I went to the library the other day to check out Enna Burning, the companion novel to the Goose Girl. Barbara, the librarian said she had to order it from some library in Vegas and that I would have to wait a few days. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw The Notebook on the nearest shelf. So I grabbed it and decided to read it while I was waiting for Enna Burning.
Whenever I get a new book, even if I already know what it's about I read the plot summary on the back. So when I grabbed The Notebook I did the same as always. As I was reading I read the name Allie Nelson! In the movie The Notebook, Allie's last name is Hamilton but in the book her last name is Nelson! So of course this intrigued me more because, hello, that's my daughter's name!!
I loved the movie. But the book and the movie were completely different. The movie spends lots of time developing Allie and Noah's relationship when they are younger and first meet. But in the book that is sort of glossed over and then flashbacks are used to cover the development of their young love. The book starts as the movie does with old Noah aka Duke reading to Allie. But as he reads his notebook to her it starts with Allie going to see Noah fourteen years after she left him! Not with the sweet teenage love that you see in the movie, with dates and picnics. Also Allie's relationship with her mother isn't fully dramatized as it is in the movie.
But alas the book is not the movie. And I did enjoy the book. It had many details only an author can provide. Nicholas Sparks, a man, tells the story from mainly Noah's point of view. And reading a romance from a man's view was a little different, being that I am not a man!
The book spends more time on old Noah and old Allie's relationship. How devoted Noah is to Allie after she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. How reading to her everyday not only helps her sickness but also helps him to fall back in love with her every single day. That is true love and devotion and in the end makes for a great read.
Sure the book has some things the movies leaves out a vice versa but they were both great and I recommend either one. But if you haven't seen the movie start with the book!
