A WALK TO REMEMBER by Nicholas Sparks

I am not a Nicholas Sparks fan. I like my love stories with a little more pizzazz, wit and humour. I want the heroines to be headstrong and dripping with pithy comebacks. I expect the heroes to be unassuming to begin with and memorable by the time I shut the book. And most of all, I want...no, I DEMAND a happy ending.

So, keeping all these requirements in mind, A Walk To Remember is not my cup of tea. And yet, dare I use a dreadful pun? The books had it's occasional *sparks*. It helped that I read the book and watched the movie based on it simultaneously.

In a nutshell, the book is about the quintessential bad boy falling for the Reverend's holier-than-thou daughter. It's about cheeky Landon Carter losing his heart to the angelic Jamie Sullivan. It's about one glorious summer in the lives of two teenagers and their journey to a heart-breaking end.

Shane West plays Landon Carter in the movie. With the angular thrust of his eyebrows and his devilish smile, Shane West was better than the paperback Landon. Mandy Moore plays the parish's golden girl, Jamie Sullivan. Let's just say that paperback Jamie was better than the celluloid one.

Amalgamating the two sources, I give you my favourite moments:

Spark #1: This may seem like a very pompous thing for Jamie to say, but taken into context with what her future holds....it's poignant.

 Spark #2: There's something endearing about the way Shane West nuzzles Mandy Moore's shoulder. It was symbolic of how hormones were not the governing factor in their relationship. And it helps that it was Shane West doing the shoulder-nuzzle.
 

 Spark #3: The last line wasn't in the book. But it was a perfect addition. Bible carrying Jamie Sullivan was the girl brimming with faith in God's plan. Falling in love with Landon throws a curve ball that makes Jamie vulnerable.

Spark #4: A version of Jamie's favourite passage from Corinthians that she would have liked to be read out at her wedding. And which does get read at her wedding. It was also, pretty much, the essence of Jamie Sullivan.

Spark #5: This line sounds super-cheesy but considering the fact that Reverend Hegbert spent a good part of the book disapproving of Landon Carter and his heathen ways, it was pretty special for Landon to hear this at the end of the story.

So yes, the book is not for those who want a fast-paced read. It's not for those who don't want their religion thrust in their faces. And give it a miss if you don't fancy bittersweet endings.

But, if you want a change of pace; if you want to imagine an entirely likeable Shane West as the appropriately cast Landon Carter falling fathoms deep in love; if you want to just savour a different facet of love....then this book (and movie) is the one for you.

In Dreams

Bright and likeable teenager, Katherine has been dreaming. Dreaming about a...dare I say it...perfectly dreamy young man. Said dreamy young man seems to be as enamored with Katherine as she is with him. What a perfectly splendid way to spend quality time in the Land of Z-zzzs!

And when Katherine is wide-awake, things are even better. Ice Hockey God and all around nice-guy, Cooper Donovan seems to be falling shyly in love with Katherine. And lucky ol’Kath isn’t exactly immune to the charms of Mr.Most-Sought-After-Campus-Hottie.

But what happens when Katherine discovers that her dream boy isn’t merely a figment of her imagination? What happens when our shell-shocked heroine is faced with the shocking fact that the boy who passionately haunts her dreams is in fact her best friend’s deceased brother?!?

In Dreams is a likeable book with a tasty premise.

Have you ever woken up from a dream, so heart-wrenchingly solid that you wanted to disconnect from reality and float on the cloud of your sub-conscious? I have had such moments and so instantly connected with that little bit at the start of the story.

One of my favourite characters was Taylor (Katherine’s best friend and dream boy’s sister). She was that rare blend of cheeky room-mate, compassionate voice-of-reason and supportive best friend. We definitely need more Taylors in our daily lives. Katherine was a comme ci, comme ça heroine for me. She appealed at the start of the book as a grounded teenager with the right attitude. But midway, I lost a bit of affection for her. I find it hard to sympathize with a girl who has this perfectly lovely boyfriend mooning over her in reality while she’s also enjoying being mooned over by another perfectly adorable (albeit dead) boyfriend in the land of her dreams. Cooper Donovan, I loved. *Sprinkles annoying mental glitter all over him*. The guy screams Hero material. I liked his lumbering charm. I admired his flashes of painful honesty when he wore his heart on his sleeve. I loved him for being just a tad insecure.

The story is a quick read based on a quirky idea. The author, I suspect, is a happy (in her own words :”bathed in sunshine”) soul and her optimism shines through in the thought processes of some of the characters. I like that in a book.

In the end, I’m not one for drama and gloopy mascara running down my face.Give me a book with smidgens of positivity and I’m set for a while.