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The Notebook is a 1996 American romantic novel by Nicholas Sparks that was later
adapted into a popular romantic film
by the same name in 2004.
The novel was Sparks' first published novel, and the third written after
The Passing and The Royal Murders, which were never published. It
was written over a period of six months in 1994. Literary agent Theresa Park discovered Sparks after
picking the book out of her agency's slush pile, liked it, and offered to represent him.
In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million
advance for it from Time Warner Book Group, and the novel
was published in October 1996. It was on the New York Times best seller list in its first
week of release.
Set in a modern day nursing home, an elderly man named Noah, but called
"Duke", begins to read a love story from his notebook to his wife Allie who
suffers from stage three Alzheimer's dementia. Before her dementia
intensified, Allie wrote the love story of her and Noah down in a notebook. She
gave it to him with instructions to read it to her on days she couldn't
remember, promising that her memory would come back as Noah read her their love
story.
The film/book begins in June 6,1940. Seventeen-year-old Allie Hamilton, the
only child of a rich plantation owner, and her friend, Sara, are spending the
evening at a local carnival in Seabrook, South Carolina; Noah Calhoun, a country
boy who is with his friend, Finn, first sees Allie, who is with her friend Sara.
Noah is immediately smitten with Allie and he continuously asks her out on
dates, only to be playfully rejected by her. Noah hangs off the ferris wheel and
tells Allie that he will let go if she doesn’t accept. To get even, Allie
unbuckles Noah's belt, leaving him hanging from the ferris wheel in his
underwear and t-shirt. Soon, they wind up spending the evening with each other
while going to a late night show with Finn and Sara. On a midnight walk through
an empty Seabrook, Noah learns of how tightly scheduled Allie's life was with
her daily schedules and activities. Yet he sees a deeper side in her, a side
yearning to be free and he likes that. The first featuring of "I'll Be Seeing You" is played
as they dance in the street.
Noah and Allie spend an idyllic summer together. Allie lives with her
parents, John and Anne Hamilton, who are staying in Seabrook for only the summer.
Allie's father, a Southern millionaire, appears to be okay with Allie and Noah's
relationship, chuckling as Allie returns late home one night, merely laughing
"Oh Boy!" as the two regretfully part for the night outside Allie's house. Noah
lives only with his father, Frank Calhoun. Frank is welcoming to Allie and
invites her to the house on regular occasions for dances and pancakes. Allie's
mother is not so approving. One night, a week before Allie is to leave, Allie
and Noah go up to an abandoned house called "The Windsor Plantation" where Allie
and Noah passionately prepare to make love for the first time. A nervous Allie
keeps interrupting Noah as he kisses her and when the moment seems finally
right, they are interrupted by Finn who tells them Allie's parents have every
cop out looking for her. Upon return to the house, Allie's parents ban her from
seeing Noah, Allie fights with Noah outside and the two decide to break up.
Allie immediately regrets the decision but Noah drives away. The next morning,
Allie's mother reveals that they're going home that morning instead of next
week. Allie frantically tries to find Noah, but is forced to leave without
saying good-bye. The Hamiltons then send Allie to New York, where she starts
attending school at Sarah Lawrence. Noah, devastated to be
separated from Allie, begins to write one letter a day for a year, only to get
no reply because Allie's mother keeps the letters from her. They have no choice
than to move on with their lives, and Allie continues to attend school, while
Noah and Finn enlist for the war and end up fighting in Europe under General Patton. Finn is killed in battle.
Meanwhile, Allie becomes a nurse for the wounded soldiers. There, she meets Lon
Hammond Jr. Allie spends time with him and the two eventually become engaged, to
the joy of Allie's parents as Lon is wealthy......................
The film adaptation of The Notebook was released on June 25, 2004 in North America and starred Ryan Gosling and James Garner as Noah Calhoun,
Rachel McAdams and Gena Rowlands as Allie
Hamilton, Sam Shepard as
Frank Calhoun, Joan Allen as
Anne Hamilton, David
Thornton as John Hamilton, and James Marsden as Lon Hammond Jr. It was directed
by Rowlands' real-life son, Nick Cassavetes.
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