Every Breath

ust, manly safari guide from Zimbabwe, independently wealthy (although he doesn't dip into the trust fund except to support his ex-wife and son), and a single, ICU nurse who is having a difficult time with her orthopedist boyfriend of the last six years. She ends comes to Carolina to attend one of the last weddings' of her group of girlfriends, after her bf refused to attend and instead went to Vegas. The safari guide and the nurse have a meet-cute involving her Scottish Terrier, and the sparks are lit. The flames are fanned by the safari guide's ability to play guitar and sing in the evening, helped by his athletic frame and habit of leaving the top buttons of his shirt open.

This is a romantic novel, not usually my first choice, but I was willing to try the author again because he is so damned popular and a graduate of my alma mater, so he can't be that inept. Or so I thought.

The author has some nice bromides to offer: "The destiny that matters most in anyone's life is the one concerning love," quoted in the letter from the safari guide. "Real romance was spontaneous, unpredictable, and could be as simple as listening to a man read a love letter found in a lonely mailbox on a stormy September afternoon."

Except for the passages where the author is describing the seashore, I found the narrative rather stilted. "...despite the fact that they'd only just met, he summoned something previously unknown in her, and urge both primal and foreign." "His gaze, the deep cadence of his voice, his relaxed yet gracious manner set a vibration thrumming inside her like a plucked string." Which is better than a plucked chicken.

Those descriptions are not the conclusion based upon the characters' actions to his point. No, the author fails to describe the real interaction between the characters, consistently opting for diegesis instead of mimesis, to tell us about the relationship instead of showing us how it develops. I found myself laughing at the dialogue between the two because it had absolutely no tension and no conflict, no display of two independent personalities. It had the excitement of a request to please pass the butter and an agreement to do just that. *Sigh.* If you think I'm kidding, check out the dialogue on pages 79-80 concerning whether to he'll have the tuna or the grouper, while she decides on the crab cakes. His takeaway from this interlude: "Habit and tradition often render change undesirable." *Sigh.* The trouble is both of them are rushing headlong into a situation that will require them to make a decision about change. Perhaps if they remembered their discussion about the grouper, it might not have been so painful three days later. Or is this an example of foreshadowing?

Yes, three days later! They have known each other for a total of three days. Sure, they walk on the beach and eat meals and open up about their significant others and finally sleep together, and we're supposed to believe that their three-day interlude has fueled a love that has survived until their next meeting, twenty-four years later. Even assuming that human beings each can carry a torch for that long based upon three days, the real question is why? What is the truth of that relationship? Are they each fantasizing about the magnificent other that they have met and carried this fantasy for the remainder of their lives? That might have been an interesting exploration of the way human nature constructs stories to help one through the mundane. But that is not even considered here, because this is a foreordained love story, if not a completely believable love story.

When after three days, they decide to return to their separate lives, they have another of those lackluster, flat dialogues.

"I can't force you to stay with me," he whispered."...even if it means I'll never see you again. But I would like to ask something of you."
"Anything," she whispered.
He swallowed. "Will you try to remember me?"
She made a strangled noise and he knew she couldn't speak.

I don't think I'm giving away any spoiler here, because after all the author is Nicholas Sparks and the characters are named Tru (safari guide) and Hope (nurse). Get it? Tru and Hope. Or is that a little too subtle?

So, perhaps I'm a little harsh in my criticism. It's only because those "primal and foreign urges" stirred up by love and interactions with interesting people are the basis for continuing with the species. We as readers want some insight into those feelings. To merely recite that it happened, therefore, it's "true" may be accurate but it isn't enlightening or satisfying to the reader. We crave to learn, to grow, to be excited by the primal and foreign. Maybe his next book will be better?