''Dear John''- Book review

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Published: 2006

Genres: Romance

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review

I really liked Nicholas Sparks's ''Dear John''. It was an emotional love story with a really good storyline and a wonderful ending. Sparks's writing style is wonderful and simple, and the story itself is very engrossing and enjoyable.

The novel's protagonist John Tyree is a rebel at school. He doesn't have a close relation with his introverted father, who remains busy all day with his coin collection. His father has a fixed routine, has no social life, much to the distaste of John. After finishing school, John doesn't apply for a job. Instead, he does what he describes as ''lousy'' jobs, and then one night, he finds out that he has to do something with life. Life isn't so simple. So he decides to enlist in the army. 

On a vacation, he meets a young woman, Savannah Lee Curtis, who is here with a group to build houses for poor people. He immediately falls in love with her, and they spend a lot of time together, and she falls in love with him too- and Savannah is the best thing that ever happened to John. But then it is time to leave, and they promise each other that they will never forget each other, that they will never leave each other, that their love will always remain strong, and that they will get married one day.

But then there is the 9/11 and John has to enlist in the army again. Though initially they keep in touch with letters and phone calls, the situation slowly changes- and Savannah does something that may not keep their relation the same as before, but their love will always remain, always remain strong. What happens then?

''Dear John'' was a very emotional love story. Sparks made me care for the characters. I didn't really feel sympathy for John and Savannah that much in the beginning, because these elements of separation are quite common in love stories. But the ending- it was so... wonderful. Instead of giving us a fairytalish ending, Sparks gives us a realistic ending. The ending wasn't a happy one but it was a picture of the realities of life, that in life such things happen, yet satisfaction can be achieved by those emotional endings and what John did in the end. The ending is such that it can bring both tears in the eyes and a smile in the face.

John's relation with his father is also an important element of the story. Initially, we see their relation as troubled, because his father can talk about nothing but coins, and then Savannah helps John to get close with his father- for which he will always remain grateful to her. John's relation with his father is also an important and emotional aspect of this novel.

Some of the parts were quite predictable, but still I liked this novel very much. It was an emotional and wonderful read. 

3 out of 5