Book Review: Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks
I picked this up in the library a few weeks ago. I read quite widely but this one was a bit of a stretch. I'd never heard of the author, never read anything by him, and yet I was drawn to it. Weird. Anyway, I picked the book up and realized it was about 2 men who were going on an around the world trip in three weeks. It was a story about intimate brotherhood, adventure, and seeing the world. I took a gamble and signed it out. I'm very glad I did.
Nicholas Sparks was actually more known to me then I knew. He wrote the books "A Walk To Remember" and "The Notebook", both of which I have seen as movies. I will say this, Sparks has a almost a perfect writing style for me. He uses humor well, crafts his characters in a way that causes you to empathize with them almost immediately, and strikes a near perfect balance between eloquence and simplicity in the way he uses language. I was engaged almost immediately. As I read it over the past week I kept telling Jobina "This is a really good book." I read a lot of books and so I think that got her attention.
Without giving too much away, the story is really an autobiography written in the guise of a travelogue. As the two brothers go away on their adventure trip of a lifetime, Sparks starts at the beginning and tells his story beginning at birth and by the time the trip is done brings the reader right up to the present in his life. His life is truly an amazing story; equal parts joy and sorrow. In many ways it is the "every" book; it is a story, a motivation speech, a travel journal, a treatise on family, a book about faith, a reflection on suffering, etc, etc. I was very moved by reading it, one night I couldn't sleep for several hours after putting the book down, so emotionally engaged was I.
This book may not be for everyone. I told Jobina that I wasn't sure if a woman would like it or not but if you like biographies I don't think you will be disappointed. There are so many good parts about this book that it is difficult to choose which one meant the most to me. I give Three Weeks With My Brother 4.7 ninja stars out of 5. Highly recommended.
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4 comments:
I read this book about a year ago and loved it. I am a huge Sparks fan and have read all of his books so I may be a bit biased. I enjoy his writing style a lot too.
Well since you say you're not sure if a woman would like it I may have to read it for that reason alone!:)
i recently read "the notebook" and it's sequal "the wedding"... both were written incredibly well, but i actually preferred the second of the two. now to find an english copy that i can borrow of "three weeks with my brother" in germany. could be an adventure all in itself! :)
i am currently reading "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry... have you heard of it or read it? i'm not ready to recommend it yet b/c i'm really only at the beginning, but it is so different from anything i've read, set in india over the mid-late 1900s... i'm intrigued by it, that's for sure!
Hey Dayna, thanks for letting me know about Mistry's book, I'll put in on my list of books to read! Anyone else have some good reads to recommend?
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