A Walk To Remember

Title of the book: A Walk to Remember

By: Nicholas Sparks

Number of pages: 256

Number of pages read: 27

The main character of the book is still unknown, and the only thing that is discovered is that the character is male. The story begins in 1958, where the seventeen-year old guy, starts telling us both joyful and sad things about his early life. He provides a lot of details throughout the whole book. He is a senior at Beaufort High School which collaborates each year with the Southern Baptist church on a Christmas play called ‘’The Christmas Angel. ‘’ The play is written by the minister, and it is about a man who loses his wife and has to care for his young daughter. The angel appears and advices the man to be a better person and the angel brings the present for the little girl on the Christmas Morning.

Narrator’s father was in Washington DC and he saw him 3 months per year. When he was little, he thought that all of the fathers do that, but as he grew up, he realized that he basically has only his mother by his side.

He finishes the chapter describing a girl in his class. Her name is Jamie. She is a girl who is very serious about her religion and education, and she takes most of the things in her life very serious. She is pale, she has light hair and she talked to him several times. Jamie was chosen to be the main character of the play, because she was minister’s daughter, and when narrator saw her in front of the whole class, he changed his opinion about her and he started thinking of her in a different way than before.

This is where the chapter ends, and unfortunately I did not have any time to read more of it, but I am looking forward reading it!

These 27 pages that I have read taught me that I shouldn’t judge book by its cover, and that I should first meet someone, and then think of her/him in a right way.

·       How have these developments affected the characters, relationships, situation OR your understanding of issues presented within your reading?

Since the narrator grew without his father, and he was a stranger to him, I think that he was a bad guy in his teenage years because there was no one (male) to give some advice to him. His mom was the only close person in his life, but he still didn’t have that strong realtionhsip with her like he should be.

I think that his obstacle so far, is actually himself, and he needs to open up and starts communicating even more with the people around him.

·       What do you think about what you have read?

First of all, I think that the narrator included many descriptions about the book, and that he tried to give us a right picture to imagine about his teenage years. I also learnt that the main character is very judgmental and that he likes to judge people by their look. He is happy with the life he has, even without his father.

·       Has your recent reading fulfilled your expectations?

My reading has fulfilled my expectations, and the main result of it is because I read these pages so fast, and with full concentration and attention. Sometimes, I am not interested in books, and sometimes I don’t concentrate on them, but this one is a special one. I read it fast and I wanted to know what is going to happen next.  

·       What do you expect for your continued reading?

I expect conflict at the middle of the book, and I think that the mood is going to be peaceful and calm throughout the book. I think that the narrator may fall in love with Jamie (the quiet girl) because at the end of the chapter he starts being interested in her. There is also a movie version of it, but I never watched it, and now that I have already read the beginning, I wanted to watch a movie, but unfortunately can’t…

·       How satisfied are you with what you have read?

I am very satisfied with what I have read, but as I've already mentioned, I didn't have any time to read more. I love that the author includes much details, and that we can imagine the picture in our head. He also describes very briefly almost everything, and the book is easy to understand. So far, I love it, and I can’t wait to read more!

Passage Section

‘’So, I grew up under the care of my mother. Now she was a nice lady, sweet and gentle, the kind of mother most people dream about. But she wasn't  nor she could ever be, a manly influence in my life, and the fact coupled with my growing disillusionment with my father, made me became something like a rebel, even in a young age.’’ (page 13)

This is exactly what proves my point of him growing up without his father. It tells a lot about character. He is caring, but still does a lot of bad things in his life. It challenges me because I want to know more about the narrator, and this is exactly what I was looking for in a book.