BOOK REVIEW:
Nicholas
Sparks’ writings have sold millions worldwide and he
has been credited alongside J.K. Rowling for having his books
on the New York bestseller chart for over a year.
While
Rowling writes about the adventures of a wizard boy, Sparks
veers towards the romance genre which are dominated by veterans
liked Jackie Collins, Danielle Steel. The secret to Sparks’
success could be attributed to his simplistic, digestible
writing style unlike other who weaves their tale in confusing
literature wordings and format.
The
same goes to "Nights in Rodanthe", the latest Sparks
novel to be translated to the big screen following "Message
in the Bottle", "A Walk to Remember" and "The
Notebook". Written in a third person’s narrative
form, it’s a love story of Adrienne Willis, a newly
divorced mother and Paul Flanner a surgeon who is embarking
on a journey to salvage his relationship with his estranged
son, Mark.
The
two lost souls happened to spend a weekend at Rodanthe, North
Carolina with Adrienne helping to tend the inn on behalf of
her best friend while Paul as a guest is here to resolve a
pending matter. With an expected storm coming which confined
the characters indoors, the reader is easily absorbed into
the worlds of Adrienne and Paul with only the two conversing
over a glass of wine or coffee for most of the pages and occasional
flashbacks to the present.
You
could have easily spotted the conventional twist to the story
prior to the halfway mark. Nevertheless, Sparks’ ability
is to capture your attention and focus solely on Adrienne
and Paul while other characters liked Adrienne’s children
and Mark is sadly reduced to one-dimensional walk-through
individuals.
There’s
never a perfect way to tell a story. Perhaps you pray and
hope for a different ending to "Nights in Rodanthe"
after the last chapter; in that case Sparks has succeeded
in creating convincing characters which you really felt for.
CHOICE XCERPT:
"One year," he said, "and
I'll be back. You have my word on that".
"One year," she whispered in response.
He gave her a sad smile then put the car in reverse and with
that, the car began backing out. She turned to watch him,
aching inside as he stared back at her.
The car turned as it reached the highway and he pressed his
hand to the glass one last time. Adrienne raised her hand
, watching the car roll forward, away from Rodanthe away from
her.
VERDICT:
The plot is given a conventional treatment but the
tension and sparks between the main characters are what makes
the story alive.
 
Review
by Linus Tee
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