Book and Movie Review of The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks
The Best of Me is about two high school sweethearts from the opposite sides of the tracks. Amanda is part of the wealthy and privileged Collier family while Dawson is a Cole, the family that was the center of crime in their North Carolina town. Dawson wants more for himself and finds his way into the heart of a man who gives him shelter and love and a girl who believes in him. The realities of life and subsequent tragedy tear them apart.
Twenty five years later, a funeral brings them both home. Dawson works on an oil rig and Amanda is a stay-at-home mom who lost sight of her dreams. Confronting memories and each other as they mourn a friend, they find that their past was not what it seemed and work to heal their wounds. Neither is happy in their current lives and while for Dawson, a second chance at their love is only paired with hope, for Amanda it means tearing her family apart.
I was shocked at how much I did not like this book. As I often do with Nicholas Sparks' books, I read it in one sitting. While I read, I found myself not liking Amanda at all and being disappointed in Dawson's insistence on punishing himself for past events, the most notable of which was a complete accident. The more I read of Amanda, the more I disliked her and found myself thinking Dawson was an idiot for being so loyal to her. The choices she made at the end of the book cemented that and I couldn't help but be disgusted with the way she chose to live the rest of her life.
Additionally, I found the book to be completely predictable, and while with books like this there's always some element to it, the last fifty pages would normally have me bawling the entire time and I didn't shed a tear, stunned by the cookie-cutter predictability. It seemed like Sparks was trying to recapture the magic of The Notebook by combining it with the age-old story of the star-crossed lovers. It failed miserably.
The is the one time I've been truly disappointed in a book written by Nicholas Sparks, especially with the hype that surrounded it. I give this book a frustrated sigh and:
The Best of Me was made into a movie in 2014 and I purchased it before reading the book. Once I'd read the book I decided to give it a chance and was glad I did.
The movie adaptation was much better than the book, and I've only said that two other times (the 1963 adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and the 2009 adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline).
Both main characters were more likable: Dawson was not so pathetically attached to the past and Amanda was a more likable person. The events of the book that were so disappointingly predictable became far less so in the movie. Amanda's final choices for her life were ones I would encourage a friend to make and Dawson would be a man I would encourage a friend to give a second chance.
While I wouldn't recommend the book, I do recommend the movie, giving it:
Twenty five years later, a funeral brings them both home. Dawson works on an oil rig and Amanda is a stay-at-home mom who lost sight of her dreams. Confronting memories and each other as they mourn a friend, they find that their past was not what it seemed and work to heal their wounds. Neither is happy in their current lives and while for Dawson, a second chance at their love is only paired with hope, for Amanda it means tearing her family apart.
I was shocked at how much I did not like this book. As I often do with Nicholas Sparks' books, I read it in one sitting. While I read, I found myself not liking Amanda at all and being disappointed in Dawson's insistence on punishing himself for past events, the most notable of which was a complete accident. The more I read of Amanda, the more I disliked her and found myself thinking Dawson was an idiot for being so loyal to her. The choices she made at the end of the book cemented that and I couldn't help but be disgusted with the way she chose to live the rest of her life.
Additionally, I found the book to be completely predictable, and while with books like this there's always some element to it, the last fifty pages would normally have me bawling the entire time and I didn't shed a tear, stunned by the cookie-cutter predictability. It seemed like Sparks was trying to recapture the magic of The Notebook by combining it with the age-old story of the star-crossed lovers. It failed miserably.
The is the one time I've been truly disappointed in a book written by Nicholas Sparks, especially with the hype that surrounded it. I give this book a frustrated sigh and:
The Best of Me was made into a movie in 2014 and I purchased it before reading the book. Once I'd read the book I decided to give it a chance and was glad I did.
The movie adaptation was much better than the book, and I've only said that two other times (the 1963 adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and the 2009 adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline).
Both main characters were more likable: Dawson was not so pathetically attached to the past and Amanda was a more likable person. The events of the book that were so disappointingly predictable became far less so in the movie. Amanda's final choices for her life were ones I would encourage a friend to make and Dawson would be a man I would encourage a friend to give a second chance.
While I wouldn't recommend the book, I do recommend the movie, giving it:
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