A Walk To Remember
A Walk To Remember, by Nicholas Sparks
Blurb:Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood...I don't recall ever reading a Nicholas Sparks book I didn't enjoy - obviously, some I like more than other but that's only natural. Surprisingly though, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, though I did still like it and read it in very little time. I should probably mention that I love this film, even though it made me cry like a baby, however, the book is actually quite different, with more focus on their relationship before Landon finds out Jamie's secret, which is perhaps why I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I thought I would. I felt like there wasn't really enough time spent on the book one Landon knew she was ill. Also, it didn't make me cry.Don't get me wrong, this is a very good book. It is touching and heartfelt and the characters and understandable and you really feel connected to them, but I just wanted more on the "second part" of the book. The writing is very simple and funny at times, aimed more towards a younger audience I would say.Also, the ending... What does that mean?! Does it mean she got her miracle, got better and lived? Or does it mean she was his miracle because she changed him? Being a hopeless romantic, I choose to believe the former and end the book on a happy note, despite the films take on that last line!My favourite quotes from 'A Walk to Remember':'My mother didn't go with him because both of them wanted me to grow up "the same way they had".Of course, my father's father took him hunting and fishing, taught him to play ball, showed up to birthday parties, all that small stuff that adds up to quite a bit before adulthood''Gossip is one thing, hurtful gossip is completely another,''I could tell he really loved her and wasn't afraid to show it. It was how he felt about me that was the problem.''With her, you just knew she talked to the Lord every day, and you never knew what the "Big Guy upstairs" had told her.''Attitudes forged since childhood are hard to break,''If people don't like you, or they think you're strange, then that's their problem.'' "I'm frightened all the time.""Then why don't you act like it?""I do. I just do it in private.""Because you don't trust me?""No," she said, "because I know you're frightened, too." '' "What's your heart telling you to do?""I don't know.""Maybe," she said gently, "you're trying too hard to hear it." '' "But you haven't lost your faith?""No." I knew she hadn't, but I think I was losing mine.''Jamie was more than just a woman I loved. In that year Jamie helped me become the man I am today.'
Blurb:Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it. Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood...I don't recall ever reading a Nicholas Sparks book I didn't enjoy - obviously, some I like more than other but that's only natural. Surprisingly though, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would, though I did still like it and read it in very little time. I should probably mention that I love this film, even though it made me cry like a baby, however, the book is actually quite different, with more focus on their relationship before Landon finds out Jamie's secret, which is perhaps why I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I thought I would. I felt like there wasn't really enough time spent on the book one Landon knew she was ill. Also, it didn't make me cry.Don't get me wrong, this is a very good book. It is touching and heartfelt and the characters and understandable and you really feel connected to them, but I just wanted more on the "second part" of the book. The writing is very simple and funny at times, aimed more towards a younger audience I would say.Also, the ending... What does that mean?! Does it mean she got her miracle, got better and lived? Or does it mean she was his miracle because she changed him? Being a hopeless romantic, I choose to believe the former and end the book on a happy note, despite the films take on that last line!My favourite quotes from 'A Walk to Remember':'My mother didn't go with him because both of them wanted me to grow up "the same way they had".Of course, my father's father took him hunting and fishing, taught him to play ball, showed up to birthday parties, all that small stuff that adds up to quite a bit before adulthood''Gossip is one thing, hurtful gossip is completely another,''I could tell he really loved her and wasn't afraid to show it. It was how he felt about me that was the problem.''With her, you just knew she talked to the Lord every day, and you never knew what the "Big Guy upstairs" had told her.''Attitudes forged since childhood are hard to break,''If people don't like you, or they think you're strange, then that's their problem.'' "I'm frightened all the time.""Then why don't you act like it?""I do. I just do it in private.""Because you don't trust me?""No," she said, "because I know you're frightened, too." '' "What's your heart telling you to do?""I don't know.""Maybe," she said gently, "you're trying too hard to hear it." '' "But you haven't lost your faith?""No." I knew she hadn't, but I think I was losing mine.''Jamie was more than just a woman I loved. In that year Jamie helped me become the man I am today.'
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