Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks

I will start off by saying that I have not seen this movie as of yet. The reason I chose to read this book was because I have seen The Notebook which was based on the book by Nicholas Sparks and it's one of my favorite all time romance movies. So I decided to give this book a try. I have read one other Nicholas Sparks book before but the name currently escapes me. If I find it, I will post it at a later time just for informational purposes :)

After reading this book, I find that I do like Mr. Sparks' writing. This was heavy, deeply emotional subject matter. I was worried while reading this story that I was destined for a broken heart by the last page...that it would leave me in tears...and frankly, it should have. But as strange as it sounds, though the subject matter was heart wrenching, I didn't take the 'feelings' of the character away from the pages. This is not a bad thing. I could understand the feelings of Adrienne, the main character and understood her pain but did not "feel" her pain for her. I actually liked that about the book. This is why Mr. Sparks' books make such good basis' for movies because you can take the story and expand on it...give it more life than it seems to have on the pages. Again, I'm not saying that this takes away from the book at all. It doesn't. It's a great story, though you sort of know what is going to happen, and I expected to cry somewhere down the line...and though it WAS as sad as I knew it was going to be, I didn't shed a tear. Instead I came away thinking...wow, that was a tragic but at the same time, enlightening.

I think part of the reason it's not as sad feeling is because of the strength of the characters. I did feel the emotional intelligence and strength that the characters portrayed.

I think this book was a great basis for a movie. I just think it gives a basis that a screen writer and director could expand on and really make you feel what the characters are going through with beautiful scenery as it's set on the beach (my favorite).

I didn't find the story very thought provoking...I was only left with one question...how many people would survive a story such as this one and come away stronger and be able to use these events as a teaching experience. Come to think of it...this story had similarities to The Notebook as they are both stories being remembered and told in the now through writings. I'm wondering if other books by Mr. Sparks are written the same way. Oh as an afterthought...this book does make you take a bit of inventory of your life, I think...but then again, the people living as "Paul" does in the book, will not actually be taking the time to read a Nicholas Sparks' novel so I'm not sure it will change many lives. :)

This was an easy read, I got through this book in about two days (vacation week so not a lot of interruptions and a lot of time spent reading). I wouldn't say it was a page turner though it did have some instances where I wanted to see what was going to happen so had a hard time putting it down for long. I am going to give this book three stars. There wasn't a lot of depth to this story, and it was a bit predictable. The "what" was predictable, you just didn't know the "how." I guessed at the how but was wrong...lol. If you like love stories, romance with a bit of tragedy, you will like this book. I enjoyed it, I took away a nice feeling from it but it's probably not something I would read over and over. I will make sure I see the movie because I will be interested to know how the director expands on the story.

Over all, a good story.

The Critical Librarian.