Dear John by Nicholas Sparks: a review by Ana Stock

Dear John

This novel proves the strength and capacity of young love. Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks, is a tear-jerking novel which proves the human capacity for love. Many say that long distance relationships do not work, but personal experience proves that wrong. From an odd father, who is later diagnosed with a developmental disorder which caused his obsessive compulsive behaviors, to a perfect college girl and her waning relationship with her knight in shining armor, this novel is sure to bring tears to your eyes. It all begins with John Tyree, his father, his passion for surfing and his new found love, Savannah. It was love at first sight, instigated by a cocky, polo-strapped frat boy who knocked her purse in the ocean. John, while on his annual two week leave, had been out catching some waves and taking in the rays, when along the pier came two college girls, one blond and the other, Savannah, brunette. John, who was an army grunt through necessity, felt obligated to be the damsel in distress’s hero when the prep knocked her purse into the raging waters. Needless to say, Savannah found his heroic action charming. The college students were in North Carolina, for a month, living in a house on the pier and working with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that employs volunteers to build homes for those in need. Savannah and John hit it off immediately and John attended his first party with her group of volunteers. Their romance progressed as the night continued and while neither was expecting to fall in love they found comfort in each other’s arms. Savannah was the girl of John’s dreams, everything about her was just so perfect, she did not drink, and she was the valedictorian of her high school class and everything that he was not. She was religious and reintroduced him to faith, something that he had lost at a young age, because of his estranged father. They both knew that he would have to go back to the base where he was stationed in Germany at the end of his two weeks, so they made the best of the time they had together. Fighting and tears preceded John’s early morning flight back to the cold government barracks. The two young lovers promised to stay in contact and vowed that if John came back at the end of his term, they would marry. An entire, tearful year goes by and the two seem to be going strong until a few incidents strike up quarrel during his leave the following summer. As the story progresses John’s dad suffers a heart attack, John is sent to Iraq following the September 11^th attacks, and something happens with the young couple’s relationship. The novel is definitely bittersweet and its readers become totally engulfed in its pages.

I give Dear John five stars, because it was so easily relatable. Having experienced similar feelings and emotions in relationships, one in particular, I definitely felt the pain that the characters were experiencing. It seems that just as two people get closer and they begin to be themselves together, summer ends and reality hits; feelings of detachment strike and leaving that person feels like the hardest thing you will ever face. Just as John and Savannah, many people in long distance relationships suffer from these same feelings; those of loss, jealousy, distrust, and even betrayal. The reality of Dear John makes it a great read for not only those in long distance relationships, because of the ability to relate, but also to teenage girls across the globe, but I would not recommend this for the adult, married audience. The story is touching and seems so perfect, Nicholas Sparks definitely captured his audience with this one and Dear John unquestionably surpasses The Notebook, in the emotional aspect. Reading the book painted the perfect picture in my mind and I feel that seeing the movie Dear John would ruin my perfect story. I am a sucker for love and I have to say that I definitely recommend!