Book Review: The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

When The Notebook came to the big screen, I thought it was just a movie – and it is. It’s a chick-flick romance that is unique only in that we get to see romance into the elderly years, when Alzheimer’s sets in and loved ones pray for even ten minutes a day of lucidity. It stars Ryan Gosling (Remember the Titans) and Rachel McAdams (Mean Girls), two actors who are able to bring a little magic into any sour film. Then I read the book by Nicholas Sparks –- a masterpiece that stuck with me long after I turned the last tear-covered page. The movie director, Nick Cassavetes (who also brought us Johnny Depp’s most embarrassingly bad film, The Astronaut’s Wife), could not have done justice to the novel by any means.

The first printing of The Notebook was in 1996, and it was one of Nicholas Spark’s first novels. Since then, the romantic genius has written A Walk to Remember, Dear John, and The Last Song, and you’ve no doubt heard of these as they, too, were made into movies this decade. The Notebook tells its story in retrospect. A man in his later years reads to an Alzheimer’s patient from an old notebook, reminding her of a romantic story she once knew, in order to bring her back to a lucid state. The story in the raggedy notebook is of two lovers, Allie and Noah, separated by World War II, who reunite seven years later. Allie has been engaged to another man during this time but needs to find peace with the first love she left behind. Unlike many romance novels, this book isn’t pulled along by sex – probably why it wasn’t much meant for the big screen. Instead, we are left wondering, “Who is this old woman being read to? Will she remember?” “Will the lovers in the notebook reunite after seven years apart, or will Allie keep her engagement?” and “Why didn’t I read this sooner?!”

Article Author: Katharine M. Sparrow

University student and waitress, I cry easily and laugh deeply. I've been writing, editing, and tutoring writing in and out of school for years. I am now the writer of Sore Feet Waitress on blogger, and a proud blogcritic writer.

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