Dear John : Book Review

Dear John By Nicholas Sparks

After 5 long years, I read Nicholas Sparks writing once again. And while reading the book, I realized how much I have missed his book, for me he is the king of romance genre in writing. I have read around 8-10 of his books and each of his books makes me believe that ‘Love endures’.

After his ‘The Best of Me’, this book ‘Dear John’ reminded me that it’s not necessary for every love story to have a happily ever after but it has to have a content and peaceful ending for the two persons who were , who are and who will always be in love, no matter if they don’t end up living together.

Dear John is a story about John and Savannah. It’s about their long distance relationship and there long lasting love for each other.

But , at the same time, Nichol has focused on the life of a soldier, what all he goes through. John who is an army man has phrased it very precisely that ‘A soldier dies or kills not for country, not for patriotism or not because they are programmed killing machines, but because of the guy next to you. You fight for your friend, to keep him alive, and he fights for you, and everything about the army is built on this simple premise. One wrong decision, and your buddy might die. ‘

The other aspect which has not only been touched upon but is also very important part of the story is its focus on Asperger and Autism and how they both are different medical conditions and people are unaware about it.

Other than John and Savannah, Tim (Savannah’s childhood friend) and John’s father are the protagonists.

Tim has been the pillar in Savannah’s life. He has been so giving, supportive, and protective about Savannah with zero expectations in return.

John , on the other end,  has proved his love and respect for Savannah several times. Not only he made Savannah realized that in any marriage, there’s room for only two people, however, for that he made few hard and painful decisions.

After all , True love is all about caring for other person's happiness more than your own, even if for that you have to make some painful choices.

Extracts from the book which I liked the most:

‘Caring for someone and enjoying spending time with the person but when not together with the person, barely thinking of him/her is not a sign of you being in love with that person.’

‘Key for any relationship to sustain is not only love and care. Love n care are the concrete bricks of any relationship, but unstable without the mortar of time spent together.’

‘Life isn’t fair. It’s possible to go on, no matter how impossible it seems, and that in time the grief… lessens. It may not ever go away completely, but after a while it’s not overwhelming.’

The line which I liked the most is:

‘Knowledge changes perception.’

Rating : 3/5