From the Bookshelf of Nicholas Sparks Novels…

Dear John

Nicholas Sparks

Start date: June 13, 2010

Finish date: June 20, 2010

Discussion: Movies -based on his books-

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Movies -based on his books-

* Discussing the movies in general
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last updated Dec 11, 2022 11:03AM

A Walk To Remember (2002)
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What Members Thought

Oct 29, 2010 Amy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-standalone-books, nicholas-sparks, contemporary

Dear John is one of my favorite books by Nicholas Sparks. This story stayed with me even though I read this book more than a year ago, right near the time the movie came out. A movie can't capture the depth of true love that Nicholas Sparks' words can. I guess this is why I didn't like any of the movie adaptations except for A Walk to Remember and The Notebook.

At first, it seems to be another typical boy-meets-girl love story. But add in the elements of distance, war, and unforeseen circumstance ...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Ash rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: movie-tv, favorites, romance-chicklit, _nicholas-sparks, before-gr

I loved ‘The Notebook‘ movie a lot and had watched it a couple of times in the past. I had seen the trailer of the new movie ‘Dear John‘, also written by Nicholas Sparks (the same writer who wrote ‘The notebook’). I expected the movie to be good and thought I will watch it. How did I end up reading the book? Hmm.. I was in this bookshop and I did not know which book to pick up. None of them looked interesting and then suddenly I saw this. The summary at the back of the book looked interesting an I loved ‘The Notebook‘ movie a lot and had watched it a couple of times in the past. I had seen the trailer of the new movie ‘Dear John‘, also written by Nicholas Sparks (the same writer who wrote ‘The notebook’). I expected the movie to be good and thought I will watch it. How did I end up reading the book? Hmm.. I was in this bookshop and I did not know which book to pick up. None of them looked interesting and then suddenly I saw this. The summary at the back of the book looked interesting and I thought why not read it.

I had a train to board that day and I was waiting for it. I just read the prologue to pass some time and liked it.I liked the first sentence in the book which starts like this: “What does it mean to truly love another?“. You will eventually find an answer to that

After reading the Prologue, I closed the book thinking that I will read it when I am on the train. But then I got tempted. Why not read the first chapter? Second Chapter? and so on. I boarded the train, came home and was still glued to the book. I had finished 50% of the book in one go that day. It was THAT interesting. The narration was just toooo amazing. Even though there is no suspense or mystery or murder, it still keeps its readers glued to it Isn’t it wonderful? I finally finished it yesterday and felt better. I was so anxious to finish reading it that I skipped my sleep to complete it.

‘Dear John’ is a very touching love story. The main characters are John Tyree and Savannah Lynn Curtis and the story takes place in North Carolina. The whole story is narrated by John and we look at everything from his point of view. John is an army soldier and on one of his vacations, he meets this nice lady Savannah. They are very much different in everything. Savannah is a well-educated girl who has loving parents and is a very helpful and caring person. John and Savannah fall in love but John has to leave her once his vacation is over. He just has Savannah’s letter with him, which starts with ‘Dear John, …’ and that’s the name of the book too They try to keep in touch through mails and phone calls but then things start slipping.

The 9/11 attack takes place at that time and when John returns home from his service, his life gets shattered into pieces. What exactly happens? Find out after reading the book The way it has been written makes all the difference. It’s not a very uncommon tale but I can so easily relate to John and understand what he is feeling. The story was quite predictable but reading it was still a pleasure.

Updated 02/27/2010:

I happened to watch Dear John today. It was a decent movie. The ending in the movie is quite different from that in the book. And also they have changed some characters like Tim and Alan. They have also cut down the parts where John spends a week with Savannah and how they get into fights. But overall it was not at all bad. So I loved both the book and the movie. ...more

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