The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I hate to say this but I have to admit that Nicholas Sparks writes really good love novel :-)

I first read his novel entitled “A Walk to Remember” and it leaves me with a lot of goose bumps and near to tears (near to tears only ok.. not crying out loud :-P)

He still have that kind of hold on me in this book entitled; “The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks”.

It is a love story about a battle scarred ex-Marine; Logan Thibault finding a photo of a smiling lady half buried in the sand during his service in Iraq. The photo not only became his lucky charm but even his compatriots believed in the “charm” of the photo itself. So much so that they either scorn or stick to him during his service there.

When a “boys day out” with his best friend, Victor ended in tragedy, he embarked on bus number 11 journey (journey with both his legs la :-P; yes, he walked all the way from Colorado) accompanied by his loyal sidekick, a German shepherd named Zeus to look for the mysterious lady in the photo.

He finally found the lady named Elizabeth (a divorcee with an active and cute son) at Hampton, North Carolina. Attracted to her, he decided to keep his mouth shut (a bad idea) about the photo and the real reason he walked across the country. Chain of events (especially with Elizabeth’s over-possessive ex-husband) leads the whole fantasy love affair spiraling down the drain.

Nicholas wrote the story with such suspense; especially at the end chapters that I had to keep flipping the pages at 3am in the morning even though I had to work the next day. Why? Cos I had to find out who died in the end; and believe it or not, you can only find out who’s alive and who’s dead right at the very last page. I won’t tell you the spoiler cos it will spoil the suspense :-P

Buy it if you wanna know the ending :-P

So far I’ve read only 2 novels from him and I am looking forward to read more novels from him... ummm... at least after I’ve finished reading the pile of unread books :-P I'm a compulsive book buyer you see :-)


Personal rating: 8 out of 10

Cons:
1) I seriously had “panda eyes” reading this novel. Thanks to excessive amount of espresso and my super concoction, I managed to plough thru my work the next day :-S

Pros:
1) For the first time, I flipped thru love novel with similar enthusiasm as thriller novel :-)

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

This is essentially an all American story.

The storyline is so simple that everyone who reads the synopsis at the end cover can basically draft out the overall plot in his/her head.

It is a story about a boy meeting up a lonely, dorky and goody type girl.

The boy initially disliked the idea of being around her or even to keep her company but they ended up falling in love with each other.

BUT THEN… jeng jeng jeng… there’s a twist in the storyline… *as usual :-)*

The girl is dying and the guy can’t do nuts about it…!!

Though Nicholas Sparks wrote this work of fiction on such a simplistic approach, he did it with bravado and managed to weave sentiment, emotion and breathe life into the characters. This is definitely a slow read but I find that the pace is just right for the character build-ups.

The progression of the couple’s relationship is so entwined that when the ball drops (figuratively speaking) towards the end, I had goosebumps all over and got all teary eyed.. I’m not joking.. :-S

This is a real tear jerker kind of book and little wonder it was adapted into silver-screen. I haven’t watched the movie though; perhaps its because I’m still having doubts over any mushy-mushy novel to silver screen adaptation after the disastrous “P.S I Love You” flick.

Personal rating: 7 out of 10 (points accorded by the sentimental side of me :-P)

Cons:
1) Slow pace of the novel can be a turn-off
2) Novel is based on a common plot which reads like the “Sup Ayam Untuk Jiwa (English translation: Chicken Soup for the Soul)” stories :-D

Pros:
1) Tear jerker :-S managed to make me have goose bumps and all teary eyed