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The Notebook (novel)
The Notebook is the debut novel by American novelist Nicholas Sparks. Released in 1996, the romance novel was later adapted into a popular 2004 film of the same name. BackgroundThe Notebook was Nicholas Sparks' first published novel and written over a time period of six months in 1994.[1][2] Literary agent Theresa Park discovered Sparks by picking the book out of her agency's slush pile and reading it. Park offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for the book from the Time Warner Book Group, and the novel was published in October 1996. It was on The New York Times Best Seller list in its first week of release. The Notebook was a hardcover best seller for more than a year.[3] In interviews, Sparks said he was inspired to write the novel by the story of his wife's grandparents, who had been married for more than 60 years when he met them. In The Notebook, he tried to express the long romantic love of that couple.[4] PlotThe novel opens with Noah Calhoun, an old man, reading to a woman in a nursing home. He tells her the following story:
The man stops reading the story at this point, and implies to the audience that he is reading to his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and does not recognize him. Throughout the story he explains he is also ill, battling a third cancer, and suffering heart disease, kidney failure, and severe arthritis in his hands. He resumes reading the story and describing their life together: her career as a noted painter, their children, growing old together, and finally the diagnosis of Alzheimer's. He had changed the names in the story to protect her, but he is Noah and she is Allie. They walk together and Allie, although she does not recognize him, says she might feel something for him. That night they have dinner together. Referring to the story, she can't quite remember who Allie chose. Recognizing her husband, she tells him that she loves him. They embrace and talk, but after almost four hours, Allie fades. She begins to panic and hallucinate, and forgets who Noah is again. The nurses have to sedate her. Later, Noah has a stroke and cannot visit Allie. When he recovers, he goes to visit Allie late at night, as he is staying in the same care home. When Noah tries to sneak past the nurse station, the nurse on duty states that she is going for a coffee, even though she already has one. She tells Noah she won't be back for a while and not to do anything foolish while she is away. Noah realizes this is just a ruse to let him go see Allie. He goes to Allie’s room and finds her in bed, asleep. She wakes up and recognizes him as Noah. They kiss and begin to be intimate as she undoes the buttons on his shirt. AdaptationsIn 2004, the novel was adapted into a popular film of the same name starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. A television series based on the novel is also being developed by writer Todd Graff, who will also exec produce along with Sparks and Theresa Park for the Warner Bros. Television and Nicholas Sparks Productions.[5][6] A musical adaptation of the novel opened on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on March 14, 2024. The musical, co-directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams, features a score by Ingrid Michaelson and a book by Bekah Brunstetter. The show had a pre-Broadway run in 2022 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.[7] References
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