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Ojalá fuera cierto
(Et si c'était vrai #1)
by
Que penser d'une femme qui choisit le placard de votre salle de bains pour y passer ses journées ? Qui s'étonne que vous puissiez la voir ? Qui disparaît et reparaît à sa guise et qui prétend être plongée dans un profond coma à l'autre bout de la ville ? Faut-il lui faire consulter un psychiatre ? En consulter un soi-même ? Ou, tout au contraire, se laisser emporter par un
...more
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Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
March 1st 2001
by Grupo Zeta
(first published 2000)
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Et si c'etait vrai... = If Only It Were True (Et si c'était vrai #1), Marc Levy
If Only It Were True is French author Marc Levy's first novel, released in 1999. It was translated into English in 2000 and was adapted into the American film Just Like Heaven in 2005. A 2006 Bollywood movie named I See You is also an adaptation of this book. 2004 Malayalam movie Vismayathumbathu was also based on this book.
عنوانها: کاش حقیقت داشت؛ و اگر حقیقت داشت ...؛ نویسنده: مارک لوی؛ تاریخ نخستی ...more
If Only It Were True is French author Marc Levy's first novel, released in 1999. It was translated into English in 2000 and was adapted into the American film Just Like Heaven in 2005. A 2006 Bollywood movie named I See You is also an adaptation of this book. 2004 Malayalam movie Vismayathumbathu was also based on this book.
عنوانها: کاش حقیقت داشت؛ و اگر حقیقت داشت ...؛ نویسنده: مارک لوی؛ تاریخ نخستی ...more
I was so delighted when I discovered the movie was inspired by a book! I really thought the film was so sweet, such a feel-good kind of chick flick. The book however, is a whole lot better.
This is the kind of story that makes you believe in magic. It makes you believe that two people can be fated to love one another and that that love is capable of creating the most unexplainable of miracles. It's books like this that strangely feature no religion but yet make me feel closer to God, ...more
This is the kind of story that makes you believe in magic. It makes you believe that two people can be fated to love one another and that that love is capable of creating the most unexplainable of miracles. It's books like this that strangely feature no religion but yet make me feel closer to God, ...more
Have you all seen the super cute Reese Witherspoon movie Just Like Heaven? It was one of my faaaaavorites in high school--a fun, quirky, sweet chick flick. Turns out it was based on a book called If Only It Were True.
So when I was looking for an audiobook for my trip home for Easter and I found the book version of Just Like Heaven, I was excited. I also got The Kite Runner, but decided to listen to Just Like Heaven (which I later discovered was originally called "If Only It Were True ...more
So when I was looking for an audiobook for my trip home for Easter and I found the book version of Just Like Heaven, I was excited. I also got The Kite Runner, but decided to listen to Just Like Heaven (which I later discovered was originally called "If Only It Were True ...more
This is too much of a romance novel for me too like it. It's about Arthur who moves into a new appartement. In his closet he finds a woman. She turns out to be the previous inhabitant who had a terrible accident and is in a coma. The woman he sees in his appartment is only her spirit. He falls in love and when the hospital is proposing euthanasia he sets out to save her.
The story has good parts: some funny stuff. But also terrible passages concerning the police investigation. Very mu ...more
The story has good parts: some funny stuff. But also terrible passages concerning the police investigation. Very mu ...more
This book was preachy and sentimental. And I am someone who usually enjoys sentimental, romantic books. The basic premise of the story was interesting enough - the spirit of a girl in a coma can only be seen by one special guy. However, the author delves into all kinds of background information that was completely unrelated to the plot - such as excessive information about the guy's dead mom and her lover. I kept thinking, WHY is this extra stuff in here? The book needed some serious editing. An
...more
Et si c'était vrai is the story of a man haunted by a troublesome ghost, possibly a mental illness of his... until she turns out to be closer to him than he realizes, and when he discovers that there's still some hope to restoring her life, he does everything in his power to help her. Despite being kind of preachy, for the most part this novel was incredible.
I picked this up (while weeding books at my library) because that movie with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, where she's in a coma and he falls in love with her ghost, was based on it.
I didn't like the movie that much, but I thought maybe the book would be good, I'm not sure why.
Anyway, it wasn't.
I didn't like the movie that much, but I thought maybe the book would be good, I'm not sure why.
Anyway, it wasn't.
I wanted to love this book because it is what the movie Just Like Heaven was based on. I figured the characters would be more fleshed out and you would learn more about Mark Ruffalo's character, but the whole back story was different and not nearly as engaging. Rent the movie; it was worth watching more than once and the book wasn't worth finishing even once.
Faute de pouvoir donner cinq étrons, je lui donne une étoile.
Depending on how you look at it, "Et si c'était vrai " is either a shoddy novel or a serviceable movie scenario that ultimately become "Just like heaven" starring Reese Witherspoon (75% audience approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.) The French publishing industry has produced far too many of these monstrosities over the last 20 years.
Marc Levy's recipe is admittedly very strong. From "The Choice" based on the Nicholas Sparks no ...more
Depending on how you look at it, "Et si c'était vrai " is either a shoddy novel or a serviceable movie scenario that ultimately become "Just like heaven" starring Reese Witherspoon (75% audience approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes.) The French publishing industry has produced far too many of these monstrosities over the last 20 years.
Marc Levy's recipe is admittedly very strong. From "The Choice" based on the Nicholas Sparks no ...more
2006 bookcrossing review:
A friend recommended this writer to me, so when I found this book in a charity shop, I grabbed it off the shelf.
It is terrible. Really terrible. The characters are two dimensional, the writing is bland, the plot very thin and very predictable - growing far too overly sentimental and it is just cliche after cliche after cliche. I always try to give books a fair go, and I did read this all the way through, but after a point I have to admit that I sw ...more
A friend recommended this writer to me, so when I found this book in a charity shop, I grabbed it off the shelf.
It is terrible. Really terrible. The characters are two dimensional, the writing is bland, the plot very thin and very predictable - growing far too overly sentimental and it is just cliche after cliche after cliche. I always try to give books a fair go, and I did read this all the way through, but after a point I have to admit that I sw ...more
Lame. Totally, completely, utterly lame. Deeply painful to read. The prose is lazy and the characters typical and pretty unbelievable. And way too corny, with basic carpe diem teenage philosophy. Oh my god, it was just so bad I can't believe it's finished to my relief.
A very cute book. Read it on the train, on your way to work. When you are totally bored in a gathering, hehehe take this book with you, you will enjoy your time ;) Light and easy...... Happy Reading :D
This is a wonderful story about how we should value every moment of life we are given and what a gift it is. I really loved this book, it is the most beautiful story! If only our lives weren't so busy that we forget the basic concepts of life. To make the most of every moment.
This is the story of Arthur and Lauren and how two people came together. Lauren is a coma patient whose soul is free from her body, Arthur lives in what was her apartment. They meet and when Lauren convinced him ...more
This is the story of Arthur and Lauren and how two people came together. Lauren is a coma patient whose soul is free from her body, Arthur lives in what was her apartment. They meet and when Lauren convinced him ...more
I started reading this book yesterday without knowing anything about the story and guess what ? It turned out that I have already seen the movie based on it : Just like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon .
& I didn't know what to dobecause I always hated reading books after seeing the movie ! But i loved that movie so much that i wanted to see the differences and i wanted to read the story all over again , The book however, is a whole lot better than the movie , trust me .
It's light , funny ...more
& I didn't know what to dobecause I always hated reading books after seeing the movie ! But i loved that movie so much that i wanted to see the differences and i wanted to read the story all over again , The book however, is a whole lot better than the movie , trust me .
It's light , funny ...more
one of the only few books where the movie is way much better than the book. it was a torture to finish it, I still remember the agony though I read it couple of years ago.
Before reading this book, i had already watched the movie Just Like Heaven that is based on it, and this made me less excited to read it, but when i started reading the book, i found it more interesting than the movie.
I liked how the book is so easy to read, especially that it had been a long time since i read in french, i thought i was going to find some difficulties, but not at all; the language used was plain and very commun.
I also enjoyed the story so much and it felt a lot diffe ...more
I liked how the book is so easy to read, especially that it had been a long time since i read in french, i thought i was going to find some difficulties, but not at all; the language used was plain and very commun.
I also enjoyed the story so much and it felt a lot diffe ...more
If only it were true that this story had anything to do with real life. The only thing I did like about this book was that it tells us to cherish every second of our life. That's true, cherish it, it's not an unlimited resource. The seconds I've spend reading this book were not cherished.
80% of this book was a boring story about a man falling in love with a ghost. The idea was ok, but it read like a movie script, nothing lyrical or profound about the writing. It's probably because I've read to ...more
80% of this book was a boring story about a man falling in love with a ghost. The idea was ok, but it read like a movie script, nothing lyrical or profound about the writing. It's probably because I've read to ...more
Nothing special about this book. The story was dull, the conversations were mostly one-sided and not engaging, and the characters weren't realistic. Maybe that wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't just finished with a really live novel where characters were impersonalized.
My favorite part of the book was Arthur's mom's explanation of death:
"When you've had a really good day, when you've risen early in the morning, to go fishing and you've been running around and working in ...more
My favorite part of the book was Arthur's mom's explanation of death:
"When you've had a really good day, when you've risen early in the morning, to go fishing and you've been running around and working in ...more
This was a very good book, even if I think sometimes it got really deep really fast. It's almost poetic, really, but it happens so suddenly that I felt a bit lost at times.
The story was interesting and unique and Arthur and Lauren are interesting characters, even if I think Lauren's story could have been explored better. Paul, the friend, is also someone that I wanted to get to know, because after doing everything he does for Arthur, I need to know that man better.
And I've just found out that ...more
The story was interesting and unique and Arthur and Lauren are interesting characters, even if I think Lauren's story could have been explored better. Paul, the friend, is also someone that I wanted to get to know, because after doing everything he does for Arthur, I need to know that man better.
And I've just found out that ...more
Nov 22, 2011
Laura
rated it
did not like it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary-fiction,
chick-lit
One and a half stars. The translation wasn't so great (example: One night when you were about five years old, we made love. What?! Perhaps you want to reword the translation so that it doesn't sound like the 5-year-old is involved in the action??). Regardless, Arthur's relationship with his mother was creepy. All the characters seemed mentally unstable. Best to just stick to the movie. At least the movie comes with a side of Napoleon Dynamite.
I tried to read that book but found it so badly written that I gave up half way through... I just jumped to the very last page so could see how the story end. But I ended up being disappointed by that too.
It was my first novel by Levy and it's certainly gonna be the last! I can't help but to think that if that guy managed to reach fame with such a poor book, I should start writing mine because I too could be a famous writer :-)
It was my first novel by Levy and it's certainly gonna be the last! I can't help but to think that if that guy managed to reach fame with such a poor book, I should start writing mine because I too could be a famous writer :-)
This is one of my all-time favorite romances--it's a well-written, sweet story with a perfectly executed twist. BIG LOVE. Btw, there is a movie version with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, but the book is far superior.
NO pretension,or exaggeration,i adore romantic novels,and found the whole of them, to be good pills to alleviate life pressures & frustrations...
this novel was a nice one,just a nice and no more>>>
this novel was a nice one,just a nice and no more>>>
What can I say about this book?
It was such pleasant reading, I've read it in a day.
It was such pleasant reading, I've read it in a day.
When I found this book in my mother-in-law house I got so excited because I love the movie so much and I had no idea it was based on a book. So she gave it to me but I only had a chance to read it now.
the book is very different than the book and that's fun because I had 2 different experiences with the story, even though some people prefer the movie I can't agree with them. Yes, the movie is funnier but the bo
Such a beautiful and sensitive book! I didn't expect to like it so much, as I tried to read an other book by Marc Levy just before this and it really didn't catch me, I dropped it after 60 pages. However, I have read two years ago one of his books and really enjoyed this, so I said let's give this one a chance. I'm glad I did. An original idea, funny, emotional, interesting, and with a deep meaning and message. Totally loved it, and totally loved the author's writing style in this book.
Interesting twist on a ghost story, since the "ghost" is still alive, albeit in a coma. Her spirit reappears in her apartment, now occupied by an architect who is the only one who can see and hear her. When her mother decides to follow the advice of the hospital administrators to remove her feeding tube, he hatches a plot to save her. A little predictable and formulaic, but a quick, fun read.
What a sweet story. It is re-titled as Just like Heaven but was originally titled (in French) If Only It were... I didn't know that when I started the book but it was a very sweet story. I really enjoyed it. I checked this one out from the library but could see adding it to my collection!
2.5 stars
One of those times that the movie is actually a lot better than the book.
One of those times that the movie is actually a lot better than the book.
It’s a cute story, I rated it a 3 because it’s kinda cheesy but overall it’s a cute light read
A strangely written book. It alternated whether or not people who were speaking had quotes around what they were saying, which was hard to follow at times. And it had the strange tone of a male writer writing a female character. But I finished it? So there's that?
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club littéraire p...: Club Littéraire Parisien du 11 août 2019 à 17h00 | 3 | 4 | Aug 10, 2019 06:11AM | |
| Play Book Tag: If Only It Were True/Marc Levy - 3.5 stars | 1 | 8 | Oct 28, 2017 09:24PM | |
| What's the Name o...: SOLVED. Girl gets hurt in a car crash and goes into a coma [s] | 3 | 43 | Nov 03, 2014 09:48AM |
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Marc Levy was born in France. When he turned eighteen, he joined the Red Cross, where he spent the next six years. In 1983, he created a computer graphics company based in France and the United States. Six years later, he co-founded an interior design and planning company with two friends; the company soon became one of the leading architecture firms in France.
At thirty-seven, Marc Lev ...more
At thirty-seven, Marc Lev ...more
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Et si c'était vrai
(2 books)
10 trivia questions
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“Imagine there is a bank account that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to used during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course? Each of us has such a bank, it's name is time. Every morning, it credits you 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off at a lost, whatever of this you failed to invest to a good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no over draft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no drawing against "tomorrow". You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and health. The clock is running. Make the most of today.”
—
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“My mother died yesterday, yesterday many years ago. You know, what amazed me the most the next day after her leaving was the fact that the buildings were still in place, the streets were still full of cars running, full of people who were walking, seemingly ignoring that my whole world has just disappeared."
(rough translation)”
—
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(rough translation)”
