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Jan 11, 2012

Gavin rated it:

I appreciate a good love story. No, don’t give me THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY—that book was crap. Give me a story where the characters are more aligned with Holden Caulfield or Pookie from Nichol’s THE STERILE CUCKOO. I want smart-assy and witty banter. I want characters that play by their own rules or make them up as they go along. I want the possibility of real life. Enter Erich Segal and LOVE STORY. Published in 1970, this short—133 page—novel is relatively obscure today. That’s a s More...

2 comments like (11 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Read this in high school and even though love reading/loved reading stories about dying young, really didn't think much of this. Yes, I admit I was interested in Jenny & Oliver and their love story. But: when people have leukemia or whatever it was she was supposed to have had, they physically suffer a lot more. Thought the way her illness was described was so unrealistic and dishonest. And love does not mean never having to say you’re sorry; I always thought that iconic saying from the book was More...

31 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2008

Greg rated it:

I read Love Story because I didn't want to see the movie, but I wanted to know what everyone was talking about. While it was an affecting and sentimental little story, even at that young age I felt that it was trying too hard to tug on my heartstrings. It seemed, somehow, too juvenile, even to my then very juvenile mind. In later years, I came to realize that the movie's oft quoted line, "Love means never having to say you're sorry" is a complete falsehood. In fact, love means always b More...

2 comments like (19 people liked it)

Sep 07, 2011

Nikita rated it:

I laughed. I cried (and believe me. i cried a lot!). I fell in love. I learned. I simply love the book. It was indeed beautifully written and it reached out into the depths of my soul. My heart just poured out as I read the last few pages of the book. Such a tiny book to stir such great emotions in me.

beautiful.

13 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2007

Fretty rated it:

Where do I begin
To tell the story
Of how greatful love can be
The sweet love story
That is older than the sea
That sings the truth about the love she brings to me
Where do I start
Performed by Andy Williams

One of the classic love stories that really JUST stays in everyone's mind. Could you name any sad love story aside Romeo and Juliet or Rhet and Scarlet? And one could answer in a gasp "Ah...Oliver and Jen"

This book re More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 01, 2009

Gagan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2008

Danielle rated it:

I found this book in our cabin up on Monhegan Island in Maine. I'm the biggest baby when it comes to romance. We were sitting there playing Scrabble (there's no tv) and listening to Delilah on the radio. I was already almost finished with this book, so I read it between my turns. I just started flat out bawling at the table in front of everyone as I finished. It's such a quick read, but man does this book pack an emotional punch. The characters really come to life. Although their basic de More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2010

Nan rated it:

Shallow, contrived pseudo-tearjerker. I read this many years ago when it came out, and even though I was much younger and not as wise and mature as I am now, I realized how meaningless was the by-word of the book, "Love means not having to say you're sorry." Love actually means being constantly ready to ask for, give, and receive forgiveness.

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

peg added it

I saw Love Story listed on someone's site and I was immediately reminded of my own love affair with the book. I read it at the height of my melodramatic adolescence and at that time I was certain that it was the greatest love story ever written.For me at 15,love truly meant that you never had to say you're sorry. What was that all about anyway?

I hesitate to rate Love Story because I don't trust the judgement of the 15-year old who read it. And I will never revisit it for fear of dis More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2011

Vanessa rated it:

Goodreads really should allow 1/2 star ratings because I give this one 3.5 stars.
My curiosity was peaked from the first sentence and aside from the fact that I'd always wanted to read this book, I carried on if only to diminish my curiosity. By all means necessary I had to find out how the events leading up to that first sentence unfolded.
The voice in which the story is told took some getting used to. Especially the raw, and unprofessional way it is written. But after a few chapter More...

0 comments like

Jan 05, 2009

Jacki rated it:

When I picked this book up I had no idea what a fast little read it would be. I read it in just 2 short sittings.

I kept thinking two things through the whole story: One- this book is written like a short story. It is a lot of chopped up pieces put together to make this couple's story. I really liked how it would take you from one chunk to another chunk. Two- the guy who wrote "Love is a Mix tape" must have been inspired by this story. If not, he should read it. The sto More...

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Feb 06, 2012

Yumi rated it:

A couple weeks ago, I finished reading "Love Story" in English. As you know from the title, it is a love story. Actually, I don't like reading love stories in my mother tongue. That's because most of them are similar stories, and while I'm reading them, I can guess the ending of them easily. It's kind of boring for me. On the other hand, I love reading love stories in English. It's much easier for me to understand what they are expressed. In addition to that the expressions in English More...

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Dec 17, 2011

Christina (Reading Thru The Night) rated it:

Love Story is not an adored novella because of its originality. Oliver the nth is a preppie Harvard athlete with daddy issues up the arse. I mean, how can Ollie compete with Daddy Does It All Perfectly - or as he refers to him, sonavabitch or Stony Face. Jennifer is the witty working class artiste who is studying music at Radcliffe. They meet, they fall in love, they marry, and Jenny dies of a rare form of leukemia. Don't scream, don't scream! I didn't give anything away because (a) you're not g More...

0 comments like

Nov 24, 2011

Ivana rated it:

Interesting read...When you think about USA from a perspective of an outsider, you often see it as a coherent nation, but like in the most nations, when you dig a little deeper you find all kinds of interesting mixes.( There are many such examples, such as that we think of flamenco as something Spanish and it actually has both Spanish and gypsy cultural origins).
The most interesting part about this novel for me was not the love story itself but the honest portrait of divisions and boarder More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2011

Sumando Libros rated it:

Veamos...

Ok, lo confieso: Soy una prejuiciosa...

Hace unos días unos amigos... conocedores de que ni los chocolates ni helados pueden conmigo mas que los libros... me regalaron un libro!!!... imaginarán, me brillaban los ojitos---> ... aún así y porque, que lo sepan; una Yess malvada habita dentro de mí, esta so bruja me decía: jooo que es que no pudieron comprarte un libro con un tiutlo menos rosa? un poquito mas gordo?? y algo mas actual???

Ladies and Gentlemen More...

0 comments like

Aug 30, 2011

Perdani rated it:

Aku membeli buku ini karena:
1. Tertarik dengan buku ini sejak melihatnya secuplik di sebuah sinetron-Cerita Cinta-yang mengambil ide cerita yang sama
2. Belum pernah menonton versi filmnya yang digadang-gadang sangat menyentuh itu namun aku sudah suka banget sama soundtrack filmnya yang berjudul sama, Love Story
3. Harganya waktu itu hanya Rp 10.000,00 jadi langsung aku beli, hehehe

Sebenernya ceritanya simpel saja, seorang pemuda kaya namun berjiwa pemberontak, Oliver Barr More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 28, 2009

Deepak rated it:

I might be disagreeing with many, but that's how it is with me. I just didn't find it good enough. The book was gifted to me by this close friend of mine who claims to be totally in love with it. It is supposed to be "for someone who is in love, or was in love, or hopes to be in love." I do not know which category I would fall into, but this one definitely isn't for me.

Bollywood plays a major role in my not liking the book. The story is remarkably similar to a Mallika Shera More...

1 comment like

Aug 03, 2009

Emily rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jun 15, 2009

Sandra rated it:

What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died?
That she was beautiful and brilliant?
That she loved Mozart and Bach.
The Beatles.
And me?

Love story pertama kali gw baca pas SMA…gw pinjam dari teman gw sejak kecil, yang menurut gw dilukis dengan garis tipis-tipis. Lusi

Love Story begitu simple. Tentang cinta. Cuma tentang cinta dan bagaimana cinta bisa tumbuh di antara 2 orang yang begitu berbeda. Tentang cinta bisa membuat orang yang mem More...

0 comments like

May 08, 2009

Julia rated it:

I read this book as a teen and loved it. I recently found it on my shelf and thought I would read it again, since I remembered it fondly and had really liked Erich Segal as a writer when I was young. I was a little worried that I might have that experience I often have with movies from the 60's, 70's and 80's that I remember so fondly. I go back and watch them again and they suddenly seem so simplistic compared to the movies of today. Sadly, that was the experience I had with this book. It More...

0 comments like

Jan 09, 2008

Johanna added it

My first Erich Segal was "Oliver's Story". After a few months (or maybe a year), I found this book. After reading it, I finally know why Oliver became the Oliver I read in "Oliver's Story".
"Love Story" is a story about a love. A deep love. That ends too soon. This book makes me realize, that loving someone, or be loved by someone, doesn't mean we can be his/her friend. So, if we've found a guy, or a lady, we love him/her, be his/her friend. Than your lives wil

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 02, 2011

Pawan rated it:

http://iandbooks.wordpress.com/
I guess all college going students get introduced to this book in some way or the other. It is one of those timeless romantic classics that is enjoyed for the first time by kids who suddenly start taking interest in opposite sex. The story is very simple and is about a rich boy meeting a poor girl and falling in love and how in the end the girl dies due to illness leaving the guy alone.

For me the book was a classic example of dialog writing. Many ti More...

0 comments like

Aug 29, 2011

Debasis rated it:

"To cut a LOVE STORY short"(approving)title is what that came to my mind after having read this book(because of the succinct plot and Jenny's death before time).
Love is act of being in communion with each other even after death(courtesy-Paulo Coelho) and undoubtedly the two love birds proved it yet again that"Till death us do part".When I was somewhere around the page 135-137,trying to read it as slow as possible for what could be curtains for the most beautiful love sto More...

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2011

Zara added it

One of the classic love stories but with the tragic end.Right away in the book Oliver Barrett IV falls in love with Jenny Cavilleri. It’s a totally unexpected romance. Oliver, who attends Harvard, is the player who can get any girl he wants, and Jenny is a beautiful studious girl that attends Radcliffe. They are opposite in just about every way and yet they still fall for each other. Again the cliché “opposites attract” saying. Oliver gets in a fight with his father, and they never speak. Then r More...

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Jul 23, 2011

Ashley rated it:

"Love Story" is the romantically sad tale of Oliver Barett IV, a rich Harvard jock of an old money WASP family, and Radcliffe student Jenny Cavilleri who comes from a working-class, single parent family. Despite their differing backgrounds and viewpoints on life, the two fall in love and against the wishes of Oliver's father, marry at the end of their college year. The two struggle financially in the early years of their marriage as Jenny works to help put Oliver through Law School, fo More...

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Jul 06, 2011

Moiz rated it:

Ok... I was looking forward to this book. And had quite a few expectations from it.. The author has excellently desribed the relationship.. He manages to make it sound different.. He is conveniently able to add the twist to the small quibbles they have.. The ending really touches you.. But then he missed out on the details that often make you read a book rather than see a movie.. We find that the protagonist is not expressing much.. We dont get to see much of his thoughts in the booke. We want t More...

0 comments like

Aug 28, 2011

K.D. rated it:

A nice tearjerker. The story is concise and can be finished in one sitting. It is basically a poor girl falling in love with a rich boy and dying in the end. The movie is as good as the novel and the first time I saw it was on TV during my christmas break when I was in college. It was christmastime and everybody was merry but I was in the corner feeling sorry for Ally McGraw.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 18, 2008

Kate rated it:

A great, slightly non-traditional Love Story. I love them needling each other at times, having fights, and making up. And I like the tone of voice that the story is told in - maybe I'm just not used to reading love stories from the male perspective. I ended up buying all the other books by Erich Segal after I read this one - I enjoyed them all too.

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 12, 2010

Maciek rated it:

Well, everybody knows either the book or the movie so there's little to say about "Love Story" that hasn't already been said.

It's cheesy, it's juvenile, it tries to grab your heart a little bit too hard, but it's also mercifully short and has no happy ending. It's considered a classic in some circles and getting acquainted with it won't hurt - you'll either get a new book to love or hate, lol !

I also think that the best known line from Love Story, meaning " More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 23, 2009

Pygmy rated it:

Meh. It was a slip of a book, finished reading it during the span of a doctor's visit. But whereas some brief books such as "Of Mice and Men" wring hot tears out of my eyes at every iteration, this one had barely any characterization for me to care about either of the main characters or to be convinced of their love for each other. One was supposedly a bookish girl, one a super-jock. They curse at each other a few times, and then bang! They're together. He likes her _because_ she mo More...

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