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Molly Fitzsimmons

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The Best of Me

by Nicholas Sparks (Goodreads Author)

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Molly Fitzsimmons said: " The Best of Me is an engaging novel written by Nicholas Sparks about of course a love story. I really enjoy Nicholas Sparks as an author but this definitely was not my favorite book out of all of his selection. I think readers should just be aware of The Best of Me is an engaging novel written by Nicholas Sparks about of course a love story. I really enjoy Nicholas Sparks as an author but this definitely was not my favorite book out of all of his selection. I think readers should just be aware of the abrupt ending because the build up of the love story makes it seem like the ending will be phenomenal, well it was not.
Nicholas Sparks is a New York Times best selling novelist. He specializes in romance novels while also dabbling in screenwriting along with producing movies. He is best known for writing The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, See Me, Two by Two, and many other popular novels. His stories include large amounts of flashbacks and of course focus on love!
Amanda and Dawson are a couple who dated in high school and end up seeing each other again twenty one years later. Amanda comes from what seems like an affluent family with parents who are pretty involved. She has many plans for her future and knows exactly what she wants. Dawson’s situation is quite different. He is apart of a family that is known in the town for being involved in bad activities and even in high school Dawson wants nothing to do with it. He moves in with a Tuck who ends up pretty much being a father figure to him and a great mentor to Amanda. This book takes place in the small town of North Carolina. The two past lovers reunite because of the death of Tuck and both of them are put into his will. Amanda is married with kids and a husband who she does not have the healthiest relationship with. Dawson has recently been in an accident at work on his boat where an explosion happens and he gets catapulted off the ship. Somehow he survives despite harsh conditions. Although Amanda had many dreams and plans for herself in high school, at this point she still had not fulfilled them. “Life” kind of got in the way. When the two reunite they realize how special their love was and it rekindles in a way when reflecting on past memories. This takes place at Tuck and his deceased wifes’ cottage where they spent a lot of time in high school. The lawyer that called them both about the will had them scatter Tuck’s ashes through the garden at the cottage. In high school the reason their relationship failed was because Dawson had gotten into some trouble with the law due to a fight which left him in jail for eight years. Amanda had always tried to visit him but he would never let her because he thought it was unfair to make her wait eight years for them to be together. So eventually she gave up and went on with her life to college and starting a family. A few years before Tuck;s death one of Amanda’s children pass away from cancer and that is when she spends more time with Tuck as someone to lean on. After all the business at the cottage Amanda goes back to her life with her children and husband. Dawson stays at the cottage to fix things up. Amanda’s son gets in an accident which leads to him needing a heart transplant. Simultaneously, Dawson gets killed my a cousin who has unfinished business with him. The heart Amanda’s child receives is Dawson’s. Amanda begins to fix her relationship with her husband and pursues her dream of working with children and being a lawyer like Dawson had encouraged.
Nicholas Sparks uses a lot of imagery when describing the scenes involving the love between Dawson and Amanda. Everything had a large amount of detail in it and it felt like i was there with Dawson and Amanda. “He pulled her closer, slipping his arms around her…she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.” (pg 20) At this moment Dawson was suggesting they end things so he does not get in the way of her future. Amanda obviously disagreed and should this through her actions of them embracing each other. The imagery added at this point helps the reader understand their thoughts. The author also uses imagery when talking about Dawson’s explosion. “He traced the blackened smoke as it formed into sluggish, mushroom like shapes” (page 234)The descriptions in the scenes about the explosion allowed the reader to really understand the experience Dawson went through. He also used symbolism throughout the novel. One symbol that stood out to me was the rose. When Dawson and Amanda went on their first date a pulled a red rose from the garden at the cottage. When Dawson dies, at the funeral Amanda brings red roses to him. I believe the red roses symbolize their everlasting love.
My least favorite character in this novel is Amanada’s husband. He is very self involved and only cares about what’s best for him. He also does not put much time and effort into his marriage and only cares about golf and drinking. My favorite character is without a doubt Tuck. Although he isn’t alive at the time, the stories and flashbacks about him show what an amazing man he was. The way he took on the father role to Dawson and the way he mentored Amanda was so special. I also love how he keeps Clara’s (his deceased wife’s) garden alive. It shows how much he cared for her and how much he cares about life. When the garden got ruined it broke my heart. I really felt like I was there during that scene. I think because there was a lack of description in the characteristics of Amanda’s husband is made me dislike him more. Im sure there were some good qualities about him but I only focused on the negative.
Nicholas Sparks uses flashbacks and foreshadowing as literary devices in his novel. In the beginning when Dawson and Amanda are talking about their future she mentions she wants a little girl named Bea. Later on we learn she had a daughter and named her Bea but she was the one who got sick and passed away. He uses flashbacks throughout the whole book because it is showing us the love story between Dawson and Amanda. This further develops the plot and makes us aware of their relationship. I believe the overall theme is destiny. That everything happens for a reason and some people are just meant to be. Whenever something bad happens in the book the person involved in the accident sees the person they’ve always been in love with. I think this is fate and a sign that they need to be with that person. I believe that the message the author was trying to get across was that there are just some people that you are meant to be with. Although it may not seem like it at times, you should always try and pursue them because sometimes you just destined to be with them.
It may seem like I really enjoyed this book and I did at most parts. I just did not prefer the way the story ended. It was tremendous that Dawson’s heart went to Amanda’s son but did he really have to die at the end of the book? It also all happened all of a sudden, like the story ended so abruptly although the love story was built up so much. The love story was lovely and drawn out but didn’t match up to the length of the ending. It was unbalanced and that is what made me dislike the book. I would recommend the novel but I also would like the reader to be ware that this is not the best Nicholas Sparks book. But if they are dying to read it I say go for it! ...more "

Dec 21, 2017 05:27PM · see review