Product Description

Set amid the austere beauty of the North Carolina coast, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner recently returned form the Second World War. Noah is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories...until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again. Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just the beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments and the fundamental changes that affect us all. It is a story of miracles and emotions that will stay with you forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #487 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com
"Somewhere," muses Noah Calhoun, while sitting on his porch in the moonight, "there were people making love." Anyway, head elsewhere for Great Literature, but if you're in the market to get your heartstrings plucked, look no further. The Notebook, a Southern-fried story of love-lost-and-found-again, revolves around a single time-honored romantic dilemma: will beautiful Allison Nelson stay with Mr. Respectability (to whom she happens to be engaged), or will she hook up with Noah, the romantic rascal she left so many years ago? We're not telling, but you have two guesses and the first one doesn't count. Decades later, after Allison develops Alzheimer's, her beau uses "the notebook" to read her the story of the great love she's plumb forgot. The Notebook--film rights already sold, thank you very much--is a little glazed doughnut of a book: sticky- sweet, satisfying, not much nourishment. But who cares? Take an extra vitamin and indulge.

Review
'"Somewhere," muses Noah Calhoun, while sitting on his porch in the moonight, "there were people making love." Anyway, head elsewhere for Great Literature, but if you're in the market to get your heartstrings plucked, look no further. The Notebook, a Southern-fried story of love-lost-and-found-again, revolves around a single time-honored romantic dilemma: will beautiful Allison Nelson stay with Mr. Respectability (to whom she happens to be engaged), or will she hook up with Noah, the romantic rascal she left so many years ago? We're not telling, but you have two guesses and the first one doesn't count. Decades later, after Allison develops Alzheimer's, her beau uses "the notebook" to read her the story of the great love she's plumb forgot. The Notebook--film rights already sold, thank you very much--is a little glazed doughnut of a book: sticky- sweet, satisfying, not much nourishment. But who cares? Take an extra vitamin and indulge.' - Amazon.com 'Achingly moving and will have you weeping for the joy and tragedy of it all' - Daily Mail

From the Back Cover
A man with a faded, well-worn notebook open in his lap. A woman experiencing a morning ritual she doesn't understand. Until he begins to read to her.

Set amid the austere beauty of the North Carolina coast, The Notebook begins with the story of Noah Calhoun, a rural Southerner recently returned from the Second World War. Noah is restoring a plantation home to its former glory, and he is haunted by images of the beautiful girl he met fourteen years earlier, a girl he loved like no other. Unable to find her, yet unwilling to forget the summer they spent together, Noah is content to live with only memories...until she unexpectedly returns to his town to see him once again.

Like a puzzle within a puzzle, the story of Noah and Allie is just the beginning. As it unfolds, their tale miraculously becomes something different, with much higher stakes. The result is a deeply moving portrait of love itself, the tender moments and the fundamental changes that affect us all. It is a story of miracles and emotions that will stay with you forever.

Customer Reviews

The Notebook
Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook was recommended to me by many readers who were familiar with his work. Apparently, this novel is one of Spark's best works, and referred to by many avid readers. As a first time reader of this novel, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most novels don't strike me with great "UMPH" and candor as to inspire me to read more or even read more works by the same author, but Sparks has put a standing mark on my search for books to read. So if you're in the mood for a great love story full of romance, laughter, and suspense; then this is the book for you! In the relationship between a handsome young man by the name of Noah Calhoun and a fun-loving, beautiful girl named Allie Nelson, you find out whether love is able to override disappointments and consequences in their life. Sparks is able to take an entire lifetime and mold it into a masterpiece, but will this masterpiece include the common notion of love conquering all? Decisions can affect one for a lifetime, and if Allie is faced with a gut-wrenching decision, will love really be able to intervene and choose before logic? This novel honestly touched my heart with its fairy-tale like love that will be remembered for a lifetime.

A book that would make your heart ache
I loved the way this book was written, Sparks style of writing had totally touched my heart. I have never read anything in such beautiful language. I had read the book in a space of 2 days, I could not put it down, it made me cry, made me smile. Even though I had read it a couple of weeks ago, I can still remember every detail, it seems like the story has a life of its very own. It made me realise that no matter what happens in life, true love never changes and never dies.

One For The Romantics
In today's world of divorces and materialism it was refreshing to read a book that portrays beautifully what's most important in life ... love.

A lot of readers will frown upon it's supposed sickly sweetness, but for the true romantics out there, it's perfect. It's a story that teaches the importance of following your heart instead of your head.

A short novel which means it's easily readable in a couple of sittings, the story is not dragged out and the pace is kept moving without dwelling on a single aspect for too long.

Nicholas Sparks writes simply from the heart without 'butching' it up with long complicated words that only those with Oxford or Cambridge degrees would understand.

It's not exactly a classic in terms of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, but it's definitely a classic in it's own right.