A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

A Walk to Remember
by Nicholas Sparks
Narrator: Frank Muller
Pages: 240
Published by Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date September 4th, 2004
Source: Library
Genres: Romance
Goodreads

Every April, when the wind blows from the sea and mingles with the scent of lilacs, Landon Carter remembers his last year at Beaufort High. It was 1958, and Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he'd fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's Baptist minister.

A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. No boy had ever asked her out. Landon would never have dreamed of it.

Then a twist of fate made Jamie his partner for the homecoming dance, and Landon Carter's life would never be the same. Being with Jamie would show him the depths of the human heart and lead him to a decision so stunning it would send him irrevocably on the road to manhood...

I never thought I’d say it, but I preferred Mandy Moore to Nicholas Sparks. A Walk to Remember was my first foray into Nicholas Sparks and I have to say, I was not impressed. I knew the premise before I began, I knew I was in for a tear-jerker. However, I did not expect the preachy nature of the novel. Yes, Jamie’s father was a minister so there was going to be some religion in it however, I was not expecting the constant stream of “it’s the Lord’s Plan.” If I had a penny for every time that statement was made I would be a very rich woman.

The characters were all one-dimensional. There wasn’t anything unique about Landon or Jamie that made me route for their relationship nor was I given a reason why Jamie was so special, leaving Landon lovestruck.

Also, I found Nicholas Sparks to be manipulative. He contrived scenarios to pull at the reader’s heartstrings. Unfortunately, instead of being sprouted organically they simply felt forced and thus, only a woman on her period would buy into this slop.

As for narration, Frank Muller did the best he could but it was beyond his power to save me from the wrath of A Walk to Remember

Sadly, for once Hollywood did it better than the book. It was an interesting theme on how one person can change another, but it was poorly executed and was a walk of disappointment.