A Book Review on Nicholas Sparks' Dear John

A BOOK REVIEW ON NICHOLAS SPARKS' DEAR JOHN
by: Jed Adelbert Lopez


Dear John, one of Nicholas Sparks most loved tale, covers a story of unconditional love and sacrifice. Sparks writes human emotion with empathy and deals with life-changing subjects that corral the reader's interest. A one-of-a-kind love is born between two unlikely people.

This extra-ordinary tale of love begins with John Tyree who came from port city of Wilmington, North Carolina. John decided to join Army because he does not know what to do with his life. He was on leave from his Army tour in Germany; he went surfing along the beach. It is there that he retrieves a young lady’s bag that has dropped into the waters; this incident turned his life to another direction. It was Savannah Lynn Curtis who dropped her bag and was retrieved by John. Savannah Lynn Curtis is a college student on a summer mission for Habitat for Humanity. She and John both grew up in country locations, though their family backgrounds are radically different. Savannah's world is energetic and socially broad, but what interest Savannah most is the relationship of John and his father.

Though John is unsure of the outcome, he still gives in to Savannah. He takes on little real conversation with his father, who is obsessed with coin collecting and seems unable to talk about much else. Savannah thought of giving John a book on autism that she thinks will help him better understand his father’s behavior. John is hurt by Savannah’s accusations, and feels that Savannah is intruding. He brushes her thoughts aside and instead enjoys their time together realizing how much she is filling in his life. Because the summer is almost over, John decided to be going back to Germany and this event placed their friendship on hold but with letters that connects their hearts. When John read her letters on his plane to Germany, he could not think of anything than to back home to North Carolina.

He was again given a chance to be with Savannah as he returns home in 2001 for vacation. Their days together are glorious, as John meets Savannah's family, spends time at her college with friends and engages in a whirlwind of social activity. Savannah swears to wait for John as he finishes his responsibility and duty for their country. John then realizes her feelings for Savannah and he wanted to marry her. But by a sudden twist of faith, the 9.11 terrorism attack happened. And so John was forced to extend his stay in the Army and for a while, set his dreams with Savannah aside.

Though it was really difficult to make a decision, he still stayed n the battle field knowing that Savannah would understand his condition and choice. By just an unlucky turn of events, Savannah’s love for John soon became colder and killed the brightness of the place. It was really a risky decision to make for choosing between you. All his dreams and wishes were shattered when he found out that Savannah is already getting married to Tim, her long-time childhood friend. John could only watch her from a distance because that is how much he loves her.

Nicholas Sparks gave his readers a different kind of love that is matured and lasts a lifetime. It causes the readers to have a positive outlook towards lost love because not all people who falls for love wins it. This kind of story shows us that love is not just about being in love but learning to make sacrifices for the ones you love.

The author made this book very interesting because just like the other books he made, they were all narrated in flashback memories. The story was very interesting though it does not contain any climax or suspense part. It was story not meant for lovers both for people who never gets tired of loving without asking anything in return. It is a stunning tale of loving and being contented by just giving them.

The God of Small Things: a Book Review by John Colin E. Yokingco

“…loves by night the man her children love by day.” A story written about life, boundaries, and forbidden love, “The God of Small Things” has become a New York Times Bestseller and has also won the Booker Prize. Written by Arundhati Roy, this book tells of how small circumstances can instantaneously govern and affect one’s life hence the title.

Rahel and Estha are twins born into a world where pain and suffering are no strangers. Tracing back to their mother’s roots, a strain of abuse and infidelity can be found. Their grandfather used to beat their grandmother, their own mother wedded to an alcoholic and abusive man who even tried to sell her just to keep his job, their uncle an excellent mind yet foolish to what his heart dictated, and their grandaunt an ex-nun who betrayed her own father’s religion to chase after a scholarly priest. With such a tragic and forlorn world they were born in, the twins try to form a childhood with the wreck of a family they had. But, a simple visit from a relative forever changes the twin’s lives.

Written and told from a different perspective and style, this book reinvents how novels are ultimately told. The story’s events that are seemingly unrelated and jumbled up, gracefully piece together as the reader finishes the book.

Social and moral boundaries are seemingly crossed in this novel as it exploits human being’s seemingly inevitable quest for love and happiness. With the setting placed in a communist era India, character’s conflicts range from the boundaries of the caste system to beliefs in a government systems. Such boundaries are still question today. Should we or shouldn’t we eliminate such boundaries.

Greatly written and excellently told this book keeps readers turning the pages. The style of the other is unique in the sense that I have not read a book that had a story told in such a direct, yet puzzling manner. It was told like how an innocent child would see the world.

But, I have a few complaints about the whole thing. Some terms in the book are so unheard of, it might confuse readers. Also, the thing that makes the book great is what also drags it down. The storyline is so jumbled up and confusing you can easily get tired of reading the book if you don’t really appreciate what the book is telling.

A great read, “The God of Small Things” is an insightful book with an interesting style. A must read if you want a book that would make you rethink how your life turned out this way.

The Notebook

By: Nicholas Sparks

a book review by Ma Dianne Elizabeth G Lao

On December 31, 1965, Nicholas Charles Sparks was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He is the second son of Patrick Michael and Jill Emma Marie Sparks. His siblings are Michael Earl Sparks and Danielle Sparks. He used to live in Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Grand Island, Nebraska, and finally settling in Fair Oaks, California. His father was a professor, his mother a homemaker, then optometrist's assistant. He lived in Fair Oaks through high school, graduated valedictorian in 1984, and received a full track scholarship to the University of Notre Dame. After he got married, He and his family decided to live in Sacramento. Though his first and second novel were not published, He worked a variety of jobs over the next three years, including real estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and started his own small manufacturing business which struggled from the beginning.

In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months. In October, 1995, rights to The Notebook were sold to Warner Books. It was published in October, 1996. His novel The Notebook was only the third novel in recent history to spend over a year as a hardcover best-seller. And one of the poems by Walt Whitman quoted in the novel is entitled 'To a Common Prostitute’. The title for the novel was chosen by Theresa Park, his agent.

The novel was later adapted into a popular romance film by the same name in 2004. However, the movie and the book have very different endings.

This bestseller novel by Nicolas Sparks begins is a story about Duke and Allie, an inseparable couple living in a nursing home. While Duke remembers their life together, Allie, who suffers from progressive dementia, does not. Their only bond is a faded notebook from which Duke reads to Allie every day, telling her the same story over and over. It's a sweeping tale of two South Carolina teens, country boy Noah and city gal Allie, who spend one glorious summer in the early 1940s falling madly in love. Unfortunately, the couple is soon separated, first by her disapproving parents and then by World War II, but after seven years apart, after taking different paths, they are passionately reunited. There's a catch, though; Allie is now faced to choose between the man she once loved and the successful businessman she is engaged to. It's really no surprise who the young Allie chooses in the end--but for Duke, the only thing that keeps him going is the fact that every day, somehow through the power of this story, the mentally impaired Allie miraculously remembers their love, if only for a very brief moment, before slipping back into oblivion.

This novel is one of the greatest books I’ve read, second from my favorite twilight series. Some says that if not for some inspired moments of breathtaking beauty and heartfelt performances in the film, The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks would just be one of those tired love stories that you quickly forget. Anyone can appreciate the power of love and the amazing things it can do. We can see here the incredible tales of how love and dedication help a family stay together or give an injured friend remarkable strength.

I recommend this book to all the lovers out there, because this really shows true love and faith. This is really one of a kind book. Nice twists.

Dear John: Nicholas Sparks' Tale of Love and Sacrifice

Jessica M. Ordonez
IV - Albert Einstein

Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John is a story of sacrifice and generous love. This book is a kind of quick-read novel that will make you appreciate its character whole-heartedly. Though the characters do not have that complex features much, this book is certain to contain the good-humored ones.

Dear John starts in the present day with John watching Savannah from afar and thinking about how much he loves her and why their relationship dissolved. He then takes the reader back in time and narrates the story of their love.
There is, unfortunately, not much more to say about the book. Dear John has a pretty formulaic plot. Although Sparks is one of the first to set the age old boy meets girl love story in the modern, post-9/11 world, he does not delve into how the war affects the characters or go very deep in this area. In Dear John, it could be any war keeping them apart. This specific war is not important.
John Tyree is a product of the port city of Wilmington, North Carolina. Iced with pretentious summer vacation homes, the beaches invite visitors and homegrown youth to the finest in water sport. John had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Now on leave from his Army tour in Germany, he enjoys the return to surfing along the beach. It is here that he retrieves a young lady's bag that has dropped into the deep waters, an incident that changes his life forever.

Savannah Lynn Curtis, a college student on a summer mission for Habitat for Humanity, is staying in one of the rental vacation mansions with her work group. She and John both grew up in country locations, though their family backgrounds are radically different. Savannah's world is energetic and socially broad, but she approaches John's quiet and remote relationship with his father with genuine intent and insists that they meet.
Wary of the outcome, John succumbs. He engages in little real conversation with his father, who is obsessed with coin collecting and seems unable to talk about much else. Savannah reacts to the situation by offering John a book on autism that she thinks will help him better understand his father’s behavior. John is hurt by the interference, and feels that Savannah is intruding. He brushes her thoughts aside and instead enjoys their time together realizing how much she is filling in his life. Unfortunately, John's leave ends and his return to Germany puts their friendship on hold.

"Dear John, Should I start by telling you that I love you...If you come back, I'll marry you …Love, Savannah."

John reads these words on his plane ride to Germany and can think of nothing but going back to North Carolina. He is given that chance when he returns home on leave in 2001. Their days together are glorious, as John meets Savannah's family, spends time at her college with friends and engages in a whirlwind of social activity. Savannah vows to wait for John as he finishes his tour of duty, and John realizes that he is ready to settle down with his one true love.

But by an unfortunate twist of events, the 9/11 bombing happened and John was not able to come back home for Savannah. But during John’s extended mission, savannah sent him a letter saying that she is already marrying her childhood friend.

John's return from overseas --- drained by battles he's endured on professional and personal levels --- climaxes the narrative. Savannah’s insight has opened John to possibilities outside himself; through her, he realizes the opportunity he’s been given by his father. Sparks ends the book on an emotional positive. His message is that, though harsh and complex, love transforms us forever.

A Book Review on Nicholas Sparks' Dear John

Lito Largo Labor
IV - Albert Einstein


Nicholas Sparks’ Dear John is a romantic, sappy and uplifting story of love. If you like Sparks' previous novels, you will probably enjoy Dear John, a love story about an army sergeant who falls in love shortly before 9/11. Sparks' writing is smooth and easy, but the characters and plot are not particularly memorable.

Nicholas Sparks never gets tired of making this kind of story with generous and unconditional love. Dear John made it to everyone’s favorite book, just like how The Notebook topped them once. It was really a great thing to know that there is an author like him.
It's a touching story of young love that lasts a lifetime. The main character, John Tyree, first met the love of his life, Savannah Curtis, on the beach in North Carolina. At the time, John was home visiting his father while on a short leave from the military. Savannah, a college student, was in town with some of her peers working on a Habitat for Humanity project. The two were an unlikely pair from the beginning. John was somewhat of a rebel who ran off right after high school to join the Army, while Savannah was a pure, hardworking, Southern girl. But, as they say, opposites attract. From the beginning, theirs was a powerful bond that unfortunately was always separated by time and distance. John had his obligations to his military duty and Savannah had her obligations to completing her education. However, the two remained very committed to each other, despite their distance, until the unexpected events of September 11th changed everything, not only for the world, but also for this young couple's future. John was forced to extend his stay and before he knew it, Savannah was already getting married to her long-time friend.
Nicholas Sparks’ heart-touching love stories create a great wave of love and realization. It gives another kind of generous and unconditional love. Though it gives an extraordinary kind of love, we can clearly see that there case is somewhat unbelievable in real life. Though they are madly in love with each other, it seemed kind of impossible for these two persons to fall for each other and together with their supporting scenes.

I really like how the story went on. It was built with great love and humility. It was such a great thing to know that love could have this unassuming nature and sincerity. It was really uplifting to know that a kind of love like that is present even though, it is only in books. It shows so much sacrifice and love that make sit so hard to believe.
A novel like this makes you wonder about all the people who pass through our lives and how often a single incident can change fate forever. This kind of story truly makes you realize what love could make a person or how can it affect the comings and goings of people in our lives.
It's a very endearing and heartwarming story about love and sacrifice. This kind of tale is really a very admirable story that will sweep you off your feet and will make your heart cringe from the great withhold a very heavy feelings.

Nights in Rodanthe..

By: Eliah Kim U. Camiller

I love epic romantic novels, Stories of people falling in love and not so boring scenes because of exciting turn of events in somewhat realistic measures. This cookie cutter recipe works time and time again. Though used in many books, people seem to never get tired of it.

“Nights in Rodanthe” was written by Nicholas Sparks. Sparks was born on New Year's Eve in Omaha, Nebraska to Patrick Michael Sparks, a professor, and Jill Emma Marie Sparks, a homemaker and an optometrist's assistant.

Sparks wrote his first novel, “The Passing”, in the year 1985 while home for the summer between freshmen and sophomore years at Notre Dame. It was never published. He wrote his second novel, The Royal Murders”, also unpublished in the year 1989. In 1994, over a period of six months, Nicholas penned what was to be his first published novel, “The Notebook". He was discovered by literary agent Theresa Park, who picked “The Notebook” out of her agency's slush pile, liked it, and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for The “Notebook” from Time Warner Book Group. The novel was published in October 1996 and made the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release.

After his first publishing success, he wrote a string of international bestsellers. Four of his novels have been made into films: “Message in a Bottle” (1999), “A Walk to Remember” (2002), “The Notebook” (2004), and “Nights in Rodanthe” (2008).

“Nights in Rodanthe” refers to one long weekend during which two strangers, Adrienne and Paul, meet at a crucial time in both of their lives. Adrienne is a divorcee with three teenagers whose husband left her for another woman. He also left her unable to relax her guard with anyone, least of all herself. Paul has just left behind all the trappings of a successful life, including a lucrative surgeon's practice, a dream house, prestigious awards, and widely published articles. He wants to make amends with his estranged son, Mark, but first he has to take care of another emotional issue from his past. Fate draws this man and woman together in the small fishing village of Rodanthe, North Carolina.

“Nights in Rodanthe” is a drama between two likable protagonists who can be one of the characters in other Nicholas Sparks’ novels. The story is fun for new readers but for long time Sparks readers the story is sort of predictable. Nicholas Sparks' latest novel will not fail to satisfy his new fans.

A Walk to Remember

by Nicholas Sparks
a book review by Gerard Rey Z Jacinto

The third novel written by an artistic American writer, Nicholas Sparks, after The Notebook and Message in a Bottle. This is a romantic and compelling contemporary book. Emotions of both main characters can be felt as the story goes on. In then, unexpected event will flow and surprises are uncovered.

In 1958 in Beaufort, a small town in North Carolina, Jamie Sullivan is a caring, passionate and living daughter of a Baptist minister in the small town of Beaufort. She is just a simple girl who has a big faith and believes in miracles in life. Beloved by many, but somehow outcast her peers, she is quiet and thoughtful. She is someone that Landon Carter, a popular senior at Beaufort High, never really noticed because of his selfish acts and self-centered attitude. Then, in a twist of fate, Landon and Jamie are cast together in the local Christmas pageant. As they spend more time together, Landon begins to see, Jamie for who she is, and he's changed forever.

She challenges his perception of his life in her strong by her unwavering faith and uncommon generosity. She teaches Landon to find forgiveness, to openly give without selfishness, and sets him on the journey to becoming a truly compassionate, good man. Amazingly, he finds love in a place he never expected, in a girl he never noticed. Landon finds himself falling for Jamie and learning some central lessons in life. He had been changed by Jamie but just as love blossoms, Landon learns a heart-shocking secret about Jamie.


Nicholas Sparks is such a great writer. He based his novel through experiences and like this one; this is based in a true to life story. Unfortunately life has its own ups and downs. At first you felt like your heart is falling for the two couple and a swing in your emotion will occur as the story proceeds to its big twist.

A simplicity done by the author had been the key for the readers to understand it thoroughly and to be attached with emotions with the book. It will make you cry for the story had turn out but still you cope up with a big smile with the actions of the characters specially Landon.

The author had been good in describing the characters. Wit the use of specific adjectives or words that modifies the story, the reader had a picture out how the story flows.
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The book is a good one because it had made me felt the emotion of the character is feeling in that certain event. The book suggests that love really can move mountains. Even though the lovers had a hard time with one another still they had learned to love each other. I think some readers had been shock by what happened to Jamie. I am convinced that Jamie had to face that situation and she had to be brave to live with it. The book had left us tons of lessons that should be applied in our life. There are times that we have to face problems and we should be brave to face it. People who are deeply concerned to us quickly help and fixed our problem. Side by side we stood tall and faced no matter what happens.


A Walk to Remember made me think and feel all at once. Sometimes I wanted something to happen, and I got excited and wonder what would happen next, or what is the character was thinking at the time. Other times I felt sad, and wondered why it had to happen. But I think that is the big twist on the book and the main thing that makes it a bestseller. Truly it is a tale of young lovers bonded by eternal love.