Book Review: The Notebook

I thought that I would be on a roll since I am in this uncertain in between of not having any academic tie-downs, I thought that the blog posts would be dropping on the daily, well, I thought wrong. I am not sure what it is, but its been just over a month since I wrote  my last exam, of course, it didn't hit me until I walked through the gates of my neighbourhood that the reality of what seemed to be a far-fetched wrap was here. Now a little older, a  little wiser, I didn't expect anyone to make a national day out of it neither did I expect a firework charade or something of that calibre, however its only dawned on me that making a time, occasion or celebration out of it would have been instrumental in marking a smooth transition into all this free time I have.

Enough about me and my over-the -top thoughts  we haven't had a book review on this space for eons. Excited though unprepared, but excited, lets?

Nicholas Sparks has his works strewn all over Nairobi, at least by the outdoor book vendors. Last Friday this couldn't have been more apparent. I got to town insanely early, too early for my shift at least and I was determined to kill as much time as time would allow for. Even after running errands that I thought undoubtedly would keep me busy as can be and ordinarily would have taken long, wouldn't you know it, the one time I did have the time to wait in line, the service on  the other end of the line was on a record breaking high, efficient as can be. I was still determined to clock in at my prescribed time, any earlier? Uh, I think not. What better way to waste time than reading blurbs of books with no intention of making a purchase. I made my way to my little oasis, 'Lit. Street' as I like to call it, not really, but it does have a cool ring to  it and as lack would have it(it was also the end of the month) there was a sale and a good one at that, 50% off. I managed to score A Raisin in The Sun, some book about Chinese women and radio interviews during the height of Communist China (the title escapes me for now so we are just going to have to bare with that spectacularly vague description)  and The Notebook which though not on sale I just had to have.

It is coming across that I am a die hard Nicholas Sparks superfan when in reality I find him rather cheesy. But, answer me this would you ignore the guy that tinsel town seems to be head over hills in love with, writer of Dear John, The Last Song and of course The Notebook all cult classics in their own respect? Thought so.

I had watched The Notebook a handful of times at the on set of my teenage years, I hardly remember it although I like to think that I have alternate recollections of it. With such a 'solid' foundation I was only reading it for formality purposes, or so I thought.


The book begins in the sunset years of one elderly man who has since transitioned into a senior citizens home. Despite knowing that it is only a matter of time before he and life can part ways he finds purpose in poetry not as a poet himself but as a reader of poems of poets of the yesteryears. His true purpose however lies in reading a story found in a notebook that is heavily centered around a 1940s summer love,the lives of these lovers after and a love never lost to his love, everyday as long as he can help it.

Right out the gate, besides being quite the page turner, picked up on Monday finished on Wednesday, my eyes welled up quite a bit so yes it was a beautiful read. However, it was a rather fictitious read, a bit, too good to be true. In the book the only gaps in their love were the rich girl-poor boy conundrum, unfortunately I was looking for an argument, some discord here and there, it was all just a little bit too fine and dandy for me, not too sure what that says about me as a person, should I lay off The ShadeRoom for a minute since I am always scouting for tea? But that is beside the point.

Yes, I realize that the years spent apart were meant to be the, go figure, gap in the relationship and there is a lot that changes within those years; deaths, new love and lust, forgotten passions.

I might as well throw it in there that my teenage self was all the way giddy because  I knew that once the rain would come the sex scene would come with it or as Nicholas Sparks would say, make passionate love. It is a good three maybe three and a half pages long, would I say it hisses steam? Yes.  I have read steamier, we probably all have, but something out of the 1940's and 1950's I mean a millenial description today would probably be scandalous then.

If you ever have an uneventful couple of days ahead of you like a long weekend or that period between Christmas and New Years where you really don't know what to do with yourself, you thought it was a bit too early to be talking about Christmas yet we are on the eighth month of 2018 huh? This I would a 100% per cent recommend to curl up to and just entirely lose yourself in especially in the Kenyan winter that was/is, you and I both don't know what the Mother Nature has up her sleeve for the Nairobi weather.

Since I enjoyed this book as much as I did you can bet that a couple of quotes are soon to follow,

Have a good one!