I am a slow reader; I often take month or two to finish a novel and at times, a lot longer than that. However helped in part with insomnia last night, I managed to finish The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks in less than 24 hours.
While I do not know whether insomnia in part was caused by The Notebook or whether it was just due to sleeping excess hours during the day, fact is, this is the fastest I have gone through a novel and as much as I would like to credit this to my lack of sleep, truth is, credit must go to the author.
For he managed to write such a beautiful love story, that kept me coming back to it again and again, even when I was distracted as usual by myriad of things. Ironically, I had seen The Notebook the movie, 3 months ago and I had somewhat hated it and found it to be a bit sadistic with a really sad ending.
However having just finished the book, I cannot help but blame it all on the way movie was actually made. For this book is anything but sad, it is a beautiful love story of a man and woman, the sorts which will bring tear to your eyes and smile to your face at the same time.
Not many books I guess can competently do that, but The Notebook does with aplomb and is easily the best novel of Nicholas Sparks I have read till date (others being Message in a Bottle and The Choice). While other novels were great as well and I have written glaring reviews of them, in this one crescendo seemed to have been reached and I am not quite sure if “A Walk to Remember” (next on my reading table) is going to be able to take it any higher.
For the epic love saga depicted so wonderfully and emotionally in The Notebook is something rare, rarer I guess than actual real world romances, which are as, if not more sacred and strong willed than this.
I guess I am just trailing off in this review, for my senses in some ways are numbed after being overwhelmed. So I will end this now, and say only this, go out, buy it and read it!
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