام که مه‌آلود است از نفس زندگی سپری شده.
☀️
داستان از زبان مردی آغاز می‌شود که گرفتار بیماری سختی شده و هر لحظه منتظر فرارسیدن مرگش است. اما دوران انتظار این لحظات سخت را خاطراتی پر می‌کند که در دفتر خاطرات نوشته شده است. داستان زندگی او که به قول خودش برخی آن را تراژدی و برخی یک داستان رمانتیک می‌پندارند. پس با این کتاب وارد دنیای رمانتیک مرد و زنی جوان می‌شویم که بعد از گذر چهارده سال دوباره یکدیگر را ملاقات می‌کنند...
همیشه کتاب‌های رمانتیک برای من جذاب بودند و این کتاب هم دوست داشتم در حالی‌که یک داستان روان و خوش‌خوان را می‌خواندم، می
توانستم به لایه‌های عمیق احساسات شخصیت‌های داستان نفوذ کنم و گاهی آن‌ها را در زندگی خودم جستجو کنم. فکر می‌کنم که فیلم Notebook هم از این برگرفته شده( مطمئن نیستم).

***** 4.5 STARS *****

I first read this book when I was about 15 so this was almost not memorable for me though I’ve watched the movie thousands of times. (Even in the middle of reading this book this time around just because I wanted to double up being all in my feels.)

This book is just.... beautiful. The way Allie and Noah’s love for each other just spills out of the pages is just magical. I feel just so grateful to be able to read their story. Letter writing really knows how to tear at my heart strings. I’m a big letter writer and just think it’s such a wonderful way to articulate the way you feel so to read about it... ugh. My heart.
The letter Allie writes Noah made me sob. My girlfriend looks over and here I am at 8pm crying on the couch into these pages that I never wanted to end. Wonderful book. I am so glad that I read this again and I know I will a lot more in the future!!

The Notebook is the sappiest, cheesiest, most….er, romantic book I might’ve ever read. Nicholas Sparks weaves romantic lines from the simplest of words and they turn out cringey and good at the same time.

So, why the four stars? This book was given to me by my uncle when I was barely fourteen. I remember reading it then and wondering if he had actually read it, and then thinking that if he had, then he must consider me mature enough to read this book, and feeling quite proud of the fact. Back then, I swooned over the romance, though neither the characters nor the romance itself is swoon worthy. I remember really loving the miracle aspect of the novel, of how Sparks thought that miracles really do happen, of hoping I’d encounter a miracle myself and be forced to believe the same. Rereading it now, expecting what is to come, I knew there wasn’t going to be any mind-blowing moments or anything remotely close. This is merely the way it is for me, and not a book I’d recommend to others. Looking at all the one-star reviews, I understand why this novel failed to please so many readers, but nevertheless, it remains one of the very few books I own, and so, it’s too important for me to not love it. I realize I sound as cheesy and corny as Sparks does in this book, so I’d get on with the review.

Noah Taylor Calhoun has loved only once. The summer he turned seventeen, he met Allie Nelson at a festival in his home town of New Bern in North Carolina. Allie was there for nearly two months, but those two months lasted a lifetime for the two of them. They met each day and made memories and slowly fell irrevocably in love. Fast forward, Noah is thirty-one and alone, renovating an old house he had always loved - losing himself in work - trying to stay away from the memories of the hazel-eyed girl he’d once fallen in love with. Allie is twenty-nine, engaged, and lives a routine life she’d always thought she’d lead. But an encounter with each other was all they needed. The old memories rush in. Bonding over candle-light dinner and kayak rides, the two once again discover why they’d fallen for each other, and even more, that they’d never stopped.

Noah and Allie’s relationship while at first might seem like insta-love, there are a thousand memories that make up their chemistry, but unfortunately the author doesn’t deem them necessary enough to share with his readers. The summer they initially met is mentioned many times, but only in conversation. We don’t get to see what or why they fell in love, nor do we get to see the development that is so obviously there. Sparks makes it work though; he makes us believe that Noah and Allie truly share a wonderful past, that there were some wonderful moments that keep them bonded. I only wish we could’ve experienced it with them.

What I loved the most was the family dynamic in this book. Noah’s father has no role here, but he’s so often present in Noah’s thoughts. I love how he made his father sound like this wise old man, who’d loved his son and raised him to be the tough, nature-loving gentleman that he is. And then there is this one instance, where Noah talks about losing a child and how it feels, of growing up together with your family, bringing up kids – they all hit right on the spot. I also loved Allie’s mother, who despite everything, loved her daughter and wanted her to be happy no matter what.
The vivid, clear description of New Bern and the natural aura, the kayaking, canoeing, rain, art and paintings; everything felt heartrendingly nice to me. Even though this book is supposed to be set around the time of Second World War, we don’t get to see the bad side – the depression, the deaths, the bloodshed and poverty. I can’t decide if that is a good thing or bad.

The Romance? If you have the patience for long-drawn, meant-to-be-poetic-but-are-actually-sap kinda romantic letters and descriptions of sex, then maybe you’ll love this book. There’s no way in hell that actual people speak the way Noah does, there’s no way people actually write such cringe-worthy letters. It is unrealistic, yes, for the most part. But what do you expect from a romance? The chemistry between Noah and Allie felt real to me, but sometimes hasty. I’d say the character of Lon Hammond had no real significance in this book, and the male characters all act a little too gentlemanly (there are only two of them actually). But I loved reading the very realistic concerns of an old man groping over his upcoming death, reminiscing his long life and feeling ancient – they felt real and believable, as if the author himself had such thoughts bothering him.

The Ending ? was far too stretched and the author dwelt on the same thing again and again, as if he didn’t know how to end it all and was waiting for inspiration to strike. There were some fillers, some boring parts – unnecessary additions that could’ve been avoided. Otherwise, there wasn’t a real ending at all.

It's definitely has an heartwarming quality to it. But this didn't attack my emotions as I had thought it would. A sweet story about a man telling his wife who as Alzheimer's about their life. When they met, were apart and so on. It wasn't bad by any means just didn't pull my heart strings.

I will honestly never know what I truly think of this book because I watched the movie first and it was all I could imagine the entire time I was reading this...

I loved the movie - but I'm not sure how I feel about this.