The Notebook

I've waited nearly 10 years for Hollywood to make Nicholas Sparks's novel The Notebook into a feature film. This weekend, it opened with Ryan Gosling as Noah and Rachael McAdams as Allie. The novel was one of only a handful (including Charlotte's Web and Old Yeller) to bring me to tears while reading it--rarely do authors possess such an honest voice. So I find myself in familiar territory at the movie with streams of tears down my face for this story which Sparks based on the relationship of his parents, I believe. It got me to thinking how people react when watching two people in love (or acting like two people in love): there are the bitter few and the happy few. For the past few days, I've been acting like one of the happy few, trying to couple up my friends and rejoicing in their new relationships. There's this small amount of happiness you gain in seeing something being made like a new vase painted and fired in a kiln. And so I think it is when you see that spark ignite between two people, showing so much promise and hope, you cannot help but feel privileged. Makes me want to try and couple all my friends up; gives me a certain amount of hope that all these small ignitions contribute to something bigger, especially with the state the world is in now. So pass on Mike Moore's angry film as I think there is enough of that in the world and who needs to contribute anymore to that, and catch Nick Cassavetes The Notebook.