3rd Quarter ORB Review

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Grand Central Publishing, 2009. Genre: Fiction

The Last Song is a novel of compelling love and friendship, between two teenagers, coming from different backgrounds, different social groups, and totally different lifestyles. Ronnie and Will met at a pick up volleyball game at a carnival during the first day Ronnie was in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Nothing came about this relationship until Ronnie brought a nest of baby sea turtles to the aquarium where Will worked, and their love kicked off. From that day on, their love grew and Ronnie found herself along with finding the love she had lost for her father.


"Nicholas Spark's blockbuster novels are like hot buttery Orville Redenbacher for the soul: highly consumable, comforting, and by definition pretty corny," reads an Entertainment Weekly review.

Nicholas Sparks' writing style is unique compared to many other books I have read. He changed characters from chapter to chapter. The story was written in the third person, but each chapter focused on the events and feelings of that particular character. This style really familiarizes the reader with all of the characters, and I feel like it gave the novel a better connection with the reader, because you felt like you knew each of the characters, and we got all aspects of the story. This novel also really focused on love. It focused how love is blind, and no matter who you are or where you come from, if you have a connection, nothing matters. It also focuses on the love of family, and trust in that family.

This book reminded me of Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. That book had the similar format of focusing on different character's each chapter. I liked this book better though, because I felt more connected with the book and the characters.

"Sometimes you have to be apart from the people you love, but that doesn't make you love them any less. Sometimes it makes you love them more" (238). This quote shows the amount of emotion,love, and inspiration that Spark brings to his stories.

I love Spark's work. When I sit down to read a few pages I find myself still reading an hour later. His novels are so inspirational and emotional that it is impossible for the reader not to become attatched. I also related to this book, because it was about a teenager, and I learned from it because it is about her finding her true self. I absolutely loved this book and I recommend it for any girls who like love stories (I do not recommend it for any boys). I am looking forward to reading another one of Spark's novels in the future.

The Struggles of Life

Today in society, people encounter obstacles that are like roadblocks in their paths to achieving success, but we must overcome these hardships, and grow as better, stronger, and more enlightened individuals. The obstacles that we face shape us, and we take the results and lessons we learn from our struggles day to day, conquer them, and move on to the next. Some harsher struggles that we face, we carry with us after we have been defeated or have had the strength to overcome. Humans can face struggles as small as walking around a crack in a sidewalk, to fighting a chronic disease for the rest of your life. We take the baggage with us as we continue, working past everything we face as we climb the mountain of life.

In Ernest Hemingway's novella, The Old Man and the Sea, the old fisherman, Santiago, is no repudiation of this fact of life. Santiago faces hardships that he must overcome to succeed in a once in a life time opportunity to catch his brilliantly audacious fish with its fascinating size, massive strength, and its unyielding fight. The situation he faces is more complex than just him catching a big fish, because in his conquest he faces severe obstacles that he must fight and overcome, and his decisions, and actions of these fights show his true character and the ambition that he possesses.

The first struggle that Santiago faces is the vast sea and his once-in-a-lifetime catch, with merely his own two hands. Manolin, a younger enthusiastic friend of Santiago, offered his assistance, being a benevolent man, Santiago, declined that offer, looking out for what was best for the boy. Santiago being alone really takes a toll on him in being successful in catching his brilliant marlin, and shows how his determination and pride are undeniably great in his fight in this almost impossible situation.

It is evident that Santiago is fully aware of this obstacle, because of the multiple times he speaks about the boy, like when he says "I wish I had the boy" (45). This shows that Santiago knows that if he had assistance, he would have been able to catch his marlin with much more ease and in a calmer manner. The way that he "wishes" he had the boy shows how he almost is almost remorseful with his decision to take on the sea by himself. This feeling then changed when he faced this struggle head on, and continued to fight for his pride and dignity hooked on the end of the line.

The second struggle that Santiago faces in his fight, is the frustrating cramping of his left hand when he was going into his first night at sea. Santiago knows that this is not in his favor to win the battle with his intelligent fish on the line. Santiago speaks to his hand, as though it is not a part of him, and rather an outside being when he says "Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do no good" (58). The fact that Santiago does this really shows how he knows he must keep himself focused and not let his head get fooled or distracted by things that will stop him from getting his prize. Santiago also treats his hand like an antagonist of his fight. When he says "it will do no good" really represents how nothing can stop him, no matter how hard he must fight, he is not willing to give up on what he has finally earned after 84 strenuous days of no luck and no fish.

Another frustrating struggle that Santiago faces is the deprivations that he encounters. Santiago had a very minute supply of food and water, and was running on a lack of sleep. Santiago faces this struggle in two ways. The first is that he tries not to dwell on the fact that he is slowly dying out at sea, and just focus on his goal. The second way is that he knows that in order to reach his goal, he has to face this obstacle and beat it. This shows how Santiago is not only determined but also wise and cautious in his quest, and knows that in order to reach his goal, he also has to take care of himself.

"It is half a day and a night and now another day and you have not slept. You must devise a way so that you sleep a little if [the marlin] is quiet and steady. If you do not sleep you might become unclear in the head" (77). This exemplifies that Santiago is aware of the situation he is facing, and he also knows that he needs to be proactive about this situation, and do something about it before it is too late and he does not succeed. In the way that Santiago faces these struggles shows that he knows everything he does in his struggle is important, and will affect him in the end of his fight.

The fourth and final struggle that Santiago faces is his encounter with the antagonistic sharks. After Santiago had been successful in reeling the marlin, he had tied it to the side of his skiff, because of its overbearing size. This then attracted scavenging sharks that were looking for a hearty meal and they found it. This challenge that he faced really taught Santiago an important lesson and changed his outlook on his journey.

This taught him that he should have never gone out so far to catch his fish: "I shouldn't have gone out so far, fish" (110). This shows the regret that Santiago now has because he did not overcome this obstacle. The regret that he now had from this situation showed him that he should have thought about everything: the size of the fish, his equipment, the size of the boat, his strength before he took on this great battle. Santiago not overcoming this challenge taught him a lesson, and he will take that lesson with him for the rest of his life with him, and also the regret that he has for not being able to overcome that challenge.

The challenges that Santiago faced in the "Old Man and the Sea" may be different than the struggles that people face in their day to day lives. But, these challenges are similar because they bring out who we truly are and the actions that we take to overcome these obstacles, and the lessons that we learn from them. Santiago faced situations that affected the outcome of his journey, just like the challenges that we face that effect the rest of our lives.