Title: The Longest
Ride
Written By: Nicholas
Sparks
This review is
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| Source: https://www.goodreads.com |
About Nicholas Sparks (Few lines from the book) –
With over 80
million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most
beloved storytellers. His novels include eleven No.1 New York Times bestsellers. All Nicholas Sparks’ books have been
international bestsellers and have been translated into more than forty
languages. Eight of his novels have been adapted into major films: Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Last Song,
Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember and The Notebook.
Nicholas Sparks
lives in North Carolina with his wife and family. You can visit him and sign up
for the Nicholas Sparks eNewsletter at www.nicholassparks.com
, and follow him on Twitter: @SparksNicholas.
ISBN: 978-0751549973
Cover Price: Rs. 350.00
Rating: 4/5
Something about the book (from the book’s cover):
Two couples. Two
love stories. One epic tale….
Ninety-one-year-old
Ira Levinson is in trouble. Struggling to stay conscious after a car crash,
with his mind fading, an image of his adored – and long-dead – wife Ruth appears.
Urging him to hang on, she lovingly recounts the joys and sorrows of their life
together: how they met, the dark days of WWII and its unrelenting effect on
their families.
A few miles away,
college student Sophia Danko’s life is about to change. Recovering from a break-up,
she meets the young, rugged Luke and is thrown into a world far removed from
her privileged school life. Sophia sees a new and tantalising future for herself,
but Luke is keeping a secret that could destroy it all.
Ira and Ruth.
Sophia and Luke. Two couples, separated by years and experience, whose lives
are about to coverage in the most unexpected – and shocking – of ways.
Now for my View:
There’s just something
about Nicholas Sparks’ tales that always manages to bring a smile on my face.
These sagas of love, simple yet poignant, linger on long after the books have
been placed back on the shelf. Though my personal favourite from Nicholas
Sparks is undeniably ‘The Notebook’ I
have certainly enjoyed all his other offerings as well and to that list I add ‘The Longest Ride’ tonight.
This book ,‘The Longest Ride’, is a tale of two
couples. It’s a beautiful amalgamation of the love stories of two different
generations into a remarkable tale. How does Sparks manage to do that? Well
that is one of the finest aspects of this book which I wouldn’t want to let
drop.
Another fine facet
of Nicholas Sparks’ books is the simplicity with which the stories are woven.
The same is certainly true for ‘The
Longest Ride’ which is what makes it an enjoyable read. To add on to that there
is an ease with which Sparks leads his readers through his stories. In ‘The Longest Ride’ as well I never really
realized when I got completely engrossed in the tale. That is what actually makes
this book a winner in my mind.
Sparks’ began ‘The Longest Ride’ with Ira,
a 91 year old at the verge of possible death as he reminisces his life with his
long-dead wife Ruth and then moved on to introduce Sophia and Luke. As I kept
reading, as I kept turning one page after the other, I realized that these two
couples are so different yet so similar to each other. Sparks brilliantly sketches
love stories and there’s no question about that. He seems to have an eclectic
palette with which he captures the nuances of the emotion we call love and that’s
what has vibrantly transcended into this book as well.
This book made me
smile. It made me cry. The ending unexpected, again another feature that really
took the book up a few notches. Sparks’ yet again knits a tale that touches
your heart, well it at least touched mine! I must admit that at times I felt
what the need for such long chapters devoted to Ira was. But as I read further I
fell more and more in love with Ira and his rapport with Ruth, with their
simple yet passionate love.
The Longest Ride for me comes close
second to my favorite from Sparks’ pen The
Notebook. So read it for not one but two love stories with essence. Read it
for not every writer captures emotions as beautifully as Sparks’ does.
***
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