Dear John - Dark Publications

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Product Description
When Savannah Lynn Curtis comes into his life, John Tyree knows he is ready to turn over a new leaf. An angry rebel, he had enlisted in the army after high school, not knowing what else to do. Then, during a furlough, he meets the girl of his dreams. Savannah Lynn Curtis is attending college in North Carolina, working for Habitat for Humanity, and totally unprepared for the passionate attraction she feels for John Tyree. The attraction is mutual and quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah vowing to wait for John while he finishes his tour of duty, and John realizing that he's ready to settle down with the young woman who has captured his heart. Neither can foresee that 9/11 is about to change the world and will force John to risk every hope and dream that he's ever had. Like so many proud men and women, John must choose between love and country. And like all those left behind, Savannah must decide to wait or move on. How do we choose wisely? How can we face loss-without giving up on love? Now, when he finally returns to North Carolina, John will discover that loving Savannah will force him to make the hardest decision of his life. An extraordinary, moving story, Dear John explores the complexities of love -- how it survives time and heartbreak, and how it transforms us forever.

Customer Reviews: Read 216 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Best novel since A Walk to Remember October 31, 2006
51 out of 56 found this review helpful

Wow. I had become quite bored with Sparks' latest novels, feeling they were cookie-cutter romance novels, but this book is a return to his old writing style. Similar to The Notebook, and A Walk to Remember, this book is a must read for any Sparks' fan, as well as anyone wanting an old fashioned love story...full of love, heartache, romance, fulfillment, tragedy, and sacrifice. Well done, well written, and just fabulous.

4 out of 5 stars

A Good Man's Long Journey November 22, 2006
27 out of 32 found this review helpful

John Tyree is a soldier first, a man second. Or so he thinks until he meets Savannah Lynn Curtis. While on leave, he falls desperately in love with Savannah, the proverbial girl of his dreams. Sweet, intelligent, and giving, John knows he'll always carry her torch.

When September 11 changes the world, John is no exception. Moved by patriotic loyalty, he chooses to "re-up" in the army, adding time to his service and breaking his promise to return to Savannah. More promises are broken when he must attending to his ailing father.

This is the story of how an ideal love can falter, despite its purity and strength. Not every romance results in a happy ending, but with a great deal of luck, those who don't survive will find meaning from the experience. Love, loyalty, friendship--all those sentiments are great, but to what cost? And how does this make a good man great? This is John's journey to that understanding.

It goes without saying that Nicholas Sparks is one of today's "master" storytellers. Part of what makes him so successful is that he has the ability to create moving stories without pulling punches or painful twists. Such is the case in DEAR JOHN. Sparks offers a love story that has all the requisite components--well-crafted setting, high emotion, obstacles, resolution--then breaks it. It is from the sadness that hope emerges, and John Tyree, although still quite young, gains wisdom that will last a lifetime. Sorrow will be a large part of this, yes, but there is room for something more, something that will reach beyond the pages and touch John's tomorrow in a way only he will see.

While this works, there is something lacking. It is one of those hard-to-define qualities that marks the difference between a good book and one that is outstanding. Maybe it's the heavy reliance on John's soldiering as an excuse for certain behaviors. Or perhaps it has more to do with aspects relating to John's relationship with his father, who appears to have Asperger's syndrome.

I'm giving DEAR JOHN 4-Books for a beautiful story, but not five because of that indefinable element that was lost between idea and paper.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
11/22/2006

4 out of 5 stars

A tragic love story with great characters January 16, 2007
12 out of 13 found this review helpful

Dear John isn't the book I normally read. I read the Notebook and really didn't like it, but I know that Sparks is a great author and my wife reads everything he writes. So I decided to read Dear John because it's a short easy read, my wife read it, and Sparks is a good author. I'm a sucker for a good romantic movie, so maybe I'd like a romantic book.

The book opens with a prologue about John Tyree and it appears to be set in the present. My first thought was that this prologue gives away way too much of the plot. Then chapter 1 begins seven years earlier. John Tyree is a high school kid without direction. He's had an okay life, being raised by his emotionless father, but senses he wants more. This causes him to join the Army and the Army redirects his life and gives him focus. He quits smoking and partying and becomes an excellent soldier. At home on leave in Wilmington, North Carolina, he meets Savannah and they instantly become friends. Savannah is a Christian girl two years younger than him that is beautiful and John falls for her. I don't know what women readers think of John and Savannah, but John is a little rough around the edges, but chilverous and kind. Savannah, is perfect, a pretty, kind, moral girl who any guy would fall for.

I've read a few Christian novels in my time and the first half of the novel starts out like one, with Savannah the Christian girl and John the rough Army soldier. Of course, this isn't a Christian novel and I didn't expect it to be. However, Savannah does make some choices that I wish were explained better. It's not that they aren't realistic, but the story is told from John's point of view, and it would have been nice to be inside Savanah's head for some of the novel so the reader could see her motivations for her action. As a character, she had everything together. Occasionally she acts on impulse, or seems too. I'd like to know more about her thoughts before some of her actions in order to make them more believable.

Sparks has stated that he is a writer of love stories, which he defines as stories with a tragic element. Dear John is well written, with great characters and a good plot. But to know that Sparks writes tragedies kind of spoils the fun. I asked my wife and she said all his stories have an element of sadness. Sparks would be a great author too if he added a few happy or at least bittersweet endings. The plot of Dear John felt convoluted, like Sparks had to add some unrealistic twists in order to give the story an appropriate sadness. Still, I understand his appeal. I raced through this novel like few others. Another minor complaint: Sparks believes characters can have a love that is so strong it can force people to ignore marriage vows or moral principles. That subject comes up in this novel, and (I promise I'm not giving anything away) characters seem to be ready to excuse certain behavior in the name of love.

Dear John is a good book and I can see why Sparks is a bestseller. John and Savannah are great characters as is Tim and John's father. I recommend this book to anyone who likes tragic love stories. Since I don't, I probably won't be reading more of Sparks any time soon even though I enjoyed his writing and characters very much.

4 out of 5 stars

Sparks is back with his best one yet! December 20, 2006
10 out of 13 found this review helpful

This novel is Nicholas Sparks' best one yet, as by the book's conclusion, he pegged it right on what true love is really about. All I can say is wow! His last few books have been disappointing, to say the least, and unbelievable. With his new one, he takes an idea everyone in the military knows about...the notorious "Dear John" letter that women decide to write to the love of their lives when they are either in basic training, on an overseas assignment, or fighting in some war. Why women decide to write such a letter at stressful and lonely times as those is beyond the comprehension of any man, but it happens, and Sparks took that idea and ran with it. Though he doesn't have any military background himself, he represented the military lingo pretty accurately and has a grasp of soldier life in Germany. I'm impressed.

What I find most fascinating with this novel is how well everything comes together in the end. What once seemed like a young man's strange isolation from his aloof father, his summertime fling with a type of woman he'd never consider dating before, and how such relationship changes him and his own relationship with his father. We see the good, the bad (though John isn't a bad guy, he has his human moments of imperfection, as well as the love his life, Savannah), and the beautiful, as Sparks hits the mark on what true love really means. That's what makes this novel a must read in his literary canon.

The reason I deduct one star, however, is based automatically on Sparks' tendency in several novels to perpetuate the 1950s cliche of "the white picket fence" that he seems to think women want. Yet, in all the neighborhood houses I've seen in my travels, it is rare to come across the stereotypical 50's ideal of a house with the white picket fence, so why does he mention that detail in novel after novel? A best-selling writer shouldn't rely on cliches and an editor should automatically zap it out. My only other complaint is that some of the dialogue in the beginning seemed a bit unrealistic to me. It didn't ring true with me, but other than those bits, it truly is his best novel to date. Let's face it, Nicholas Sparks is a man who knows what true love is and it's great to see a story that shows it by the resolution. The ending made all the difference between a great novel and another cliched romantic novel.

1 out of 5 stars

Nicholas Sparks has lost his "spark" December 2, 2006
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've read all of Mr. Sparks' book and have loved every single one of them. They always seem to "grab" me and not let go until I'm finished. This one however, didn't hold my interest.

I don't really know what happened with this book. Was it written to fulfill a contract obligation? It's not like a true Sparks' novel at all.

First of all, I didn't care for the characters. I felt nothing for John or the vacuous Savannah. It was just so much filler. Too much going to war, waiting at home, it seemed to be just something to fill up the page.

I did feel a little for John's dad. I felt sorry for him and truly hated it when he died.

But going into a Sparks novel you know someone is going to die. And it usually breaks your heart. I usually care, I usually cry, this didn't warrant that.

I gave it only one star because I know Mr. Sparks is capable of so much more. Hopefully, we will see that before long.

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