Short and gripping, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks (Warner Books, 1996, New York, 213 pages) provokes such intense emotion that the pages may tingle against readers’ fingertips.
Before the Second World War, Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson meet as teenagers in North Carolina. They endure a 14-year separation until a life-changing reunion three weeks before Allie had planned to marry a high-society lawer.
Spanning much of the 20th century, the story trails these protagonists to a seniors-care complex where they spend their twilight years, marred by a stroke for Noah and Alzheimer’s disease for Allie. There, Noah reads to Allie from a tattered notebook to remind her of their past and its shared joys.
As Noah says about The Notebook, “The romantics would call this a love story. The cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind, it’s a little bit of both.”
The author shows admirable insight, sensitivity and tenderness in dealing with either elderly characters or youthful ones. When a frail and crippled Noah tries opening a door to find Allie, “it takes two hands and three truckloads of effort”. The author, his characters and readers all marvel at the meaningful miracles achieved by enduring love.
“I am nothing special, of this I am sure,” Noah narrates. “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.”
First published a decade ago, The Notebook has reappeared thanks to its conversion into a movie. The precedent set by Robert James Waller’s similarly successful love story, The Bridges of Madison County, springs to mind.
Poorly handled, Sparks’ story might have bogged down like a dime-a-dozen romance novel. Instead, the characters are more likeable, the descriptions more realistic, the emotions more poignant, the actions more fluid and the plot flawlessly crafted.
By now, this author’s deftness should create no surprise. Sparks has a long list of subsequent books, including 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), At First Sight (2005) and Dear John (2006).
Readers should recall The Notebook long after most novels fade away like Allie’s precious memories. It’s a love story on a lofty plateau within sight of Romeo and Juliet.
Approval rating: 88 per cent.
For more information: www.twbookmark.com or www.nicholassparks.com.
(March 2, 2007)
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