Books & Music Fans of NICHOLAS SPARKS!!

iluvmybags

iluvmybags

& My Motos & Shoes!
O.G.
Sep 13, 2006
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2,670
#1
Anyone else here a fan of N Sparks?
If so,

  • What's your fav book?
  • What's your least favorite?
  • Have you read his latest book (SAFE HAVEN)?
  • Have you seen all the movies?
  • When did you discover his books?
  • Are there any titles you haven't read yet?
Please share anything and everything related to Nicholas Sparks and his book!
 
#2


Nicholas Sparks is my favorite author. I have read every book he's ever written since MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE came out more than 10 years ago (I went back and read THE NOTEBOOK a little bit later). To this day, it's still one of my favorite books! I usually buy the books the day that they're released and get through them so quickly. And then it's another agonizing year before the next one is released (he was releasing two books/year for a short while, but it got to be too much for him - as disappointed as I was with that decision, I clearly understood it once I read THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER!)

I just finished reading SAFE HAVEN, his newest and most recent release (currently #2 on the NY Times Best Sellers List! :yahoo: ). While it's got a lot of Sparks trademark "sappiness" (it's OK for me to call his books sappy as I'm a HUGE fan!!), I didn't quite like it as much as other books. It has a bit of mystery and suspense, but that's not what I didn't like. I didn't like the ending at all and I just felt like parts of the story were lacking.

I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next year -- it's gonna be another long year of waiting!
 
#4
DEAR JOHN was probably one of my least favorite books he's written. I haven't seen the movie yet nor have I seen THE LAST SONG, although I loved that book (but since he had finished the screenplay before the actual book and the movie had already been made when the book was released, I knew that Miley Cyrus had been cast as Ronnie and that the character was written just for her -- I had a hard time reading the book w/o picturing her on every page - even worse, I couldn't help but imagine Billy Ray Cyrus as her father, even tho I knew that Greg Kinnear had the part in the movie!!)

From what I understand, the movie rights to SAFE HAVEN have been purchased and there are plans underway for a movie. I could totally see this book as a movie - it might actually be a better movie than a book, which is a rarity
 
#6
I've read a few of his books and to be honest I'm not much of a fan. Granted the romance genre isn't one I enjoy. However, am I the only one that gets the impression he is writing about himself? He comes across quite narcissistic IMHO.
 
#7
LisaG719 said:
I've read a few of his books and to be honest I'm not much of a fan. Granted the romance genre isn't one I enjoy. However, am I the only one that gets the impression he is writing about himself? He comes across quite narcissistic IMHO.
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Actually, quite a few of his stories are based on family members
Noah and Allie in THE NOTEBOOK were based on his grandparents; Jamie in WALK TO REMEMBER was based on his sister, who passed away at a young age from Leukemia; THE RESCUE was loosely based on his own experience raising a son with autism, BEND IN THE ROAD was loosely based on his brother-in-law who was a Single Parent

Have you ever read THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER? It's more or less an autobiography and he explains a lot of inspirations and how he came up with certain stories in this book - He's actually a very humble, devoted family man
 
#8
iluvmybags said:
Actually, quite a few of his stories are based on family members
Noah and Allie in THE NOTEBOOK were based on his grandparents; Jamie in WALK TO REMEMBER was based on his sister, who passed away at a young age from Leukemia; THE RESCUE was loosely based on his own experience raising a son with autism, BEND IN THE ROAD was loosely based on his brother-in-law who was a Single Parent

Have you ever read THREE WEEKS WITH MY BROTHER? It's more or less an autobiography and he explains a lot of inspirations and how he came up with certain stories in this book - He's actually a very humble, devoted family man
Click to expand...

Wow. I've never heard that before. That puts an entirely different spin on things. Thanks for pointing that out!

I haven't read Three Weeks with My Brother. I believe the only ones I've read are The Notebook, The Choice, and Message in a Bottle.
 
#9
I used to be so mad that he only published one book/year and wondered how other authors managed to publish two or more in a calendar year. There were a few years in between there where he published two books/year (one in the fall, one in the spring), but then he stopped - after reading THREE WEEKS, I understood why he only publishes one book/year - he allows himself a certain amt of time to write the book and then do the publicity for it, the rest of the time is spent with his family. When he was doing 2 books/year, he was either writing or on the road doing book signings, etc and wasn't spending enough time w/family - that's when he decided to go back to writing 1/year! I didn't like it because I love his books so much, but I understood and totally respect him for making that decision (he could be making so much more $$ by doing the 2 books/year, but he gave that up so he could spend more time w/his family)
 
#11
I didn't mind his books-until I started reading interviews with him, now I refuse to give a single penny to that obnoxious man by either buying his books or seeing any of the movies.
 
#13
He picks on a lot of other writers including James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Cormac McCarthy (who is an amazing writer & so beyond what Sparks does, they're not even comparable), and thinks he's in the same category as Shakespeare, Homer, etc.

A bunch of critics have taken him to task on it this year b/c he was paid to write that movie for Miley Cyrus by Disney because she wanted to be in a movie that was like "A Walk to Remember."

There's a bunch links about it if you google around a bit:
http://videogum.com/163521/duh-afic...-a-jerk-and-an-idiot/duh-aficionado-magazine/
(The original article with him: http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-03-11-lastsong11_CV_N.htm)

Before talking to other writers & then reading a few articles about him, I didn't feel one way or the other about him. Now, I own the Notebook & I haven't been able to watch it since.

If you want a chuckle, someone forwarded me this & it made me giggle: http://www.cracked.com/funny-4725-nicholas-sparks/
 
#14
I don't think of myself as a fan--I just started reading Safe Haven becaue it's set in Southport, NC, where I live. Naturally my curiosity kicked in.

As for movie rights, I'll bet many best-selling authors sell movie rights before the book even comes out. Back in the 1930's, Margaret Mitchell said she wrote Gone With the Wind with Clark Gable in mind to play Rhett Butler!
 
#15
jillybean307 said:
He picks on a lot of other writers including James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Cormac McCarthy (who is an amazing writer & so beyond what Sparks does, they're not even comparable), and thinks he's in the same category as Shakespeare, Homer, etc.

A bunch of critics have taken him to task on it this year b/c he was paid to write that movie for Miley Cyrus by Disney because she wanted to be in a movie that was like "A Walk to Remember."

There's a bunch links about it if you google around a bit:
http://videogum.com/163521/duh-afic...-a-jerk-and-an-idiot/duh-aficionado-magazine/
(The original article with him: http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2010-03-11-lastsong11_CV_N.htm)

Before talking to other writers & then reading a few articles about him, I didn't feel one way or the other about him. Now, I own the Notebook & I haven't been able to watch it since.

If you want a chuckle, someone forwarded me this & it made me giggle: http://www.cracked.com/funny-4725-nicholas-sparks/
Click to expand...


Interesting! So, my original negative take on him may not have been too far fetched.
 
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