Long time no-see blogosphere! Well it has been almost three weeks since I have last written on my blog, so I feel kind of guilty for leaving all of you avid readers hanging. However, I have an excuse: AP classes - they are killing me here! Seriously, I have the Junior Year Blues. Just kidding that's not real, but I have been getting slack on the blogs so I am going to make it up to you by having a triple blog day! I am going to review three books (two of which I have read for AP English, and one I just finished (literally I just took out my bookmark) that I got for my birthday). Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass, a Free Slave, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, and A Walk to Remember. First up, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, an adult fiction writer.
Characters: Landon Carter: child of a North Carolina Congressman/high school student of Beaufort High/doesn't really think of anyone but himself
Jamie Sullivan: child of the Reverend/one of the smartest girls at Beaufort High/spends all of her free time volunteering for the poor and the orphaned
Reverend Hegbert Sullivan: Jamie's father/writer of "A Christmas Angel", the high school play/doesn't like Landon's family at all
Eric Hunter: Landon's best friend/star football player/constantly makes fun of Jamie
Worth Carter: Landon's father/doesn't understand Landon at all/is hardly ever around due to his job in Washington D.C.
The Plot: Landon Carter is a senior at Beaufort High School with no extracurriculars, no worries and he wants to keep it that way. Sure, he isn't too close with his dad who only talks to him when he needs to be hard on Landon, but he is relatively popular with somewhat reliable friends. But when Landon becomes student council president, and gets stuck in drama, his whole world unravels because of Jamie Sullivan, the Baptist church Reverend's daughter. Saintly, kind, and strange, Jamie has been the running joke of the Beaufort High teenagers since elementary school. But when Landon ends up going to Homecoming with Jamie and starring along side her in the school's Thanksgiving play, he ends up getting stuck with a girl he never thought he could like, let alone love. No matter how hard he resists it, Landon learns that there is more to life then what is right in front of you. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith.
What I liked: A Walk to Remember was a truly remarkable story because of the characters. Any character written differently than how Sparks wrote Jamie and Landon would have just fallen flat. In the case of Jamie, she could have come across as unreal in a bad way: so holy and perfect that it was unrealistic to relate to her. But every now and then, Sparks would inject a bit of vulnerability, showing Landon, and the readers that no matter how firm her faith is, even she can be scared and confused like any other teenager. It made Jamie real and lovable which became important when we found out Jamie was sick. When the Reverend told the families at the church that Jamie was sick and everyone began to cry, a part of the reader was crying too. She was so strong and so kind, but at the same time she was only a kid: she didn't deserve the hand that fate dealt her. Landon could have very easily made the reader mad: Sparks was extremely clever in his writing of Landon because he could have come across very poorly. Early in the novel, the reader's sympathies clearly lie with Jamie but you are still unsure about Landon. By not making Landon too much of a "bad boy" it prevented us from hating him outright. He had sparks of brilliance and true compassion, such as when he tried to cheer Jamie up when the head of the orphanage rejected her play...that made you think that it was possible they could deserve each other. The truth in the novel was that Jamie and Landon needed each other. Landon needed Jamie to teach him how to grow up, and Jamie needed Landon to be her miracle. I don't believe that she would have survived as long as she did without him and I think that was Sparks's point. When a miracle happens, it is not just a miracle for one person. It is a chain of events that pull people in until they too are a part of a miracle, otherwise it is just good luck. A miracle transformed the town of Beaufort...from Jamie and Landon to the Reverend and Eric, this miracle changed their lives forever. In that way, this novel became more than a story about Landon and Jamie; it turned into a story about a sleepy little town that experienced its own little miracle in the face of devastating tragedy. Lastly, I loved the title. Absolutely brilliant. The reason behind the title was not revealed until the very end, and I won't spoil it for future readers, but I thought it symbolized the whole novel in one moment.
What I didn't like: This was a beautifully written novel. Each scene flowed seamlessly into the next. There is nothing I would change and I challenge anyone to find fault with this novel.
Overall: 10 out of 10. Sparks's mastery of storytelling is exemplified in this amazing novel.
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