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Three Weeks with My BrotherThe following report compares books using the SERCount Rating (base on the result count from the search engine). |
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Aftersleep Books - 2005-06-20 07:00:00 | © Copyright 2004 - www.aftersleep.com () | sitemap | top |
This book is by far his best book because he offers fresh honesty about the flaws of his family and himself. When I started reading it, I expected more of a travelogue and was surprised to see how little he revealed about his trip in relation to his well detailed personal history. His description of places seemed little more than segues into reminisces about his personal biography, and that's what really kept me reading. I really enjoyed and appreciated his insights into his personal history and didn't realize how much tragedy seemed to befall him each time he had a bit of good news. I don't see how I could endure all that he has had to endure for the past 15 years or so, but it seems to have given him plenty of inspiration to create the novels he has written. His close relationship to his brother is touching and I wish that I had that kind of relationship with my own brother. But I thought he was a bit too hard on his brother's doubts about religion.
I would have liked to have read more details about his trip to some interesting places, but I guess his brief descriptions of places such as Easter Island, Cambodia, and Jaipul India sparked an interest in me to find out more about those places. Overall, I was impressed how he weaved his whole personal history from childhood through the present into this book and I found his personal history was actually more interesting than his travel narrative. After finishing his book, I agree with his wife and brother...he doesn't need to work so hard. Trying to write two novels a year is demanding enough, but to balance it the way he does with family responsibilities (he does have five young children to devote attention to after all) and time for self only adds unnecessary pressure. My personal advice to him would be...its okay to take time off from writing. I'll still buy your books when they are published. You are well enough established a writer to have two years between novels if you want to (after all, Michael Crichton is one of my favorite writers and its years between his novels). This book has given me a greater appreciation for Nicholas Sparks as a writer and a person. I only hope that he gave his wife an extraordinary gift for her willingness to sacrifice three weeks so he can travel the world with his brother. She is remarkable and maybe their courtship and relationship dynamic might make an interesting novel in the future if he dares to fictionalize it for public consumption. If not, this book certainly accomplishes that role. His wife should apply for sainthood, and he is lucky to have a woman like her to endure life's trials with.