Book review
The Notebook, Book Report English
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Written when I was in 5 VWO.
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The NotebookConnection between the title and the book
The title -The Notebook - refers to the ultimately most important element of the relationship
between Noah and Allie: Noah's diary, in which he has written down their entire love story,
desperately trying to restore her memory when she is old and demented.
Main characters
Noah Calhoun is somebody who is quite resigned in life, more or less letting it pass him by without
really fighting for anything, although he does have clear values that he continues to support. There is
actually only one thing that really gives meaning to his life and that is his love for Allie, which is and
remains largely unattainable. Noah is not a fighter: he has common sense, but he makes cowardly
decisions because he thinks they are the right ones. He is smart, but has almost nothing in his life in
which he really takes pleasure and doesn't feel the need to give it meaning. Once he is old and Allie
slips further and further away from him, he is eager to make sure she gets her memory back and is
willing to break the rules, if only to make his love clear to her.
Allie Nelson is in many ways the opposite of Noah. She's energetic, cheerful, lively and expects a lot
from life, too much actually - she loses herself when she gets carried away by the war and ends up in
a life that meets everyone's expectations, but not hers. She loves the finer things in life, but finds it
hard to really listen to her heart, while Noah knows what his heart says but chooses not to do
anything with it. Allie is extremely indecisive when it comes to making choices, wants to do the right
thing and at the same time pursue her dreams, and soon realizes that it doesn't always work that
way.
Favourite character
I’m not sure who I like better. Noah is a somewhat quieter boy, someone who's introverted and can
do his own thing. Allie, on the other hand, is much more spontaneous, crazier, impulsive. I think I can
relate to both people, they both have character traits that I also have. It's the combination of Allie's
spontaneous, crazy and impulsive character and Noah's romantic, philosophical and poetic character
that I can identify with best.
Character development
Allie is there for others, but she is afraid to disappoint her family and friends. She puts others first,
sometimes forgetting what she really wants. When she visits Noah again after 14 years, he makes
her realize that it's not about what her family wants, or her friends, or even her fiancé, but about
what she wants. And that's why, against everyone's will, she still dares to choose Noah. That’s why I
think Allie changed the most, and Noah was the reason.
The most important emotional conflict
I think the general conflict in the story is their unattainable love. Not only do they not match in
character, but theoretically they could never be together because of the great differences in family
and social class. A third reason that their love is unattainable is the fact that they lose sight of each
other for a long time and each builds a life of their own, lives that are so different from each other
that it seems impossible that they will ever find their way back. And even when they are both old,
their love is still unattainable: Because Allie doesn't remember how much she loves Noah and
doesn't even recognize him, despite his efforts to reach her heart. The most important emotional
conflict, is when Allie has to choose between Noah and Lon. Through the rest of the story, you know
who she chose.
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