Алексей’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2020)

Алексей’s comments from the Book Reviews | Group 198 | MCU group.

“The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with heart” (Helen Keller)

Living in the era of the so-called emotional capitalism means that many people want to be deeply touched by everything they smell, hear and see. And reading experience in this respect is not an exception: the more intensive feelings it evokes, the better.
Written in 1996 by Nicholas Sparks, “The Notebook” is a story of genuine love and uphill struggle which will definitely keep you on the verge of tears and leave you with a melancholy aftertaste. Thoroughly developed storylines let the reader stay engaged watching the chemistry between the heroes. Not only can you find some poignant and nail-biting moments in the book, but you may also find a plenty of food for thought in it.
The plot of the novel is as follows: one summer the teenagers Allie Nelson and Noah Calhoun fell in love and when sitting beneath the majestic oak tree promised to stay together forever. However, at the end of this summer the heroine was forced to leave Noah and go away with her family. Her parents were against their engagement since they considered the hero to be an unworthy man, they “did not think he deserved her”. Allie wished the future were not dictated by what a person was, as opposed to what they wanted. Nevertheless, the girl made up her mind to write letters to Noah, but eventually, all of them were intercepted by her mother. Fourteen years later Allie paid Noah a visit and told him that she was engaged to a young and handsome attorney whose name was Lon Hammond. As a result, Allie and Noah could not help falling in love again because of their strong, intense and warm feelings towards each other. And it was Allie’s mother visit that interfered with their enjoyable pastime. She managed to figure out that her daughter went in the direction of New Bern as long as she was aware of Allie’s attitude towards Noah. Afterwards, the main heroine rose to a tough challenge: it was up to her to decide who to stay with – Lon or Noah. That was the point where this written romantic story ended and the novel returned to the present day where the heroes were in their eighties already. In the final chapter of the book Noah revealed the heroine’s illness and gave a brief summary of her life. It became clear that Allie decided to come back to New Bern to be with Noah. The end of the book brings up sad and even complex emotions. Allie had some attacks of Alzheimer’s while Noah had a stroke which paralyzed the right side of his body. At the end of the novel while lying on the Allie’s bed the hero said that they were going “to slip towards heaven itself” together.
The novel can be regarded as a vivid example of insatiable desire for love. “The romantics would call this a love story: the cynics would call it a tragedy”. Seldom do we realize how deep and genuine intimate feelings might be. The characters “fell in love despite their differences, and once they did, something rare and beautiful was created”. We cannot but appreciate realistic twists of the plot as well as a true-to-life portrayal of Noah and Allie. We come to understand that our life is full of stark choices, but “you can’t live your life for other people and you’ve got to do what is right for you, even if it hurts some people you love”. Finally, we admit that but for love, there would be almost no meaning in our life.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone seeking for inspiration and thought-provoking ideas. This moving, sad and depressing drama story dealing with unconditional love and total dedication is certainly worth reading. “Every great love begins with a great story”, just as the one in the novel does.