A Walk to Remember (1999) by Nicholas Sparks
First, I fall in love with
Mandy Moore in the movie; then, with this book. I read this novel for the third
time already. I love the characters, simple storyline – and personality of
Jamie Sullivan. Landon Carter, bad-boy-turned-sentimental, retelling the story
of how he falls for Jamie, the shy-mysterious-lovely girl, “This is my story; I promise to leave nothing out. First, you will smile,
and then you will cry – don’t say you haven’t been warned.”
Smile, I do. Cry? Not so,
but feel the grief and the frustration that every character felt, especially
Landon. I put myself in Landon’s shoes (well, as bad-boy I was, maybe is?), how
I slowly getting to know Jamie up close – her struggles, her sweetness, her
shyness when with people and her fun-side when she’s with kids, her secret.
My favorite part:
“’Do you love me?' I asked her. She smiled. 'Yes.' 'Do you want me to be happy?' as I asked her this I felt my
heart beginning to race. 'Of course I do.'
'Will you do something for me then?'
She looked away, sadness crossing her features. 'I don't know if I can anymore.' she said. 'But if you could, would you?' I cannot adequately describe the
intensity of what I was feeling at that moment. Love, anger, sadness, hope, and
fear, whirling together sharpened by the nervousness I was feeling. Jamie
looked at me curiously and my breaths became shallower. Suddenly I knew that
I'd never felt as strongly for another person as I did at that moment. As I
returned her gaze, this simple realization made me wish for the millionth time
that I could make all this go away. Had it been possible, I would have traded
my life for hers. I wanted to tell her my thoughts, but the sound of her voice
suddenly silenced the emotions inside me.
'Yes' she finally said, her voice weak yet somehow still full of
promise. 'I would.' Finally getting
control of myself I kissed her again, then brought my hand to her face, gently
running my fingers over her cheek. I marveled at the softness of her skin, the
gentleness I saw in her eyes. Even now she was perfect. My throat began to
tighten again, but as I said, I knew what I had to do. Since I had to accept
that it was not within my power to cure her, what I wanted to do was give her
something that she'd wanted. It was what my heart had been telling me to do all
along. Jamie, I understood then, had already given me the answer I'd been
searching for, the answer my heart needed to find. She'd told me outside Mr.
Jenkins's office, the night we'd asked him about doing the play.
I smiled softly, and she
returned my affection with a slight squeeze of my hand, as if trusting me in
what I was about to do. Encouraged, I leaned closer and took a deep breath.
When I exhaled, these were the words that flowed with my breath. 'Will you marry me?”
This is a classic love
story, the best of Nicholas Spark in my opinion. Read the novel, watch the
movie… You’ll fall in love again…
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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