#50: See Me by Nicholas Sparks

I could watch "A Walk To Remember," "The Notebook," or "The Longest Ride" on a video loop for all of eternity.  Those movies never get old for me.  I could re-read the books, too, over and over and never grow tired of them.  They are classic Nicholas Sparks.  They are why we read his books.  But, I am afraid that these classic stories may truly be a thing of the past.

When I read Safe Haven a few years back, I remember thinking that I missed the soft, romantic Nicholas Sparks' characters.  After reading See Me, a book filled with violence from the first chapter, I am ready to be more choosy when I pre-order Sparks' books from now on.  I held out hope, too, that Colin and Maria's story would take a turn but it didn't--it stayed violent and dark until the very end.

Now...am I a realist?  Yes.  I completely understand that life is messy and unpredictable and often, these days, violent.  But truthfully, that's why I read--to escape this crazy world.  I don't need it, nor do I want it, in the books I read.  Sparks' previous titles were filled with heartache and disappointment and life at it's worst, but his characters were never dark.  These characters are dark.  Even Maria with her stereotypical lawyer-like profile has some darkness in her.  Colin...oh, goodness is he dark.  And yet I had the most hope for him.  He was coming around.  Maria had such an impact on him that he was truly coming around.  Furthermore, Colin did make some big changes with his actions by the end of the novel which made me so proud of him and excited for Maria and the life they could now have together.  Maybe, then, there was a semi-happy ending in this book, but not one big enough to change how I felt about the novel as a whole.

I read recently that Nicholas Sparks and his wife have separated with the intent to divorce after 25 years of marriage.  I hope that See Me is not sign of things to come from this great writer now that he is single.  Otherwise, I really am going to have to start re-reading his old books from years ago.  Back in the good old days of Nicholas Sparks.  

Let me sum up my feelings this way.  I am taking my copy, my brand-new (well...read once by me) hard cover copy, of See Me to work tomorrow to pass along to a friend who hasn't read it yet.  And I don't care if I ever get it back.  Now...what does that tell you about this book?

Happy reading, everyone.
:) Dodie