A Walk to Remember

Attention readers: Invest in Kleenex! After reading this book, you will know the reason. Nicholas Sparks has such a gentle, sweet way with words. I thoroughly enjoyed A Walk to Remember, this beautiful love story that pulled me in from the start and held me in rapt attention throughout. So pull out your hankies and sit down for an enjoyable, emotionally charged read.

There was only one reason for 17-year-old high school Senior, Landon Carter, to enroll in Drama - a chance to take it easy for an hour. Plus there was only one other boy in a class full of girls, a benefit of the highest degree. Also in the class is Jamie Sullivan, the unpopular preacher's daughter who no one wants to hang around. She is also the only girl left when it comes time for the homecoming dance. Although not his first choice and the fact that he's running out of time, Landon asks Jamie to be his date. Her agreement became the crucial moment, the pedal that got the wheel to spinning, the stepping stone to one of the most beautiful and courageous love stories ever written.

What a valuable lesson this novel serves to teach. Those who may be different from us, status or otherwise, can be the most wonderful people to know. Jamie Sullivan is a character that is pure in heart and would be such a joy to spend a day with. There should be more people like her, and like Landon, a boy who took a chance on her and found a love unlike anything he'd ever known. I applaud Nicholas Sparks for writing this bittersweet and uplifting story. The time and tears spent on this novel was well worth it.

This is a beautiful, romantic, heartwarming story that will sure to leave you crying at the end. But as the author states in his preface - "you have been forewarned". I don't read many fiction books, yet when I do, I tend to stick to favorite authors and Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorites. I was hooked after reading Message In A Bottle - another tearjerker.

I am a hopeless romantic and I usually don't read romance books, but this book is superb for all of you other hopeless romantics. This book will tear at your heartstrings and will linger with you for days. I could not put this book down and read it in two days. I was immediately captivated and transported into Landon Carter's world in the late 1950's. Landon does an incredible amount of "growing up" during his seventeenth year of life. The minister's daughter, Jamie Sullivan, helps him to transform from a selfish, self-absorbed "kid", to a young adult on the verge of manhood. Landon conveys traits of tenderness, and compassion, and learns about love and faith and how to forgive, while his love blossoms for Jamie. Jamie is able to bring out all that is pure and good from Landon. It is this innocent love that is all consuming that helps to foster Landon's growth and wisdom.

Jamie may be portrayed in the book as a "goodie two-shoes", but her innocence, her unnerving faith and trying to live her life as God wanted us all to live, endears her to the reader.

The book may be predictable in parts, but that does not deter from the beauty of this story. In the conclusion, Landon realizes what love is and what it really means to love another by helping your love's dream become a reality. Landon's heart softens when he lets his true nature come through and shine - and shine it does. Epitome of true love - most definitely! With Landon's transformation complete, the reader is completely absorbed with these two main characters. You can't help but fall in love with them.

Nicholas Sparks - I congratulate you on another most tender and endearing story.

I absolutely love this book and recommend it heartily. This is a must read kind of book that can't help but uplift you as well. Just keep your kleenex handy!

Yes, I am a hopeless romantic, and yes, I take great comfort in believing in the power of true love in the world, so if this makes me a sap, then I'm proud of it! I have now read all three of Mr. Sparks' books and have enjoyed them immensely. Will they be considered great literature? Probably not. But they are completely believable and engaging, and appropriate for all readers. They have a wonderful way of transporting you right into the story. You are hooked right from the get go. Yes, they're easy and quick to read, and somewhat predictable, but so what? I've found great life lessons on billboards and posters and calendars so I've never been prejudiced into feeling that only Shakespeare and Thoreau and Milton provide great and worthy messages. I know that many will dismiss Mr. Sparks' books as fluff, but I think that any writing that moves so many people in such a positive way is indeed "great literature." Buy this book, and enjoy! (And buy The Notebook and Message in a Bottle also if you haven't read them yet! I also recommend Richard Paul Evans.)

A Walk to Remember is a fictional novel with more to offer than an average love story. Nicholas Sparks creates in-depth characters who are sensitive and receptive to life. The main character, Landon Carter, tells his story of self-exploration which dates back to the year 1958. Landon lives in the small town of Beaufort located in North Carolina. This setting is significant because it plays a large role in the kinds of relationships the characters have with each other. Being a small southern town, the people are close with one another and know everything about one another. Landon is a senior in high school who is searching for something. He bases many opinions on the way things look and tends to go along with the crowd. Landon's outlooks, and views on life change throughout the novel because of a special relationship with a character named Jamie Sullivan. Jamie is an admirable person who is self-confident, secure with herself, and entirely selfless. Being the daughter of a widowed Baptist minister, Jamie possesses a strong faith. She carries a Bible with her at school, cares for orphaned children, and rescues wounded animals. Jamie is different from the other girls at her high school. She doesn't pay attention to how her hair looks, or the latest fashion trends, she is entirely devoted to helping other people and putting others first. With a twist of fate, two opposite personalities are unpredictably brought together to form a unique relationship.

The story mainly focus's on the growth of Landon's character and the romantic relationship that is formed between Landon and Jamie. Through different events in the novel, the quality of Landon's character and the quality of the relationship improves. For example, Jamie brings Landon with her to the children's orphanage and this experience opens his eyes and causes him to be more sensitive. He not only changes himself by doing things with Jamie, he also learns from her forgiveness. In the first stage of their friendship, Landon mistreats her because he cares too much about what his peers think. Jamie possesses the quality of forgiveness and is able to pardon Landon for his actions even though she was deeply hurt. Landon falls in love with Jamie for her soul, and for her compassion. Jamie falls in love with Landon's sincerity and his ability to change and accept things. The two teenagers are inseparable and devote all of their time to each other. They share everything in each other's lives except one secret that Jamie has kept from the whole town including her soul-mate. In the end, Jamie is not strong enough to carry this heavy burden. She must rely on the sweet love of Landon to get her through her life-changing secret.

After I finished this novel, I felt as though I had been through so much. I felt the emotional effects of the story deeply. I was so attached to the novel; any moment of free time, I read a new chapter. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the story, I let myself become friends with the characters. When they were sad, I was down; when they were elated, I felt joy. This novel taps into human emotion so profoundly. I cried for twenty minutes at the end of the novel. It left such an impact on me. I felt such a connection to the growth the characters went through. I examined my own life and it caused me to be more conscience of certain aspects of my own character. Jamie's strong devotion to God helps me examine my own faith. I believe in God and I try to base my life around my dedication to a higher being. I admire Jamie for her altruistic ways of caring for others and putting other's needs before her own.

Landon learns so many truths about life, about love and about humanity. He learns what true and unconditional love is. He learns what it means to treat others with respect, and he learns to be confident with his own convictions. After finishing the story, I was left with a feeling and emotion of complete happiness. I was left smiling (even with tears streaming down my cheeks) at the lives of the characters. Landon has been through so much exploration and has found himself. He forgets the norm and rebels against trying to fit in. This touches me deeply because I understand how hard it is to soul-search; I understand how hard it is to look past the trivial events of high school and to be an individual. This novel is about growing up. It is hard for Jamie to rely on someone else to carry her secret. However, she is able to, and learns how important her soul-mate really is to her survival. He is the difference between living and dying. Through the life lessons, the spiritual epiphanies, and the self-discovery, I have never felt so connected with a novel. I can relate my life to the novel so easily and all of the events the characters go through. I will forever remember these two friends of mine. Even though they are literary characters, they have opened my eyes to a world of selflessness, devotion, and most importantly, yet simply, love.

This is pure schmaltz, a genuine tear-jerker written for impressionable young teenagers to outline a more serious approach to love than the usual "let's hit the sack and have some fun" approach.

The story isn't nearly as good as "Love Story" by Eric Segal, but that's a minor quibble. Segal dealt with college students; Sparks has written a book that relates to high school and junior high students who have not yet begun to date seriously. The theme of the book is very simple: true love is based on the content of a person's character, not on chest size or the willingness to engage in sex play.

It's a favorite theme of Sparks, the idea of an enduring love that overcomes and outlasts all obstacles and setbacks. He used it well in "Message in a Bottle," dealing with two middle-aged adults who are old enough to have sex. In this book, it's two kids who barely hold hands and share only a few chaste kisses, which makes it clearly designed and suitable for the teen and pre-teen audience. Any normal teen will appreciate it; and parents can feel safe the book is as tame as a Donald Duck cartoon..

One brief excerpt, near the end, nicely sums up the whole approach: "We kissed again, too, though not every time we were together, and I didn't even think of trying to make it to second base. There wasn't any need to. There was something nice when I kissed her, something gentle and right, and that was enough for me. The more I did it, the more I realized that Jamie had been misunderstood her entire life, not only by me, but by everyone."

Think of the movie "Titanic" without any hint of sex or nudity, and you have this book in a nutshell. "Titanic" made millions of innocent young girls weep copious tears for a love that was snuffed out by the disaster to the ship; "A Walk to Remember" will appeal to the same girls who want such a love to come into their lives.

If you're a parent of a teen child, buy this book. Read it yourself, it deals with a fate and feelings that many adults carry through their entire lives. It is a warm reminiscence of a long lost love that might have been, and it tugs on those adult heartstrings.

Then let your kids have it, it relates to them on their level and it is one of the best introductions you'll find to the meaning of love in contrast to the shallow sensual emphasis that dominates so much of today's movies and novels. Kids who read it will grow into mature sensitive adults with an ability to understand that true love involves more than chest sizes and hot pants; it will help them become true adults instead of perpetual teenagers.