Dear John Mass Market – December 1, 2009 Author: Visit Amazon's Nicholas Sparks Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0446567337 | Format: PDF
Dear John Mass Market – December 1, 2009 Description
Amazon.com Review
An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life--until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. "Dear John," the letter read...and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love--and face the hardest decision of his life.
Go Behind the Scenes of the Motion Picture Dear John (Sony Pictures, 2010)
Starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum
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From Publishers Weekly
Hot on the heels of
True Believer and sequel
At First Sight, Sparks returns with the story of ne'er-do-well-turned-army-enlistee John Tyree, 23, and well-to-do University of North Carolina special education major Savannah Lynn Curtis. John, who narrates, has been raised by a socially backward single postal-worker dad obsessed with coin collecting (he has Asperger's syndrome). John bypasses college for the overseas infantry; Savannah spends her college summers volunteering. When they meet, he's on leave, and she's working with Habitat for Humanity (he rescues her sinking purse at the beach). John has a history of one-night stands; Savannah's a virgin. He's an on-and-off drinker; she's a teetotaler. Attraction and values conflict the rest of the summer, but the deal does not close. Savannah longs for John to come home; her friend Tim longs to have a relationship with her. On the brink of John and Savannah's finally getting together, 9/11 happens, and John re-ups. Savannah's letters come less and less frequently, and before you know it, he receives the expected "Dear John" letter. Sparks's novel brims with longing.
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- Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Mti Rep edition (December 1, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0446567337
- ISBN-13: 978-0446567336
- Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
John Tyree is a soldier first, a man second. Or so he thinks until he meets Savannah Lynn Curtis. While on leave, he falls desperately in love with Savannah, the proverbial girl of his dreams. Sweet, intelligent, and giving, John knows he'll always carry her torch.
When September 11 changes the world, John is no exception. Moved by patriotic loyalty, he chooses to "re-up" in the army, adding time to his service and breaking his promise to return to Savannah. More promises are broken when he must attending to his ailing father.
This is the story of how an ideal love can falter, despite its purity and strength. Not every romance results in a happy ending, but with a great deal of luck, those who don't survive will find meaning from the experience. Love, loyalty, friendship--all those sentiments are great, but to what cost? And how does this make a good man great? This is John's journey to that understanding.
It goes without saying that Nicholas Sparks is one of today's "master" storytellers. Part of what makes him so successful is that he has the ability to create moving stories without pulling punches or painful twists. Such is the case in DEAR JOHN. Sparks offers a love story that has all the requisite components--well-crafted setting, high emotion, obstacles, resolution--then breaks it. It is from the sadness that hope emerges, and John Tyree, although still quite young, gains wisdom that will last a lifetime. Sorrow will be a large part of this, yes, but there is room for something more, something that will reach beyond the pages and touch John's tomorrow in a way only he will see.
While this works, there is something lacking. It is one of those hard-to-define qualities that marks the difference between a good book and one that is outstanding.
John Tyree is an ordinary guy living an ordinary life, only child of a shy and silent father John doesn't understand. He rebelled against the calm order of his father's life, unable to understand why the only thing that mattered to him was coins, and fell in with a bad group of guys with nothing more than drinking and playing pool and working an endless stream of nowhere jobs. Fed up with his dead end life, John joins the Army and begins to grow up and find purpose--until Savannah Lynn Curtis enters his life.
Dark-haired, young, vibrant and full of life, Savannah Lynn Curtis is spending a month at the seashore in North Carolina with her college friends working for Habitat for Humanity. She stuns John at first glance. Her slightly gap-toothed smile sends him diving over the railing and into the sea to find her quickly sinking purse, while her college friends stand by and watch. John looks like a surf bum, but his tattoos and manners show Savannah something different. Her belief in John changes both their lives.
John is home on leave from Germany for two weeks. He spends them getting to know Savannah and falling in love. He also gets to know and understand his father through Savannah as he slowly comes out of his shell and begins to dream of a happier future. Their dreams come crashing down on September 11, 2001.
Nicholas Sparks is best known for his simple, straight forward love stories with lots of heart, a strong Christian theme and very little characterization, set in North Carolina. Dear John is another such story.
"Dear John" is a very quick read that skims the surface of his characters' lives, occasionally moving closer for a few moments of honest emotion, but never getting too close or too personal.
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