Erich Segal's love story is a very popular book which has sold over 21 million copies. It was also made into a film which was very successful (in fact it was a script before it became a novel). The review includes spoilers.
The story centres around the romance of Oliver Barret IV- a Harvard jock and Jennifer Calliveri- a music student in the neighboring Radcliffe school of music. They meet in the library of Radcliffe first and then start going out. From there, their love becomes more serious and they decide to get married. Jennny's dad agrees with reluctance but Oliver's parents are skeptical. Oliver cuts off ties with his family and Jenny starts working so that she can support Oliver's Harvard law school fees. Their life is full of hardships from then. Oliver has to sacrifice many of the thinsg that he is used to having. Finally, when he graduates, he gets a well-paying job, effectively ending their financial troubles. At this point, however, it is discovered that Jenny has a health problem and will not live long (Blood cancer, I guess with the constant mention of platlets but it is not stated anywhere). Finally, she dies.
This book was like a typical Nicholas Sparks romantic-tragedy. Erich Segal's writing style is conversational and informal. The beginning bored me because it was so ordinary and I briefly considered putting the book down but since it is such a short book, I decided to finish it. The ending, even though tragic was quite touching. Overall, not a bad book.
Pros- Strong heroine
Realistic romance though it is very short
Cons- The first 63 pages or so are too ordinary to be interesting.
The book was too short
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