A Walk to Remember Essay Example for Free

A Walk to Remember Essay When I was 17, my life changed forever. I’m 57 years old, but even now I can remember everything from that year, down to the smallest details. I relieve that year often in my mind, bringing it back to life, and I realize that when I do, I feel a strange combination of joy and sadness†¦. this is my story; I promise to leave nothing out. First you will smile, then you will cry—don’t say you haven’t been warned. ’’ Written by an international bestselling author and my personal favorite Nicholas sparks, comes a tale of true love, first love and everlasting love that you will never forget! A walk to remember’ is most definitely my favorite book of all time. The tale begins with a 57 year old Landon Carter, looking back at the year of 1958 set in, North Carolina. He remembers every single thing in that year. From the smell of both the sea and lilacs to the girl that changed everything in his life forever. Landon had already dated a girl or two. He even swore that he had once been in love. Certainly the last person in town he thought he’d fall for was Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town’s Baptist minister. A quiet girl who always carried a Bible with her schoolbooks, Jamie seemed content living in a world apart from the other teens. She took care of her widowed father, rescued hurt animals, and helped out at the local orphanage. Out of guilt and a bizarre twist of fate, Landon asks Jamie to the school dance and ends up volunteering to help her in the town churchs Christmas play. Over time, they become close friends, they share their dreams and aspirations with each other and strangely enough Jamie nurtured a very simple dream to get married in a church full of people where she could walk the aisle. As time passes, Jamie shows Landon how deep the human soul can be, opening his eyes to the power of undying faith and the strength of compassion and love. As their kinship grows, Jamie reveals that she has leukemia, a type of cancer, and her health begins to deteriorate. This totally breaks Landon and he goes frantic not knowing what to do. He finally turns to the bible that Jamie had given him. He looks for answers and finally realizes that his loves Jamie too much to let her dreams slip away. He knows what to do when he reads the following passage in the bible. â€Å"I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of you love by comparing it to the earnestness of others. † He asks Jamie to marry him. The most memorable part of the book is the wedding ceremony when Jamie gets up from her wheelchair and calls upon all of her remaining strength to walk down the aisle to stand beside Landon. It was as Landon recalls the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make. It was in every way a walk to remember. Soon enough Jamie passes away. But she doesn’t leave before teaching Landon the depths of the human heart; she teaches him the power of forgiveness. She was an angel in Landon’s eyes, who brought him and his father together and she taught him to believe in miracles. A walk to remember was published by grand central publishing in October 1999. It is a hardcover paperback consisting of 250 pages. A walk to remember is an entirely a work of fiction. Romantic drama is the genre of the book. This book is listed as no 12 on the list of 1999 best seller. A walk to remember, received mixed reviews from all over the world. 9% of the reviews being positive, there were some who didn’t share the same opinion as the rest of those who consider the book as unforgettable. while ‘ African sun times’ rates the movies as ‘ a remarkable love story that, like its predecessors will touch the hearts of readers everywhere’, Clarissa Cruz of ‘entertainment weekly’ pans the novel saying that its cliche riddled pros and twists can be predicted after skimming the prologue. A walk to remember is my favorite book because of the fact that it touched me so deeply. It was the first and only book that ever made me cry. It is a sweet, simple, and beautiful story of how love can lead to miracles. Some may consider it sappy, but that’s just how Mr. Sparks wanted it to be. It wasn’t a cheesy ending where Jamie miraculously recovers from cancer. Jamie teaches Landon forgiveness, she teaches him to pray, she teaches him love. There is a part in the book where Landon asks Jamie whether, she’s lost her faith. When she replies no, he asks her, whether it is because she thinks she will get better. And Jamie replies ‘no, it’s because it’s the only thing I have left’. And that’s what I learn from the book. Faith! Faith in god, faith in the fact that things will get better someday, faith that I will be a better person than I am today, faith that I’ll see my dreams come true. And finally I would like to conclude with a passage from the bible that Landon considered Jamie to be as the truest essence of its description. ‘Love is always patient and kind It is never boastful or conceited. Love takes no pleasure in other peoples pain. But delight in truth. It is always ready to trust, to hope and to endure whatever comes†