The Notebook Reviews

• A Story of Love That Lasts A Lifetime

  
  By A3BIWTN2DA0YY2 on 2002-03-16
  Nicholas Sparks has become famous for writing the sweet and tender love story that appeals to the romantic in all of us. He doesn't disappoint with "The Notebook" as he weaves the tale of two teenagers, Noah and Allie, who meet one fateful summer and fall in love. Since the course of true love is never smooth, it should come as no surprise that Allie's parents do not approve of her relationship with Noah. He does not have the education, money, or social prominence they wish for their daughter. Allie and her parents move away and Noah writes to her for years, but after never receiving an answer gives up. WWII comes, lives change, but one thing remains constant---neither Allie nor Noah can forget the other. As Noah's friend Gus tells him, first love changes your life forever and no matter what else happens in your life, the memory of it stays with you. And so it is that fourteen years later and three weeks before her wedding, Allie finds herself driving to New Bern to find Noah for reasons she herself does not fully understand. Their reunion proves once again that they are true soulmates, but it that enough? Can Allie forsake the "perfect mate" who has not only her love but also the approval of her parents? Can she walk out on Noah for a second time? Will Noah let her go? The story then skips to the nursing home where an 80-year old Noah resides and spends his time reading poetry to his fellow residents. But down the hall is a very special woman. The reader will be overcome with emotion as this relationship unfolds and the missing pieces of Noah and Allie's story are revealed in the notebook he carries with him. Intensely romantic and a tribute to the power of true love, "The Notebook" will leave you emotionally spent and thankful to be so.
  
  

• A touching tale of true love

  
  By A1QIQE5T1GBK7X on 2000-05-05
  After reading a Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, I had to dash off to the library and read The Notebook, which I read in one sitting. What can I say about the quintessential love story? Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, parents separate them and then they meet again years later, get married, and live happily ever after.

  Only with Nicholas Sparks as the author, this story is different. You are immediately captivated into the story, reliving it, feeling it and savoring each and every emotion. It is a sensory experience reading this story and you feel like you become Noah or Allie, the main characters, the soul mates. By the end of the book, tears are sure to be shed, deep sighs emitted and then one is left thinking is such a love possible and where does one find a love like this?

  This is a beautiful love story, with all the emotions to hook you from the get-go. The sensitivity of the author is clearly portrayed in Noah and Allie. Nicolas Sparks weaves his magic with this story, which is based on his wife's "beloved grandparents."

  I absolutely loved this story and I am not a big romance reader. But I do love Nicholas Sparks' books and now have read all of them. If you are a hopeless or a hopeful romantic, then this book is a must read! As with all of Nicholas Sparks' books, keep a box of Kleenex handy - you are sure to use them!
  
  

• Forever Yours

  
  By A8H2VK7BLCV8Q on 2000-09-12
  Beautiful story of love that lives forever. Nicholas Sparks once again writes a little quick read story about love in a fairly common situation. Unlike "A Walk to Remember" the author gives the characters and the story a lot more depth.

  Sparks has the ability to describe scenery and characters to my satisfaction. He doesn't get bogged down in useless characterizations or drawn out plots. He doesn't overwhelm the reader with excess research. He keeps his stories easy to read and not too complicated. As with his other books this is a couple hour read that allows the reader a little escapism without much thought.

  I really enjoyed meeting Noah the local country boy who kept his past summer love in his heart and Allie who returned the love. It was also enjoyable to read about the lessons Noah's father had given him to help him mature into a real man. What can you say about a man who likes John Wayne, reads poetry and appreciates the small things in life, has a fit body and truely loves girl? What can you say about a girl who is a painter, comes from an upper crest family and appreciates the love others have for her?

  When you have finished reading this story you will wipe your eyes of the welled up tears and realize you're smiling all along. It's a beautiful love story and a good read.
  
  

• Spark-ingly Sweet

  
  By AYRW5C01ANXNC on 2000-07-23
  Nicholas Sparks' bailiwick is tender, tear-jerking tomes. And there is nothing wrong with that. Enjoying "Message In A Bottle" led me to this short and sweet love story.

  In this novel, we meet Noah Calhoun. A rugged scamp of a man who is still yearning for the past love of his life. Allie Nelson is now a socialite engaged to a wealthy attorney. Alas, she also craves her long ago romance with the boy that took her breath away.

  Sparks does a complete job of making a twist on an old plotline. Including conundrum victories and glimpses into aging human behavior. As I was pulled into these characters lives, the haunting song "Where've You Been" by Kathy Mattea, kept whirlpooling in my mind.

  So, if you are in the mood for action adventure, look elsewhere. If you want a simple, sweet, enduring love story.....grab your hankie and indulge.

  other reading suggestions: "The Last Valentine" by James Pratt

  Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS
  
  

• The Notebook

  
  By A1R6DKN9YQ2YU1 on 2004-01-29
  This was a really nice book. Noahs' love for Allie was beautiful to read about. I couldn't put it down, and when I finally did I was moved to tears. This book is a quick read and will be with you for days after you've finished.
  
  
• Be Careful WHERE You Read this Book
  By on 1999-08-04
  I borrowed this book since "Message in a Bottle" was unavailable at the library. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I brought it to work which was a major faux pas. The story touched my heart and spoke to me in a very strong way. The expressions of love, the devotion, and respect that the characters had for one another reminded me so very much of my relationship with my fiance. A few passages brought tears to my eyes, much to the consternation of my fellow workers and clients.

  I so loved the simple, yet deep love story that Nicholas Sparks brought to life that I went out and purchased a copy for my fiance. I will give it to him on our wedding day and hope that our love like that of Noah and Allie will stand the test of time.

  Incidentally I loaned a copy of this book to my younger sister and warned her to find a private place to read "The Notebook". She didn't listen to my advice and read it on the subway - much to the consternation of the other commuters. She in turn loaned it to her sister-in-law with the same warning...
  
  

• Trivial, Trite and Boring
  By AJL1T3RQM8I9 on 2005-10-25
  I very much enjoyed the movie of "The Notebook" - although it isn't great cinema it was a sweet and endearing movie, though the true heart of the movie was due more to the stellar acting of Gena Rowlands and James Garner. I therefore decided to read the book.
  
  What a waste of my time. Hands down the worst book I've ever read. And I read. A lot. But this was painfully bad. I was somewhat ashamed that I had bothered to read it. It is one of the few books I've ever thrown away in my life.
  
  Nicholas Sparks is a Hallmark card writer. He writes with the characterization skills of a drunk monkey. His plotting is plodding and choppy.
  
  Please, please save your money. Read Hemingway. Read McMurtry. Read Chabon or Hornby. Heck, read Danielle Steel if you must read utter trash, but do not waste your precious brain cells on Nicolas Sparks.
  
  It is sad to think of the money this cheesemonger has made while Michael Chabon, a Pulitzer Prize winning author is considered unknown by the simpering females who swallow Sparks' tripe and beg for more. That is sad, scary and terribly unjust.
  
  
• Gives your heart a workout
  By A3PEOF0GX4EN38 on 2005-03-07
  Every now and then a story surprises you with a jolt to your heart. "The Notebook" does this and more. Nicholas Sparks did a wonderful job describing what real love is and what "till death do us part" really means in a marriage. So many love stories just focus on lust and passion so one can get the impression this is the goal in a relationship. While "The Notebook" has this, it delves deeper to reveal that love is what is left when the passion eventually fades and the author shows this in the most tender and loving way.
  This might be the best book you can give your daughter before she starts dating, something that can show love's full range and not just the fantasy so many people attach themselves to.
  
  
• Silly & Shallow
  By A2WYRV65JIZK7E on 2005-05-25
  A boy and a girl meet when they are in high school and experience a summer of bliss. Then she leaves town. He writes but she never writes back.
  Fast forward to their late twenties. He has returned home after a war, restored a house, is conveniently single and his life is going nowhere. So guess what? She shows up out of the blue, but she's about to marry the perfect man. After a couple of heavy "will they or won't they" scenes, they start making out like bunnies. So the groom comes to town and .... abdicates!
  Fast forward another 40 or 50 years to a nursing home where the happily married couple is living out their dotage. She is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. But at the end of a day of poetry reading and ardent wooing he induces her to become lucid enough to recognize him. And guess what? They ... (But then I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise ending!)
  What is it that attracts them to each other? Is it just good sex? If this is just another whirlwind romance, what has kept the marriage together for all those years when so many other marriages ended in divorce? The only answer offered by the author is ... good sex.
  This is a story about enduring sexual attraction; nothing more. The main characters are one dimensional, at best. I would suggest renting the movie because it would be quicker and cheaper, but I found it too painful to watch.
  
  
• whats wrong with our country?!!!!
  By AR4A6NNOGPW37 on 2001-07-18
  I will try to stick to the issue at hand here, which is this "novel", but also, I am afraid, this will be a reflection of what I have seen and inferred about the people who read, and liked, this "novel". I don't usually read bestsellers because when I do, I get this salty-sweet brackish taste in my mouth, and look at everyone who passes by with disgust. Disgust for them because they are apparently so deprived of emotion and education that this book was a "tearjerker". I used the word novel in quotes twice because I do not feel that Sparks should share that word with writers like Hermann Hesse and JD Sallinger and hundreds of others who wrote things just as worthy of the word novel. These authors wrote books that took the most extreme, the most familiar and the most foreign to us, and mixed it all up and made us learn something about ourselves. A real work of fiction always helps us find another piece of ourselves, a tempting and dark peice that we never knew was in us, and then a certain paragraph or phrase or word will be the most familiar beautiful thing in the world: like coming home. Nicholas Sparks does not deserve to share the company of authors who strive for this. When you finish a book, you should hold something dead in your hands. It should have lived and breathed before you. You shouldn't feel the need to go write Oprah on how "sweet" and "touching" you thought it was. This book eximplifies all that is "sweet" and "touching". Why can't we raise our standards as a country? Why can't we only expect the best most beautiful and most disturbing and haunting out of our literature? Why can't we teach our high schoolers this, and learn to understand ourselves better? The Notebook, as said by the author of the official review, is like a "glazed doughnut". I do agree but why on earth do we want a glazed doughnut of a book? If you like glazed doughnuts go buy one, or read a Good Housekeeping magazine, or watch a talk show, or sit down and write your own story of a long lost love with "smooth skin" and "hard nipples" that you wish you could find. However DON'T say that The Notebook is a novel. If we raise our standards altogether then only the BEST writing will emmerge. Cheesy. The Notebook is so obviously predictable and cheesy that I hope Sparks is just raking in the money from housewives who bought this book, and laughing at his inability as a writer. This book was a recycled combination of a lot of bestsellers I have read, I bet I could find the exact same SENTENCES in about a hundred differend books. There was nothing creative or inventive about this book, it didn't make us think, we didn't find ourselves and we didn't come home. Therefore, The Notebook, is a sad sad failure as a novel, and sadly a reflection on America's reading population.
  
  
• Remains Sparks best work
  By A2H8UV60TZGNDT on 2003-01-27
  The Notebook was Nicholas Sparks debut novel. It remains my favorite novel of 6 books Sparks has written to date.

  The Notebook is a story of everlasting love and true love. It gives us all hope that love exists in this world. The story starts out with a man walking towards what seems to be his wife's room in a nursing home. The nurses look at him in pitty as he never gives up. He has a book tucked under his arm and is going to see his wife in hopes today will be the day she remembers their story.

  This book is a must read for all those hopeless romantics out there. If you enjoy Sparks and haven't read The Notebook, you must pick it up.
  
  

• If you liked this, you'll love Grimm's Fairy Tales!
  By A2Q9KT8ZEY7FNZ on 2005-02-17
  Here's the synopsis: A beautiful princess is wooed by a handsome prince from an opposing kingdom. The princess falls into a deep sleep. The prince kisses her and, like magic, she awakens. They live happily ever after. The end.
  
  Sorry to spoil it for you. That's the whole story, in a nutshell. The other 238 pages are a mish-mash of poorly written, unimaginative prose. For example, he uses the phrase "emerald eyes" three times when once was more than enough. In one part of the book the author actually used the word "loins" in a sex scene. I don't think I've seen that word in print since my last perusal of the Bible. There were serious scenes that I actually laughed at while reading because they were so ridiculously described. Several times I thought "I can't believe I'm reading this!" I kept hoping it would get better. It never did.
  
  The characters in this book are one-diminsional. They have no faults or flaws to speak of. They live perfect lives, have perfect children, and are perfectly successful. They aren't realistic enough to be believed.
  
  The ending was a slap in the face to all people who have ever loved an Alzheimer's patient. If Alzheimer's were curable with love, few people would still have it. I would much rather have read a book about people who came to terms with their loss. That would have been more inspiring. This book was a waste of an excellent premise.
  
  
• A simple love story
  By A52CZ1N2KDPVJ on 2002-01-23
  The Notebook is the simple story of Allie and Noah.

  After years of separation, Allie Nelson, 29, and engaged to an attorney and a promising future, finds herself driving to New Bern, North Carolina, a town where she spent the summer 14 years ago and fell in love with a local boy, Noah Calhoun . Allie's parents didn't think Noah was good enough for their daughter and after that summer made sure that Allie never received any of Noah's correspondence.

  Noah, thinking Allie had went on with her life and forgot about him after that summer, left New Bern in hopes of forgetting Allie and the summer they spent together. He return to New Bern after World War II only to realize he would never forget his first love and had only the memories to sustain him.

  Upon returning to New Bern, Noah buys and restores the old plantation-style house he and Allie had dreamed would be theirs one day, never thinking that it would be a newspaper article about the house that would bring them back together.

  Sparks talent for weaving the past with the present is intrigal to the telling of this story and he pulls it off with a style and flair all his own. This isn't just another tale of two lovers it is the story of two lives made whole by love gone right.
  
  

• For once, the movie is better!
  By A2I5HGFRL5GVQJ on 2005-08-08
  I bought this novel for an easy, no-brainer, enjoyable read-on-the-beach book. So far as being easy and a no-brainer, The Notebook followed through. When it came to enjoyable, however, it fell terribly short.
  
  I think the premise of the book is wonderful. An Alzheimer's patient being read the ultimate love story -their own- by her husband in hopes of rekindling old memories, if only for a moment. Very nice and the story is sweet.
  
  BUT... the characters. Good lord. They were, without doubt, some of the most two-dimensional protagonists I have ever seen. They were undeveloped, their dialog was rigid, and some of the scenes that could have potentially been fabulous (like the scene on the lake) were murdered by characters I could care less about. If I can't empathize with them, I won't care what happens to them, and this is what happened in The Notebook. I was extremely disappointed. This could have been something great, but instead made me feel like I had wasted my time.
  
  For once, I will have to say that the movie was better. I saw it several days after finishing the novel and was pleasantly surprised by how they added new scenes and the cast breathed life into otherwise stale characters. Not to mention that the movie completely changed the original ending... the original ending being an innuendo that was not only 110% unbelievable and unlikely, but also made me want to vomit. If you read the book, you'll understand why... but I suggest renting the movie, instead.
  
  
• This one was enjoyable
  By A2IRLE26SFK5DD on 2000-10-13
  I have to admit, when I neared the end of the book, I was looking for more information about what happened in between the initial romance and the ending days of their lives. But I realize now that the book needed to leave that less understood because it gave an easy to guess story a little more excitement and room for speculation. This has to be one of the most touching love stories that I have ever read. If you have ever encountered Alzheimer's within your family, this book may hit so close to home that it will scare you. Sparks is masterful at creating the perfect beginning to a love story. But his real genious is in the ending of the love story. You look at the whole situation in the storyline and can safely say that these two people had what most people can only find by reading a book like this: emotional, passionate, exciting, overwhelming love. I am so pleased that someone finally wrote a love story that actually feels like it could be real.
  
  
• Why?
  By A37MIB1AIL6KXK on 2004-10-03
  I admit to a reluctance to reading novels that are as popular with the general public as The Notebook has been, trying most often to remain off the beaten path. I was drawn toward the promise of a "heartwarming romance" however and decided to give this book a fair try. It was abysmally disappointing,in writing skill, style and in plot. I was promised from the book's self-professed success a tear-jerker that would touch my heart. What I got was a night of turning pages, waiting for something spectacular to happen that would change my mind about this story and Nicholas Sparks as a writer. As I turned the pages, those that remained became fewer and more obviously not enough to make a good story. The promised triumphal ending never came. I did not cry, but threw the book on my office floor and finally crawled into bed. Reading The Notebook, however, was not a waste of my time: it was a lesson. If upon opening a book you see that the author has completed at least two former novels that have been turned into motion pictures that failed miserably at the box office with good reason, put the book down and walk away.
  
  Many are devoted fans of The Notebook, and my review will not change this. I write now only for those of you who, like me, are considering reading the famous bestseller because it has become almost too popular to ignore. I implore you to have the taste and strength of spirit to find yourself a far better novel and lose yourself in its pages.
  
  
• Thank God I was at the beach...
  By A1TVSZGF3PKLL5 on 2004-07-27
  ... otherwise, I would have been mad at myself for reading such drivel.
  
  I admit that the premise of this book is touching and heartfelt, but the execution of it fails miserably. I hope that Sparks's writing gets better through time, but I certainly won't be the one to waste my precious reading moments giving him another chance.
  
  This is a story about two overly sentimental horny teenagers who are separated by fate and class but who meet up later, I guess proving that love conquers all. In the twilight of their years, the man looks back on their beginnings while reading to his ailing wife.
  
  Unfortunately for Sparks, he doesn't realize that actual humans have problems and arguments and issues beyond the realms of make-believe romance. This novel reads like a movie without a conflict. There is not a single amount of wisdom in its tiresome pages to make up for its maudlin mix of poor prose and boring characters.
  
  Even worse were the inane, insipid conversations that this couple had while professing their love for each other. Sparks bowls over what could have been actual conversations by writing transitions that say: "Then he told her about his time in the war."
  
  After plowing through all the remember whens, I am left having spent an otherwise pleasant afternoon at the beach wondering who actually thinks this is romance.
  
  
• Where's the beef?
  By A21J9SY1GCKK94 on 2004-08-09
  Some women I work with recommended this book and said it was sure to make me cry. I read it with amazement that anyone would find this thin, heavily cliched writing worth crying over. It almost makes me cry to think that this bland mush is so popular. I was hoping for a story with character development, one that would demonstrate how love develops and lasts. Instead the writer keeps telling the reader how much Noah and Allie love each other without making the characters interesting or compelling in any way. They fall in love at first sight for some mystical reason, and keep their love strong (apparently without any conficlts for 49 years except Allie's final illness). The writer really cheated here. Instad of writing dialog that showed the depth of character of his protagonists, he fell back on hackneyed expressions that were not even well written. If you are easily amused and have time on your hands that you want to kill, read this book.
  
  
• Tne Notebook recalls what for most of us is a forgotten time
  By on 1999-12-02
  I have just finished reading The Notebook and the reviews posted on this site. Generally books do not greatly move me emotionally, but this one did. It is important to note that the characters and story are based on the lives of factual characters of that era. Having lived in that era, I know it is not as overly simplistic as some reviewers have stated. It really was a simpler time, even emotionally. I would say to the very negative reviewer: No undue focus was placed on the aging process; it is more likely that that is where your major focus was and, as a result, you resented the reality brought to those facts of aging.

  I found the book to be the best I have read in a very long time and to be true to the era about which it was written. It reminded me very much of my own parents' story. During World War II, it was not uncommon for people to be separated for years, particularly if the individuals lived in a country that was occupied during the war. It was not uncommon for the man of the house to go to another country for years just to support his family. We just don't know today all the elements that KEPT other aspects of that era a simpler time, particularly emotionally.
  
  

• How anyone enjoyed this book is beyond me
  By on 2004-02-21
  I read this book when I worked at a bookstore. It was so popular I thought I should check it out. Being an English major, maybe I expected too much - like, a plot, or convincing characters, or anything that wasn't so horribly sentimental it makes your head spin.

  One thing I took away from my college career in literature was this question: WHY should we care about the character(s)? If you care about the characters in a book, then the story becomes important. That wasn't the case here.

  The main characters in the book were generic cardboard-cutouts of actual people, the writing was incredicly sappy and overly-romantic, key scenes were left to the reader's imagination, while other scenes I wish had been!!! (i.e., the book ending in a NUSRING home with two old people getting it on, one of whom is so mentally degenerated she barely knows who she is??) Sorry if this sounds too Valley Girl, but EEEEWWWW! That is absolutely the antithesis of romance to me. All in all, the book was a total waste of time. The only quality about the book I'm happy about was that it was short!
  
  

• The Only Book I Ever Threw Across A Room
  By A1IJV1GAC6LAJX on 1999-12-08
  Ugh. This book is the most sappy, predictable, and unreadable I've ever encountered. I read all the others recommended by Amazon under the "Customers who bought this also bought..." and they are all far better than this one. A Harlequin romance for the geriatric set.
  
  
• This IS what love is all about......!
  By A356HHSZRK0LZ9 on 2002-06-06
  I have read most of N. Sparks' books, and I have to say....THIS is my favorite!!
  A wonderful story of what love really is. This story takes the reader through the stages of love and marriage, health and illness, youth and maturity.
  I have recommended this book to so many friends and casual acquaintances. This story will touch anyone's heart. It will make you smile and it will make you cry and some of the scenes will make you laugh out loud.
  This book made me understand more about Alzheimers and the affect it has on it's victim and the family members dealing with this devastating disease.
  Do yourself a favor and pick this book up and read it. It will not disappoint you. This is not a depressing story, but rather a story filled with love and knowledge that sheds light on the things in life that really matter.
  
  
• Supremely moving
  By A2PWUIQG57O1AZ on 2002-07-29
  I was in two minds about writing a review for this book and waited for 24 hours before going ahead. In one way,it makes you feel that such an all encompassing love is unachievable and that you just have a faint copy of the real thing and ,in another way,it made my throat really hurt with emotion that two people could have such a perfect union! Either way -it hurts!Don't read this right now if you're feeling emotionally vulnerable as you're going to cry for hours,either with joy or a sad ,lonely feeling!
  
  
• Hairy Plodder & the Chamber of Boredom
  By on 2004-07-20
  My dissatisfaction with this book may stem from the fact that I'm listening to it on tape, and thus can't skim through the dull bits and eruptions of poor writing.

  In the first two tapes, the phrase, "S/he ran his/her hand through his/her hair" is repeated at least 5 times. Many other uninteresting, repetitive details choke the recitation of this wooden tale.

  There may be a good story hiding in here, but it is decked over with stereotypes ("emerald-eyed" Allie, "muscular" Noah), poor writing (all that messed-up hair!), and miscellaneous goop. The only remotely interesting character is Clem the 3-legged dog, but even she can't give this dull book some "legs."
  
  

• Unbelievably trite and mawkish
  By A2FR8GG77M4TP7 on 1997-08-27
  My God! Where did all those 10's come from? Is the first non-Harlequin romance these people have ever read? It makes "Bridges" look like "gritty realism" which I didn't think possible. Let's see if I have these one-dimensional characters straight. He is a poetry-reading, guitar-playing guy with no flaws whatsoever and a "flat stomach". When sexually excited, he feels "his loins begin to stir". She on the other hand, is totally different. She is a beautiful world-class artist who also has no flaws whatsoever. However, whereas he has a "flat stomach", she has a "stomach flat". Can you believe this? This is typical of the writing: "His shirt was unbuttoned at the top, and she could see his chest muscles flex with every stroke. His sleeves were rolled up, too, and she could see the muscles in his arms bulging." Please! For this, a 10? I agree with the reviewer below who said that those who were so swept away by this thing must have lots of problems with their own love lives
  
  
• Bitter Sweet
  By A3382WLCQ29R7P on 2001-01-30
  I don't believe it's possible for Nicholas Sparks to write a bad book. Some authors just know how to tell a good story and Nicholas Sparks is one of them.

  Although "The Notebook" was written before "The Rescue", this is my second book I've read by him and again, without fail, he has written a masterful story.

  Unlike some other authors who try to fill their books with unnecessary words and pages (as if they're getting paid by the page), Nicholas Sparks doesn't fill his book with anything but good story telling, cover-to-cover. Just like if you were to feed your pet food full of fillers, in the end all you get is a whole lot of s**t. Not here. No fillers, no s**t!! Simply short and sweet.

  It's easy to finish this book in a day, but what a book. It's a sweet tale between two people who managed to keep their love despite the pull of time. This is simply a heart-warming, tear-jerking book filled with the bitterness of life, but overshadowed by the sweetness of True Love.

  What can I say, it may be short, but a good story is a good story, no matter how long. And this was, without a doubt, and excellent story. PERIOD.
  
  

• Wasted reading time...a big disappointment
  By A3QHQRDUBU0YYE on 2001-09-04
  I'm no literary critic, so bad writing has to be plain obvious to get my attention. The characters were flat, the narrative sketchy and trite. The story was sickeningly sweet, yet, I kept reading.(After all it was "a New York Times Bestseller.")Finally I threw it down after 150 pages. I can't believe that it was published. I'm sorry I wasted my time on this book, and hope that my comments will save someone else their valuable reading time.
  
  
• Warm & fuzzy, like dryer lint (apologies to the lint)
  By AY07R8PMVY85B on 2004-04-20
  I had never read anything by Nicholas Sparks but was intrigued by a preview for the movie version of "The Notebook." I eagerly read and read, hoping for some semblance of characterization and some sort of plot beyond the tired cliche of (1) Summer of Love, (2) Circumstances Intervene, and (3) True Love Prevails. In better hands, the cliche can be mindless, innocuous fluff - beach reading. In these, it left me worried for the dumbing down of my own language skills. I don't know that I've ever read writing more hokey, and I am including Hallmark cards in that group. This book offers *nothing* - the plot is color-by-numbers, the characters undeveloped and unclear (who are these people? and why do they talk like the diaries of 12-year-old girls?), and it doesn't even provide you with the standard "colorful Southern characters" that could have made this lifeless journey at least a little more entertaining.

  I do think there could have been more to this story in different hands, especially the treatment of the current day storyline about a relationship dealing with Alzheimer's. However, "The Notebook" took a situation that could have added real depth and nuance to the characters and instead, ended it pat, simple, and trite. If I could, I would return this book for a refund, but then that would mean that someone else could buy it. Better to throw it out and hope it goes out of print.
  
  

• See The Movie!!!!!
  By A3SVXRCUZDOBGS on 2004-08-04
  I actually saw the movie before I read the book. The movie was so wonderful and emotional not one person left the theater with a dry eye, especially me. I always heard and knew from my own reading experience that the book is usually better than the movie. That is soooo not true in this case. I found the book very disappointing and very unsatisfying. It missed so much of the emotion that was in the movie that I closed the book in tears for what I missed from the movie. It didn't even end the same way as the movie. The writing was so boring that I skimmed through most of it and had the book done within 2 days. I should hav known a lot was missing from the book by how skinny it was. As stated in one of the other reviews, the main point of the character's dating was missed, such as their adventures, and their talks, how their love grew, the night they both lost their virginity. What exactly they did before she left town, how she met Lon and what happened to Noah during the war and after. He missed telling about the relationship Noah shared with his father. And why exactly he fixed up the old house, and how long he took to do it and all the hard work put into it. It missed so much emotion that I am going to see the movie again to get the taste of the book out of my mouth. This is one instance where the book should have been written AFTER the movie was made. Sorry Mr. Sparks, hopefully you took notes from the movie to improve your next novel.
  
  
• True love lasts a lifetime
  By A3KEZLJ59C1JVH on 2006-06-07
  "The Notebook" is a beautiful story that revolves around a 60-year love affair between Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. The teenagers meet in North Carolina during the summer of 1932 and quickly fall in love. Noah and Allie come from very different backgrounds, and Allie's wealthy parents aren't thrilled at the idea of their daughter ending up with someone like Noah, who comes from a very poor family. Allie and her family eventually leave town at the end of the summer. Noah writes love letters to Allie for the next two and a half years, but Mrs. Nelson intercepts his messages and Allie never receives them.
  
  Many years go by, and Allie and Noah both attempt to go on with their lives. Noah returns to the town of New Bern after fighting in World War II and spends time restoring the house of his dreams. Allie abandons her dream of becoming an artist and becomes engaged to a wealthy attorney. When Allie reads a newspaper article about Noah's restoration project, she journeys to New Bern to see him one last time. Even though fourteen years have passed, Noah and Allie realize that the feelings they once shared for each other never went away: in fact, they are stronger than ever. Allie is then faced with the most difficult decision of her life: will she follow her heart and remain with Noah, or will she be loyal to her fiance?
  
  Nicholas Sparks hasn't really created groundbreaking literature with this novel, but it is a really beautiful love story about two people who are truly destined to be together. What makes this book so unique is that the character of Noah is actually reading the story of him and Allie to his wife who is now in a nursing home suffering from the advanced stages of Alzheimer's. "The Notebook" isn't just another story about a couple getting together. Sparks paints a picture of a love that stands the test of time and survives far beyond the "happily ever after" stage. Some critics probably think the novel has a tragic ending, but I'm a sappy romantic at heart and I think the ending is very beautiful, reminiscent of "Romeo and Juliet." Noah and Allie are an illustration of what true love should be.
  
  This book is a pretty quick read...I finished the whole thing in one sitting and it took me just under two hours to complete. "The Notebook" is written in a style reminiscent of "The Bridges of Madison County," but I think Noah and Allie are a much stronger couple than Robert and Francesca. Bottom line: if you're looking for a great love story, then "The Notebook" is definitely the book for you.
  
  

• A Walk to Remember
• The Wedding
• Message in a Bottle
• A Bend in the Road
• The Rescue