Weekend Assignment #70: Suggest a book for a long trip. You know, something to keep me from banging my head against the plane wall as I'm bored out of my skull at 36,000 feet above the chilly North Atlantic. I'm open to fiction and non-fiction, and I like to read from all genres. I don't mind something challenging, but this should be a book for enjoyment; I'm not planning to study for a test or anything. Please don't recommend a book that's sold over, say, 5 million copies, because that's waaaay too easy. So no Harry Potters or DaVinci Codes or the Five People You Meet in Heaven or most primary religious texts or stuff like that. You know what I'm talking about, here.
Extra Credit: If you have any special tips or techniques you used for dealing with long trips, I'd love to hear them.
So it's not exactly long or anything, but The Notebook is a great book. It's by Nicholas Sparks (actually, I recommend anything by him) and it was his first published work. The story is about Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson. It's somewhat confusing at times because there are three stories going on throughout the entire book. There's young Noah and Allie, an old couple, and the late-twenties/early-thirties Noah and Allie. At 15, Allie meets 17 year old Noah and they fall in love. When summer ends, she has to move back with her family to Raleigh, NC. (He lives in New Bern, NC.) At 29, she finds him again. This is the wonderfully romantic story of what happens when at 29 year old engaged socialite reconnects with her first love for a few days. Mr. Sparks himself says through the character of the old man "I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I have loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough. The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that it involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow. I have no complaints about my path and the places it has taken me; enough complaints to fill a circus tent about other things, maybe, but the path I've chosen has always been the right one, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Kay, that was more than I meant to quote but, the important part is in red. This book is kind of short for an hours long plane ride at only 214 pages but, it is enough to get you through at least a few hours. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks is one of the greatest books I've read. I only hope that I can find love like that one day.
Extra credit: Read all the books we're suggesting! LOL
1 comment:
I've been reading your blog after I stumbled across it from the weekly assignment. I like you. You remind me a little bit of me when I was your age (I'm 41). You also remind of my niece Rachel (18) and my daughter Hannah (12). You seem wise beyond your years. I clicked on your journal because I call my daughter "a hopless blonde or blondie" and I just wanted to see who this person was. You surprised me on one of your quizes that you were 15. I would have quessed about 30. You seem to have a wise soul. My daughter, Hannah, is currently at her dad's right now but will be back with me the end of Aug. She is a complete Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Series of Unfortunate Events freak. My niece, Rachel, is more along the lines of Nicholas Sparks. I've read neither but like the movies. Somehow when you become a Mom some of that spare time just floats away into oblivion(?). You also remind me a little of my "adopted daughter" Elizabeth (20) who I consider one of my bestest friends. I can tell you will succeed in whatever you set your mind to.
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