Book Reviews

Reviewed Mainly by Deanie Yau

Powerful emotions run deeper and stronger than mighty rivers in the lives of many characters created by Nicholas Sparks. So it goes in the novel, Dear John (first published in 2006, Warner Books, 288 pages).

Protagonist John Tyre angrily drops out of school and joins the Army to get away from his father and their North Carolina hometown. When home on leave, he meets Savannah, who captures his heart. They fall deeply in love, and Savannah intends to wait for John to finish his military duties.

Then come the 9/11 terrorism attacks, which harden certain attitudes and complicate choices for everyone. John must choose between love and his country.“Love and care were the concrete bricks of relationship, but unstable without the mortar of time spent together, time without the threat of imminent separation hanging over them.”

A long separation stretches on until Savannah falls into love with someone else. Eventually, she must ponder writing a dreaded “Dear John” letter.

Finally returning, John reckons that Savannah remains his true love. Still she's married, and her husband is John's friend too. He can't ruin their relationship.

Caught in a heart-ripping dilemma, John faces the toughest decision of his life. It's a situation much rougher on him then his military experiences.

A bittersweet ending brought tears to my eyes. Tears because of the beauty of love: “LOVE meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be…. LOVE should bring joy, it should grant a person peace…”

Tears because of the magic of love -- death, time and miles may keep loved ones apart, but they're still part of each other, still have special places in each other's hearts and always carry each other's love with them.

Thanks to the book's emotional clout, a film version, with the same title, has appeared.

Sparks, an American, has a reputation for writing powerful love stories. His previous books include: The Notebook (1996), Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), Three Weeks With My Brother (2004), True Believer (2005) and At First Sight (2005).