Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

The story The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks begins in a rest home, where an elderly patien is telling us his story. Every morning he visits a women who often does not remember him and reads to her from a worn notebook containing the memories of his life and love. He hopes by reading her these memories that she will finally remember who he is, but she does not. The next part of the book takes place in 1946, Noah Callhoun has just returned from war and has bought his dream house in New Bern. This is his way of forgetting his past, busying himself in the resoring the house. After this, the story flashes back to when Noah meets his love Allie Nelson in 1935. Allie is 15 and Noah is 17. Throughout the summer they fall in love and it is clear that these two were ment for each other. When Allie returns home after the summer in New Bern, they loose touch. To move on, Noah enlists in the army. Back in 1946, Noah is living succesfully and Allie is engaged to a succesful lawyer. When Allie reads an article about Noah restoring the house he has recently bought, she decides that she has to go visit him back in New Bern. After spending two days together Allie has to return to her life and the man she is going to marry. The next quarter of the book, shows an elderly couple and their undying love. This elderly couple is Allie and Noah and is the same couple from the beginning of the book. Allie has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimers and often does not remember the life she shared with Noah. The novel does have somewhat of a bittersweet ending because sometimes Allie does remember the life she shared with him due to his undying love and the faith he has by returning everyday to read to her.

Discussion Questions
1) Do you think it was right for Allie to visit Noah, her former love, even though she was engaged to a different man?
2) If you were Noah trying to get Allie to remember you, would you ever give up or still keep trying to get her to remember like he does in the novel?

7 comments:

Nicole H. 7-8 said...

If I were Noah trying to get Allie to remember the time we shared together, I would never give up on her. There were most likely times when Noah was in need and Allie did all in her power to help him. I also think that because Noah loved Allie as much as he did, it would have been near impossible to give up on her.

Sarah N. 7-8 said...

I agree with Nicole I think that it would be extremely difficult to give up on someone you love so much. People always say to follow your heart and I think that is what Allie was doing when she came to visit Noah. It is hard to say if it was right to visit him when she was engaged. I think that she was struggling like Noah to just forget the past and the one person she truly loved.

Sarah H 1-2 said...

I don't think Allie visiting Noah was the right thing to do, but sometimes you can't always do the right thing when love is involved.
Sometimes following your heart is the best thing someone can do to find true happiness.

Hannah J. 7-8 said...

i think it was right because through her engagement she learned that her fiancee was not right for her, and by visiting noah, she saved herself and her fiancee from a lifetime of pain and regret.
i would never give up even though it may be painful or extremly hard sometimes, it would take a lot of determination

Kaitlyn K 7-8 said...

I definetly agree with both Hannah. By visiting Noah, Allie did save herself and by Noah never giving up it solidified their love a little more.

Also, i agree with Sarah. Even if you have not seen someone in a long time, you may still love them. Even though it was wrong to visit, Allie may have found the love for Noah she used to have again.

Monica J. 1-2 said...

1. I think Allie needed closure to visit Noah. No i odnt think it was right in the way that she was engaged when she did do it but i think it was right for her heart and her soul to see if she was doing the right thing getting married and to see if theres still a chance with Noah cause she for sure new she still loved him

AnaleeL7-8 said...

2. If i was noah i would not give up on Allie because she is the only girl i have ever loved and she will always be my everything.