Nicholas Sparks, Inc.

I've only read The Notebook, and was hugely disappointed. That may have been because I'd seen the movie first? But based on that, I wouldn't be rushing out to read another of his novels.

Hmm, that's a tough one.

Wouldn't dream of criticizing the writing because, hey, he's Nicolas Sparks and I'm, um...not.

But I will say, for me, his stories translate better to film. And that isn't because of the order of reading/watching. Generally speaking, I like to read a book first and then I'll watch and find the movie 'not quite right.' In this case, I read first and enjoyed the movies more.

Adagio said:

ETA: After posting, I thought: Is NS a romance writer? Or is his genre romantic/drama-romantic/comedy, if there is such a genre? If I confuse genres, the mistake is only mine.

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I think Sparks writes love stories, not romances. Romances have happily-ever-after endings, which Sparks doesn't really do in the conventional sense.

I've seen the movie version of A Walk to Remember (didn't realize it was a Sparks piece), and I've read the plots of Nights in Rodanthe and The Notebook. My general view is....why is he so darn popular? His books seem pretty cookie cutter to me, and are pretty predictable. Everyone one I've seen a teaser for, I could guess how it would end because it seems to be his standard ending for all of them. I remember thinking once, he must have had some crappy relationships over the years or something. He certainly likes writing tragedy that's for sure.

I think he kind of works that novelty angle. Oh, look, a man writing love stories! That kind of thing.

His writing appealed to me more when I was an angsty teenager. I read The Notebook, like, a dozen times when I was in high school. It really spoke to me during that emo phase, lol. Now, though, I have quite enough angst in my real life.

I never thought I was happily-ever-after needy...until watching a couple of NS movies.
I think I'll stick to CNN for sad and reach for romance that makes me laugh, dream, and feel warm & fuzzy at its end...or thrill reading from W.E.B. Griffin, Coben, Koontz, and Reichs.

I can't help but feel that NS characters never catch a break; doomed from the beginning. They walk across the page or screen and you wonder: okay, which one of you is going to die at the end of this story?

Not for me.

I've never read any of his books. I did see The Notebook on DVD some years ago and enjoyed it.

i think i read somewhere that he had lost both his parents at a young age and that a walk to remember was inspired by his sister who died at 33 from cancer. not sure if these are actually facts. just a vague memory

I think Sparks really taps into the mainstream women's fiction audience - think of Jodi Picoult. But where hers are more about families coping, his seem to be about love stories that have a difficult journey. Same audience, and very broadly marketed to hit a wide audience that would pooh-pooh at traditional romance.

Someone I work with asked to read my books (which are very, very genre) because she had never read a fiction book before (I don't even know how this is possible, but okay). I suggested she read Nicholas Sparks instead.

I read two or three NS titles. I wallbanged one of them, I can't recall which one so don't ask me now. He's a dang good writer--he can tell a story, which isn't the universal state of affairs out there--but not for me. I prefer my love stories to be romances, where both the main characters actually survive.

Nicholas Sparks, Cliff Notes version: Two people fall in love. One of them dies.

Oops, did I just give away the ending?

I don't think you gave away the ending, NS just gave away all his endings and all his plots when he said, "I write in the genre of the Greek tragedies." You just summed his words and books up.

I prefer happier stories, true stories, The Cloister and the Hearth, Abalard and Heloise, R& J and a bunch of others I can't spell. Actually, Cloister and Hearth is one of my favorite love stories. For those who want a HEA, it has the most remarkable one possible for its time period.

I've read many of his novels. Of those, "Nights in Rodanthe" was the absolute worst. I found "Bend in the Road" to be predictable. With "The Guardian" he attempted some suspense, as in bad people chasing the MC, and it fell flat to me. "The Rescue" was good in parts, I enjoyed the male lead in the story. But after reading several of his novels I could again predict what was going to happen.

And like others have said, someone has died in every novel (except one) that I've read. But I think it's only fair to state that it isn't always the male or female lead like so many presume.

The Sparks novels I enjoyed the most were "The Choice" and "Dear John". Many people hated the ending for "Dear John" but I found it to be very realistic. And having seen the movie, a lot is different from the book, but the main story is intact and the ending has been changed.



I actually have more friends who complain about Jodi Picoult's books. Everyone I know who has read her novels have always hated the ending. I have one on my bookshelf that I've attempted to read more than once. I simply cannot get into it.

I think I figured out the NS phenom back when I was a bookseller and sold an NS book every day I worked. One lady came in for one and said "I NEVER read, but I read Nicholas Sparks"

A small percentage of Americans consider themselves readers so writing for people who don't read is brilliant. That's not sarcasm, in fact early days before he really became such a phenom, I recall him talking about how he approached his first book, his parent's love story, as a marketing project. He has since become quite writerly in interviews.

Anyway - simple stories that you can't spoil because you know what you're getting going in, a love story, a sad story, a breathtaking setting in a really short format that isn't intimidating and also makes a lovely gift. Win/win.

Hey, it gets people in bookstores, so who knows, maybe one or two of them will look around and try something else!

annie jones

I read Dear John when it first came out. It is the only Nicholas Sparks novel I ever read. It was an easy read and I could see the ending coming a mile away. I think I'd rather have characters with a HEA than the way he wrote it. I heard that they changed the ending of the movie and that it is different than the book. (That they gave them a happy ending.) Does anyone know if this is true?

I read one NS book years ago, and I watched The Notebook. Honestly, I really didn't like either the book I read (can't remember which one) or the movie. I do enjoy romance novels, but all of that sap kills it for me. I don't do sap. Books or movies. I may watch Dear John, though. On mute. Mmmm... Channing Tatum.

Plus, the entire time I was reading his book, I remember feeling like he sat down at his desk one day and said "I'm going to write a book that will make women swoon and people cry." Obviously I have no way of knowing if he ever did say that, and he stated in the blurb above that he didn't, but that's how the book came across to me. As did The Notebook.

I have seen several of the movies and enjoyed them. Have yet to read any of his books though. I am quite interested in seeing Dear John and reading this book, only because I can relate to the subject matter. When I met my now husband he was in the army and he got deployed to Iraq shortly after we married, while I was pregnant. It is an emotional subject for me....as soon as I saw the commercials, I knew I had to see it!

I've read a few of NS's books...let's just say I thought the idea for the story was better than the execution of the story, in all cases.

I did jump on the Notebook bandwagon, however, I did not read the book. I think The Notebook was special because it not only showed a young couple in love but it showed an older couple in love. How sweet is that?

The books I read by him were not the titles made into movies. In these, I felt he just scratched the surface; depth was lacking. The potential was there, but he didn't quite go deep enough for me. But...all-in-all, I think he's a pretty solid writer.

Inky said:

I never thought I was happily-ever-after needy...until watching a couple of NS movies.
I think I'll stick to CNN for sad and reach for romance that makes me laugh, dream, and feel warm & fuzzy at its end...or thrill reading from W.E.B. Griffin, Coben, Koontz, and Reichs.

I can't help but feel that NS characters never catch a break; doomed from the beginning. They walk across the page or screen and you wonder: okay, which one of you is going to die at the end of this story?

Not for me.

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Both The Notebook and The Wedding end happily!

I've read quite a few, and I think his style just annoys me for some reason. It didn't use to, but it does now.

I kind of like, though, that his stuff isn't all happily-ever after. life isn't that way, after all!

I find it ironic that he churns out schmaltz but criticizes genre romance as being "not literary enough."

It's not a surprise, considering the incredible misogyny in all of his books, but it's ironic just the same.

Stacia, you find him misogynistic? That aspect escaped me, somehow, though I can usually smell it as quickly as my approaching boss. What did you see that I didn't?

A lot of people find it misogynistic that in these kinds of stories (not just Sparks or all Sparks books but the man writes a love story and disses romance authors genre) require a woman to die (or make some huge sacrifice) in order to make a man whole. It has become almost it's own version of the happily ever after.

Again, not all Sparks (I haven't read them all, or, uh any of them) but that's a complaint I've heard.

annie
http://ishowerwiththemostinterestingpeople.blogspot.com/