Painted Words: Episode 3 - The Notebook

I was sadly disappointed in this book. I believe the author, Nicholas Sparks, to be in all other aspects, an excellent writer; however, I consider this particular book to be a lesser example of his talents. The movie was much more inspiring and interesting. I felt that the book, was an unfortunate insult to my attention span, and was one which I finally just gave up on and set aside in my library returns pile.


To begin with, I felt that Sparks spent too much time on the build-up of the cast of characters. For example, each dialogue held was continually interrupted by Noah’s thoughts to himself… an entire page would be dedicated to these thoughts and then, bam, you’re back to the dialogue. This was rather annoying to me, though perhaps others might find it intriguing.

On another level, I do not entirely agree with the standards portrayed, though these are things that happen in the lives of people every day.  I felt that this was the typical story of love lost only to be re-discovered in the wake of a new love. Furthermore, it is a conflict of reality versus the desires of the hearts of women (and men) everywhere. I believe that conflict to be at the heart of this book, and therefore, I do not recommend it, particularly to those who are longing for love. I would, however, highly recommend the movie in lieu of the book.