Me and the epic Sparks

I used to be a sucker for Nicholas Sparks’ books when I was in High school. My mother had this belief that there are books everyone has to read whether they liked it or not, such as: Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the wind, Crime and Punishment… Let’s just say my mom loved Russian literature (and we all see how that affected my reading).

After reading that “thing” my mom gave me, I returned to my beloved Sparks. By the time, I realised I have already read one of his best pieces, and basically most of everything he wrote. I learnt the flow of his stories and could guess the ending of every Sparks’ book I read. That’s when I decided I’ve had enough of Nicholas Sparks’ fiction for at least a couple of years to come.

Once, when I was wandering around with my boyfriend and showing him my favorite bookstores, coffee shops, restaurants.. we came into one of this huge bookstores in the city center where they mostly sell books in English and classic books such as Jane Eyre, Three Musketeers, and Little Princes. There was a shelf that I liked to call “21st century collection”. A handful of books were put there, mostly Nicholas Sparks pieces and such famous novels that have just been published. I pointed at one of those books, my favorite Sparks’ book – “The last song”, and told my boyfriend that I used to read so much of Nicholas Sparks and how touching the book was.

A few weeks later he bought me one of Sparks’ recently published: The Longest Ride. I appreciated the gift for he completely took me by surprise and for he remembered. He remembered that one very small detail. Ok, that’s a completely another story that has nothing to do with my relationship with Nicholas Sparks.

“Ruth, my wife of more than fifty-five years, had died, and in the blink of an eye, all that I’d loved was gone as well.” – The Longest Ride (Nicholas Sparks)

I have to admit that as much as I love this book, it was not one of Nicholas Sparks’ best ones. However, after reading just a couple of pages I recalled why I used to love Sparks’ books so much. There were small details, so sweet and real that you couldn’t resist shedding a tear. There were characters that were so much like people in the real-life, with odd decisions and unique backgrounds. Sparks looked through me and understood how I felt before I myself did.

Even though, now I’m no longer a sucker for Nicholas Sparks, I can never deny that his books are one of the closest to my heart. The stories are simple, but they are events we come across in our lives. Sparks, better than anyone succeeded in scrutinizing our emotions.