Musings From My Heart's Canvas...

This book, which i had once deserted branding it as a "Boring" book, turned out to be one more of the good books i've read of Nicholas Sparks. The book narrates the story of Wilson, a responsible man, who is married to Jane for 30 years. Wilson has not been much of a Romantic person ever while Jane on the other hand hails high expectations of a romantic life. Her parents had been true romantics in their lives and she believes in long term and lasting relationships filled with love and romance as her parents lives sets an example for her. Wilson had always leaned more on the practical side of life...viewing and prioritising things on the basis of needs while Jane had always had a carefree attitude towards important issues in Life. The story starts with Wilson forgetting his and Jane's 29th Wedding Anniversary. This upsets Jane much and constrains different kind of thoughts in Wilson which he hadnt perceived ever in his life. He doesnt realise forgetting an anniversary as something big until Jane's behaviour urges him to believe that things were not normal! Jane leaves him to stay with their son, who stays in New York, for a couple of weeks. This gives enough time to Wilson to think about his relationship with his wife whom he had loved all his life. He realises how different he and Jane have been as individuals...while he had been more responsible towards his work and earning money for his family, Jane had been the more social member of the family. Jane was the one staying at home and taking care of their 3 kids, socialising with the friends and relatives, putting up with the household chores, cooking cleaning etc making their house more of a home! He realises that she has always been smart and has always thought through the important issues in life...and still she had been able to keep a carefree attitude towards crucial things and enjoyed the small joys of life, while he had just been too busy with his work at the law firm never having time or interest in enjoying the small things that make life worthwhile. He starts to wonder why she ever married him at the first place? He finds himself feeling inferior to her in the numerous things in life which make a difference. He realises that in his pursuit of being successful at his work and earning enough money for his family, he had actually neglected his family in the numerous small things that matter the most. He was always absent in most of his children's special events like their dance at school or their sports finale or their parents teachers association meetings. He missed out on so many of their small joys like the first time they started talking or they started walking etc. He wonders if his family especially his wife still loves him and considers him a part of their life...he is unable to decipher if he is as important in their lives as they are in his life! He realises his delinquency and sets out on correcting himself, on becoming the man that his family needs...more exactly, on becoming the man that his wife fell in love with 29 years ago!
The story is beautifully written with all the intricate details narrated carefully and realistically. There is hardly any point in the whole book where you will feel that it is dragging. I got impressed with the Prologue of the book itself, about which i already blogged a post. The minute details which had been considered while narrating Wilson's endeavors in correcting his wrongs enhance the book's closeness to the life's realities that all couples experience. Wilson gets his inspiration and motivation on correcting his married life from his father-in-law Noah Calhoun, who had been a true romantic in his life. Noah makes Wilson understand why the small things in life are so important, why it is so important to show love to your dear ones even if they know that you love them. Wilson finally conquers to know what Togetherness really is, when all the years of staying together in the same house with his wife, hadnt taught him that.
To me the book is a nicely written and "easy to relate to real life" kind of book with some excerpts urging you to think about the intricacies of married relationships. I wouldnt rate this book as something too emotional like Nicholas' other books, but it definitely is a good book. While reading the book, it did not really seem like i was reading a story, all the events felt like happenings from a real life. For someone who enjoys reading light hearted and more practical books, this is a good choice. I was impressed with the climax of the story much, as i was definitely not expecting so much of a change from Wilson. The author finally answers the question he asks in the prologue. The book will leave the reader with a "feel good" kind of feeling as it has a happy ending unlike a couple of Nicholas Sparks books that i have read in the past. The Nicholas magic reflects in every aspect of the book, if it wasnt for him and his profoundly amazing writing, the story could have turned out boring and predictable.
Nutshell: Amazing author, Good read!