Book Adaptations: The Notebook

The second book that I read for best sellers was the Notebook. I had already seen the movie many times and it's definitely a favorite of mine, but when I read the book I was a little let down. The movie went way more in-depth and had a much greater amount of content than the book. But it made sense because the book really only has at most about six or seven scenes total. In The Notebook Allie and Noah rekindle a lost love from when they were young adults. The movie adaptation included the entire initial romance between the two lovers. Of how they met, fell in love, and then how they were forced onto separate paths. But the book only hints to the past. Leaving the reader with holes in the history between Allie and Noah.

Since there are so few scenes in the first place I would not cut any of them, just make alterations. They are all vital to the plot of the story, however, I would perhaps alter the first half of the book. It took the book about 80 pages to get to the action so I would definitely shorten that portion. This is the time when Allie goes to find Noah back in their hometown of New Bern. It took the two about two days to finally rekindle their love for each other. I would cut out the side conversations and move straight to the action.

Another scene I would alter is when Allie's fiancee discovers that Allie was trying to meet with Noah. In the book I found that part in general to be very unbelievable because nobody would just jump to the conclusion that their fiancee was out with another man. Especially since Allie was characterized as being very loyal. So that surely doesn't match up. Instead, I would have Allie go back to her fiancee (like she did in the movie) to confess to him of what she had really been doing.

The movie's addition of the romance between young Noah and young Allie turned out fantastic. But it did change some things that I don't think were the best choices. For example, the movie made Noah seem very bold and made it so that he had to chase Allie down to get her to date him. In the book he was described as being very shy and soft-spoken. The chase never occurred either, the two just naturally fell in love. Nothing forced, and I liked that. The movie also portrayed the couple as fighting a lot, and I guess it does add more action, but I still believe that all the fighting could have been omitted. Again, their love was supposed to be natural, nothing forced.

Two scenes that are essential to the book are the first and the last. Both are about Allie and Noah as an old couple. Allie had Alzheimer's and Noah would read to her in the retirement home to help her remember him and their love. The movie also did a fantastic job as portraying the two as senior citizens.       The movie kept a lot of quotations from the book in these two scenes. One of my favorite is in the beginning when Noah is introduced to the reader:

“I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.”

The first scene in the book is vital to the plot because the whole plot revolves around Noah telling Allie the story of their love to get her to remember. So almost the entire book is a flashback. It's very important for the reader to know this. The last scene is also extremely important because it's when Allie remembers Noah even though she has Alzheimer's. The doctors say it's impossible for her disease to reverse, but the fact of the matter is that their love was so great that it had the capacity to create miracles. And it did.