The first time I heard of Nicholas Sparks was in a reference to my story, where the commenter emphatically emphasized to read him to know how to write a love story. Then came the ubiquitous talk of ‘The Notebook’- how it is amongst the finest love stories ever made. Being suffused with romance in Bollywood, I am not a taker of love stories of Hollywood by default. I have enjoyed a few, viz. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Sleepless in Seattle etc, but in general, their set-ups are too alien, contrived and trite for me to partake on regular basis. Hence, my continued avoidance of these movies, despite their long presence in my hard disk.
Somehow though, within a week, I watched ‘The Notebook’ and ‘A Walk to Remember’. I am still undecided how to put my verdict. Watching with expectation does pull down the excitement. But even considering that aside, I can’t put the movies higher than a certain level in the pedestal. These movies, esp. The Notebook, are too artificial, if the word suits here, to stamp their eternal love sensibilities, they so proudly strive to portray.
The Notebook is a narrative spanning the life-time of the protagonists. They meet in teenage, when their love can just be construed as an infraction bordering on infatuation. But their love, stood over family disapproval, social barriers, war trials etc to unite at the end. The actress suffered with dementia later on, but the man made sure to read her their story to bring her back every day. They died with the hands-clasped and hearts-united setting. A good story indeed, more so for those who haven’t watched these many times.
A Walk to Remember, for me, is a better movie than the above. The lead actor is a dandy fellow, with a coterie of like-minded friends. They have scant respect, in fact, they harbor derision, for a simple unfashionable girl. The boy, however in a series of happenings, falls in love with the girl he earlier avoided. All bliss? But no, again the actress in this movie is befallen with tragedy; she is inflicted with leukemia, and ultimately dies in the end. However, she was able to change her lover’s life for the better. The characters are more believable here, majorly due to their superior acting.
Nicholas’ books, they say, are more cogent with their precise moments of love rendition. The books have that luxury to paint a scene more vividly. The movies have to do that instantly. For me, those moments never came. In the end thus, despite trying to love them, I can’t help not loving them.
