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A review by ienne
Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks
5.0
Seriously? So, that's it? That's how it ends? At first, I just can't get over with how their story ended.
If you were to read the synopsis or have a glimpse on one of the author's excerpts, you will know firsthand, that this is very Nicholas Sparks. I think it is quite stereotypical to say that most of his novels were centered around the happily-ever-after, about endless love and butterflies in your stomach, about "I'm irrevocably in love with you," and about perfect-swoony-well-proportioned guys that will sweep you off your feet when in fact, it's not really the case. Most of his novels were sad, depressing and filled with inconsolable endings. Nevertheless, the message of his novels had been very clear since its publication; it's awe-inspiring and very encouraging as well. It was always about the greatest love you could ever find having its own variations and forms. Not only about love that exists between a man and a woman, but love towards your family, friends and even unrelated ones.
As I've learned the perspective of the author, I fully understand why it ended that way. Message in a Bottle was inspired by the love story between Nicholas' parents. His father grieve for four years over the loss of his wife. During his hour of bereavement, he met another woman (Theresa, on the fictional novel), and his heart started to beat again. They were engaged soon after but unfortunately, two weeks later after the announced engagement, his father had a car accident. Shortly after, his father passed away. Truly, a real life sad story.
Nicholas Sparks' books for me are definitely not a love story but stories about love. Despite such circumstances beyond our control, be it loss, fate, or death; his books allow us to believe that LOVE is not another fantasy, that we can certainly love a person selflessly in a way we could never imagine possible.
Although there were lots of mature scenarios in which a young adult cannot realistically relate to, the writing style had been light and quite easy to read. This is best for those who have long distance relationship issues and those who have lost their loved one.
Even though, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn were able to justify their characters as Garette Blake and Theresa Osborne respectively through their convincing and impressive acting skills; I still prefer the book over movie adaptation. There were tons of details and emotions that the movie failed to capture. They changed a lot of things and characters so that it will appear as very "movie-like" especially the significance of the role of Deanna and Jeb Blake, Garette's father. Nonetheless, I like how they incorporate the families, whom Garette saved during the storm, showing how he sacrificed himself over the promise of a future with Theresa (*okay, enough of the babble, this is not a movie review).
Overall, this book is all about:
1. Finding love
2. Losing It
3. Taking Chances
4. And allowing your heart to love again
This book with its cheesy lines and artistic flirtations set in the 20th century is such a good and satisfying break from contemporary young adult novels.
If you were to read the synopsis or have a glimpse on one of the author's excerpts, you will know firsthand, that this is very Nicholas Sparks. I think it is quite stereotypical to say that most of his novels were centered around the happily-ever-after, about endless love and butterflies in your stomach, about "I'm irrevocably in love with you," and about perfect-swoony-well-proportioned guys that will sweep you off your feet when in fact, it's not really the case. Most of his novels were sad, depressing and filled with inconsolable endings. Nevertheless, the message of his novels had been very clear since its publication; it's awe-inspiring and very encouraging as well. It was always about the greatest love you could ever find having its own variations and forms. Not only about love that exists between a man and a woman, but love towards your family, friends and even unrelated ones.
As I've learned the perspective of the author, I fully understand why it ended that way. Message in a Bottle was inspired by the love story between Nicholas' parents. His father grieve for four years over the loss of his wife. During his hour of bereavement, he met another woman (Theresa, on the fictional novel), and his heart started to beat again. They were engaged soon after but unfortunately, two weeks later after the announced engagement, his father had a car accident. Shortly after, his father passed away. Truly, a real life sad story.
Nicholas Sparks' books for me are definitely not a love story but stories about love. Despite such circumstances beyond our control, be it loss, fate, or death; his books allow us to believe that LOVE is not another fantasy, that we can certainly love a person selflessly in a way we could never imagine possible.
Although there were lots of mature scenarios in which a young adult cannot realistically relate to, the writing style had been light and quite easy to read. This is best for those who have long distance relationship issues and those who have lost their loved one.
Even though, Kevin Costner and Robin Wright Penn were able to justify their characters as Garette Blake and Theresa Osborne respectively through their convincing and impressive acting skills; I still prefer the book over movie adaptation. There were tons of details and emotions that the movie failed to capture. They changed a lot of things and characters so that it will appear as very "movie-like" especially the significance of the role of Deanna and Jeb Blake, Garette's father. Nonetheless, I like how they incorporate the families, whom Garette saved during the storm, showing how he sacrificed himself over the promise of a future with Theresa (*okay, enough of the babble, this is not a movie review).
Overall, this book is all about:
1. Finding love
2. Losing It
3. Taking Chances
4. And allowing your heart to love again
This book with its cheesy lines and artistic flirtations set in the 20th century is such a good and satisfying break from contemporary young adult novels.