Skip to main content

The Charm finally Lost...

You know when you have read all the works of a particular author and have loved every single one of them; you look forward to the upcoming book with an excitement and nervousness which isn’t quite expressible. But of course, if you have been in such a situation, I don’t need to explain it. In my case the excitement was so deep that it made me have a sleepless night before the day when the latest book of Nicholas Sparks, The Longest Ride, was to be released. 17th September. Though the day ended with disappointment for it did not release in India but I still waited for it, in fact longed to have it in my hands, smell the fresh new pages and get lost in the world of Sparks, his romance.




On 5th November 2013 at 5.40 PM I received a call from the delivery boy waiting outside my place for me to pick up a parcel which contained The Longest Ride. I ran down the stairs, took my parcel from the ground floor and was back in my room on the fourth floor in a jiffy. Yes, I was that mad about having another Nicholas Sparks love story in my hand again. With my exams ahead I decided to read it once I am done with my papers. But I couldn’t resist. I decided one page per day. Again I couldn’t resist and ended up reading the whole book in a couple of days which is a really long time compared to the time I took to read the previous books. I read it and that’s what mattered.

When I ripped off the packet carrying my book, I knew that probably this was the last Sparks book I am excited about. And I really wished for this thought to be wrong. If I dedicated a whole blog post to my madness for Sparks’ works some months ago then why would this thought even cross my mind in the first place??

The last novel that I read of Sparks before The Longest Ride was almost more than 1.5years ago. At that time I totally lived in depression, and these love stories were what I would now call escape from reality. I do not believe in these fictions to come alive but I strongly believe love on a fictional level. They make me wonder. And with the curiosity that I have for real life love and relationships make me want to read about the same in fictions because then, a lot of things start to fall in place.

My copy of The Longest Ride
For the most part I lived in a fiction. I had my escape from a reality that I hated. Why? It’s another story. I fell in love with the idea of love in world that barely existed. And Nicholas Sparks became my favorite love story writer. I never liked Eric Segal’s Love Story because now I guess, it was something which could happen in reality in a way where as stories of Sparks are perfect, for most of the readers at least. They won’t happen in reality. I mean c’mon, you don’t just meet someone co incidentally, feel a connection in the first meet, after a few dates which may be in just one week in a small town, you just know you’re in love and can’t think of not spending the life with that someone. And suddenly something tragic happens, twist of a kind which separates the two, but eventually they get together and no matter if it has a happy or a tragic ending, one usually ends up crying. I haven’t though some stories have made me emotional. All the stories are more or less the same. And I predicted the same story line for The Longest Ride too. I was of course right. Sparks follows one single pattern, changes it here and there, but it still is just the same story with the guy and girl having some exceptionally beautiful feature, usually the eyes! It is the ending that I always was excited about; it always has been a surprise. This time it wasn’t.

When I read the first page of The Longest Ride, I seriously wished I weren’t a Literature student. From the very first page I unconsciously started analyzing every single word eventually not being carried away by the romance. To be honest, I was sad. I couldn’t connect myself to the story for the first time. I wasn’t unaware of the world around me. Of all things, my belief in romance on a fictional level just vanished. I never expected any of these utopian stories to happen in reality, but I adored them in my escape world. It always was beautiful.

Had I read this story a year ago, I would have loved it just like the other novels. A lot has changed since then and instead of escaping the reality I started living in the real world. Yes, I moved on from my past. I started reading literature. I would also like to add that I guess I grew up because everyone around me calls me a kid. You know! [:-P] Even though I got over Nicholas Sparks’ charm, I realized that I am now brave enough to face the reality instead of searching an escape. I can face my emotional issues now and I do not need any Jack Finney’s Third Level for getting out of such issues. Not anymore.


No matter how sad it is, the romance is gone, the charm is lost and it all ends but still it seems like a beginning for something new. And that’s enough to keep me going. I wonder what’s going to bring back such an excitement and nervousness at the same time, again!  J

Comments

Pramod said…
You are growing up with the real world now. You are maturing. This transition will break your heart a bit as you realise the intricacies of the practical life. The novelist has the capability to drag you to an imaginary world for some time so that you forget the realities and move in the world woven by him in the story.Now being a literature student you are not accepting his proposition blindly. Hence the feeling that you feel now is justified. Don't worry. You are becoming more practical and leaving the teens behind. Enjoy life and of course the books.

Popular posts from this blog

An Empath’s World: The House In the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

  When identity politics begins to seem overwhelming you enough to want to get away from it entirely, the go-to book is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It’s a go-to book on any bad day when hope seems too far away, life doesn’t make much sense, meaninglessness reigns, and peace is forgotten. To me, it was a return to the real world, a world I had shut myself away from because it seemed too cruel and hopeless to change. It was a resurrection of faith in kindness. MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT Linus Baker works as a caseworker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He visits orphanages for magical children, interacts with the masters of the place, and at times, with children if needed. He files a report recommending whether the orphanage should remain as it is, or be shut down. He lives a quiet, solitary life, abides by RULES AND REGULATIONS of DICOMY. He is so good at what he does that he is selected by the Extremely Upper Management for a highly classified job – to be a ca

Leukemia... Not Just a Disease!

People who have not suffered from leukemia think it is a deadly disease, obviously they’re right and for people who come to know that they’re suffering from leukemia are most of the times devastated, provided they know what leukemia is! And as far as my reaction is concerned…well then I was not in a state of shock because then I just knew I had some kind of a problem in my blood and I did not even know leukemia is blood cancer. It was 6 months after my treatment started that I came to know what Leukemia is…Thanks to my Grandfather! Even then I wasn’t upset much, probably just a bit, as I knew I am going to be fine. For me, Leukemia was never just a disease, when I say never I mean it. It has given a meaning to my life. My stay in CMC, Vellore and my Leukemia has taught me a lot of things which some people fail to learn and realize in their life time. Here are six of my realizations:          There is no bigger exam than LIFE itself - Life is the exam where we don’t k

Why am I Single? ? ?

  Because I have built walls around my heart. So even if someone starts getting close to me they cannot penetrate through the walls as I have used Ambuja cement. [:-P] And if by any chance I get a proposal, I am angry about it. So you see, NO chance!   Because I cannot imagine falling in love, not that it is something to imagine but still ‘Me in Love' is the joke of my life and I can really laugh about it for hours. In fact I have been laughing for a long while now. [Hopeless Romantic of all times.]   Because even though it was for a short time period but I had the best relationship which had no demands, no expectations, and no complaints. When they started arising, the relationship ended. [:-P] Because I cannot tolerate any kind of dominance and the ones I see these days, ‘Why do you upload your photo on FB’ ‘Deactivate your account’ ‘You can’t talk to other guys’ ‘you can’t click a photo with them because you’re with me’ 'blah blah blah'  are simply