The Wedding

“The Wedding” - by, Nicholas Sparks

To the gals, I say nothing, for nothing needs to be said, as the fairer sex does not lack for the finely tuned touchy-feely emotional sentiments normally required to thoroughly appreciate such a heart warming story of love re-kindled, long past its expiration date, due to various reasons … such as well intentioned, but ultimately ill-informed or misguided choices, for example.

But to the guys, I present a good-natured challenge. First, I double-dog dare you to read this book, particularly since the subject matter is not normally a typical guy’s first choice of reading material (relationship issues, romance, etc.). Secondly, if you do decide to actually read it, I triple-dog dare you to do so without at least once tearing-up or getting emotional; because yes, it is that good, and will more than likely tear at your heart strings. But don’t worry if your eyes stay dry right up to the last page, as it’s somewhat unusual for the male gender to equal our female counterparts in outward emotional expressiveness. So if no tears flow, rest assured that you’re probably still a human being, and have not inadvertently morphed into the newest version of a modern robot or Artificial Intelligence - ‘Sir’ or ‘Alex’; the imaginary male version of Apple’s ‘Siri’ or Amazon’s ‘Alexa’.

Accomplished author Nicholas Sparks, whose books are so good that they sometimes get converted into movies (‘The Longest Ride’, ‘The Choice’, ‘The Notebook’, etc.), are quite often much more than meets the eye. More than just a very good read, they can easily and often be a delightful and surprising mix of how things could and should be in a modern world of perplexing problems, particularly relational problems between adults, both young and old. His stories can be likened unto culinary delights, well seasoned with adventure, reality, hope, inspiration, lightheartedness (to name just a few) and the ongoing struggle to make things gone wrong … somehow right again; giving ample evidence that not only is he a gifted writer, but also experienced or sufficiently knowledgeable in the complexities of human relationships, as well as the credibly marvelous and miraculous unraveling of those all-too-often messy relational tangles which we unfortunately create for ourselves from time to time.

To date, I’ve seen only three of his novels in movie format (the three listed above), and read only this (‘The Wedding’) novel. In all four titles (movies or novel), which is a rather small sampling of his prolific writing accomplishments, it would seem that there is a very subtle or underlying theme; a new or already established relationship which somehow had started off to be, or eventually became somewhat incompatible - threatening heartbreak - but eventually over time, patience, and sincere effort, marvelously transformed into a genuinely respectable relationship to be relished.

It has been said countless times over, and in many ways, that there are two great needs/goals in life; 1) to be loved unconditionally, and 2) is to, in turn, love others unconditionally … an inspired sermon or intelligent lecture to properly validate such a claim is beyond the limited purpose of this book review. That being said, Nicholas Spark’s thoughtfully composed stories seem to contain the necessary ingredients to educate, encourage, and equip us to sufficiently prepare ourselves to be grateful recipients of such unconditional love, and to be worthy conduits to (in turn) unconditionally love others, despite the inevitable and disappointing struggles on our lifelong journey in achieving such needs, goals, or monumental milestones.

Wow … What a Read!

Thank you, Mr. Sparks; and please, don’t stop writing!

I've always loved to read a good love story. I have read so many that I've lost count. But Nicholas Sparks have won hands down every single time. His work is just amazing. Just when you think nothing surprises you anymore & you see more wonderful surprises coming. What I love about this book: It sends a message out there to not take the people you love for granted. And one can change for the better if one really wants to. If you surround yourself with good friends & family they will be there for you. I would recommend this book from teens to over a 100 yrs old :-)

Jane was a stay at home mom and Wilson is a lawyer who put work before his family and he wife told him she was going to visit her son and Wilson said let's make it a long weekend and she said she already had tickets and was staying for two weeks and he said have fun so that night she went to bed and he finally went to bed and she was crying her self to sleep and that broke his heart so he drove her to the airport and kiss her good by he called his son and asked to speak t ok mom and he said she was out shopping and would have her call him and that's when he told his dad off and after that he called his daughter and asked her t ok do him a favor and she said ok so when her mom came home Wilson picked her up at the airport and they had dinner and the next days her dad was sick and the called them and Jane and her brother and sister went to the hospital to see him but he only wanted to see Wilson because Wilson would go out to the pond and feed the ducks with her dad and they would talk and he told him everything that happened and dad just said you will do just fine but he said I'm not romantic like you are and he said do what you think she will like and he said ok. So Wilson went in to his room in the hospital and they talked and said you're family worried about you he ok send them in but first promise me you will goto the pond and feed the ducks ok.so they fussed over him than he said he was tied and they left. So he fed the ducks and than her dad came home and was feeding the ducks and talking to the one duck with the heart shape on her breast and told him that was Lily his wife and Wilson didn't know what to say so he said hi and the next day he brought him two. loads of wonder bread and he said thank you Wilson and they talked for a couple more minutes and he left than he came home and there daughter Ann and her boyfriend came over to have a talk with them and that's when Ann said she was getting married on there mom and dad 30 th anniversary and Jane was over joyed and congratulated them and said we better get busy planning thing so Wilson took a month off from work to help plan the surprise for his wife and so they went shopping and he made dinner for them when she came home and she said thank you he tell he thinks about there past and she would think back to when they were dating and all those memories came back to them and he said he would do everything to make his wife fall in love with him again .

The book was wrapped clearly and tight. The top of book has some black marks that look like it was marked with a a sharpee around the top edge. I don't find this appealing. It doesn't matter if the book was published last century. I like my books to look than that without black marks. The book is readable. I will not apologize for wanting my books to have a better first appearance. Regardless, the book is a great read and great story.

Spoilers Ahead

This was my first Nicholas Sparks novel. I usually read thrillers and fantasy-based books, so this was new. The first part of the book started very slow. No build-up, no action, no nothing. There was no sense of urgency, so I found it a bit dragging.

Wilson doesn’t think that he’s a romantic, but I say otherwise. He may not be grand in his actions when compared to Noah, but it’s the little things that he does for Jane that shows it. When he plans the first date with Jane and had a whole plan with how he was going to gift her an umbrella. An ode to the first time they walked together to her car. The proposal, how he planted the ring in a shell for her to find on their walk. Asking permission from Noah to marry his daughter. Though some of the events didn’t go according to plan, it was the thought that counts… and the thought was always of Jane.

The status of their relationship I feel is common in many others. When you’re together for so long, people tend to become complacent. Where they just get into a rhythm of things. It doesn’t mean that they love each other less, just that they’re content. Sometimes though, content doesn’t always correlate to happiness.

When Wilson begins to feel that their union is heading in a direction that may lead to Jane falling out of love, it scares him into action. All this time I thought Wilson was really lucky in getting everything that was asked of him. To the point that I didn’t even feel any pressure or sense of anxiety that one would typically feel in planning a last-minute event. That lead me to feeling that his story was boring.

The second part of the book was what really got me surprised. When the wedding unfolds and you finally see that nothing was spontaneous and that everything was meticulously planned out, it was a wonderful love story. Wilson knew Jane’s favorite things, and used that knowledge to give her the wedding of her dreams. That screams romance to me. The thoughtfulness of the photo album is a sign of a true romantic.

An easy read that reminds you that it’s never too late to rediscover what has been lost.