Dear John
2011-05-05
It starts to make your heart ache in the sixteenth chapter or so. The fact that John was so lonely and he has no one to turn to except for his autistic father who concealed himself in his own world was more saddening than the breaking up letter Savannah had written him.
I find myself blaming Savannah for her betrayal to John, though I know there must be a reason. But as heartbreaking as it was, I didn't put the book down, instead, I clinging to the plot even much tighter, hoping to find John in a better situation.
Just as the commentator at the bestseller website has pointed out, 'Dear John' is for anyone who liked 'A Walk to Remember' or other of Nicolas Sparks sappy romantics. In fact, he is a master in combining the sweetness and bitterness in an innocent love story.
Nicolas knows how a subtle act in love can soften the hearts of the readers, most of whom, I guess, are girls and women. A light touch of hands, the first kiss, the simple quiet moment when two people leaning against each other while watching the sun set. All the details of affection are what most people want to receive or retrieve.
In 'Dear John', the protagonist's father, was autistic, as was the author's son Ryan, the heroine, loves horses, as did the author's mother, so the theory is true about you can always detect bits and pieces of the author's personal life in his novel.
I am not finishing the book yet, but I already see the end. The lonely soldier lost his love of life but they will remain be in each other's memory forever. This is what first love would usually turned out like, but in John's case, it tastes much much more agonized. I tends to avoid all the political backdrop of the 9/11 attack and the Iraqi War, although they are the irreversible force that turned the romance into a tragedy.
Perhaps most author believes that compared to happy-endings, tragedy would be more easily remembered by readers as somehow pain last longer than happiness. But personally speaking, I would rather feel relived than wounded from reading a novel.