For those of you ( me) who have seen the movie of the same name starring Kevin Costner, the end of this novel will come as no surprise. I knew what I was getting in for when I started this book and kept the tissues well-stocked. In fact, I had to stop reading it on the bus for fear of crying in public.

Instead of going into a detailed review, I'd to share with you an excerpt of an interview Nicholas Sparks did with the NY Times after writing this novel. He shares his inspiration but I have to warn you, it is gut wrenching...

"Message in a Bottle was inspired by my father after the death of my mother. In 1989, six weeks after I was married, my mother and father went horseback riding. They were avid riders and very comfortable on horses, and were simply walking the horses along a scenic trail. For a reason that no one can explain -- we assume it was the horse, a rather skittish Arabian -- my mom fell out of the saddle, off the horse, hit her head on a rock, had a cerebral hemorrhage and died.

My mother and father had married at the age of twenty-one and my father was absolutely crushed by her death. They'd been married twenty-seven years and my father didn't have the slightest idea of what it meant to be a grown-up without my mom. A lot of people wear black to a funeral. My father wore black every day for four years. He pretty much became a recluse. He pulled away from his family and friends, he stopped going out, he stopped doing pretty much
everything. All he did was go to work and back home again. It was heart-breaking to watch.

After four long years of worrying about him, my father finally
started taking baby steps out in the world again. He started reconnecting with family and friends, eventually he started to date again -- think more years passing -- eventually he met someone in particular, eventually he fell in love again. And then one day, about seven years after my mom had died, I got a call from my father. "I'm engaged," he said.

Now, I was happy about that, not because I didn't care about my mom -- I adored her -- but because I'd been so worried about my father. Kids worry about their parents the same way parents worry about their kids, and I was glad that he'd finally found someone.

Two days after that phone call, my father was driving home late one night, fell asleep at the wheel of his car, crashed, and died . . ."

Is it better to have loved and lost then never loved at all? Nicholas Sparks says yes and after reading Message in a Bottle, I'm inclined to agree.

PS It's 100% just as good as the movie. Promise.

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Subscribe now to ensure you don’t miss an episode!202 s Ahmad Sharabiani9,564 149

Message in a Bottle, Nicholas Sparks

Message in a Bottle is the second romance novel written by American author Nicholas Sparks. The story, which explores the romance theme of love after grief, is set in the mid-late 1990's, then-contemporary Wilmington, North Carolina. The 1999 film Message in a Bottle produced by and starring Kevin Costner, is based on this novel.

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????? ?????? ????? 02/02/1400???? ???????? 20/12/1400???? ???????? ?. ??????? Abby387 65

Okay, so it's been years since I read this book. I read it based on people telling me Nicholas Sparks was this amazing author. AND, I knew they had made a movie off of the book, and any time they do that, the book is always super good, right? TOTALLY WRONG! I remember it was one of the dumbest books ever. None of the storyline was very logical, and at the end, the main character dies, leaving you saying, "WHAT THE CRAPPITY CRAP?! HOW CAN YOU KILL OFF THE LOVER IN A LOVE STORY?" I suppose that was supposed to make it even more deep or something, but it just bugged me. I want a happily ever after, dang it! My eyeballs feel they wasted precious minutes of their life being forced to read this book. I had to apologize to them many times afterwards. This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review75 s1 comment Erin30

I bought this book used for fifty cents at a book sale.

I'm glad I didn't spend more money on it. What a disappointment. It dragged pretty much through the entire book & then BLAM, the end SUCKED so hard it just pissed me off & any good feelings I'd had from this book were quickly forgotten.47 s Nayra.Hassan1,259 5,962

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??? ???? ?? ??????? ? ???? ?????as-movies40 s Poetic cell26 5

4.5/5

I was looking for a good book to bring on my summer vacation about a week ago and staring at my book shelves for more than thirty minutes, I had no clue what to do. I usually pick a few books that catch my eye and suit my mood and I guess I just get a feeling for the right one. But this time, I was very uncertain just I had been about everything that day. Eager to suppress these emotions, I decided to bring a random book. Something I would never do, that's for sure, but hey, never say never!
Anyway, I landed my eyes on this gem without knowing what I was getting myself into. This is the story about pure love from a realistic point of view, I'd say. Not many things in life turn out the way we want, but that's the beauty of it. Actually, what an extraordinary story! Perfect amount of sensuality, humor, events, descriptions and it's definitely not predictable. So easy to read, yet so thought provoking.
At one point, I had to close the book and just, think. Think about what love means to me, my expectations, past experiences and how it constantly challenges and changes us. Needless to say, I found myself connected to the pain this author wanted to portray. I usually don't cry, but I was so touched that the tears kept rolling down my cheeks long after I had finished reading the last page. Overall, a great book! Turned out to be the perfect choice for me.favorites27 s Aishu Rehman926 907

Second chances,
Sometimes you never know if your given the blessing of having love a 2nd time only to loose it again.
This book inspires you to look at life differently and appreciate what you have before it is taken away from you!
The small things become those that you treasure the most. I finished this the night.
Thank you for this emotional loving book!24 s Mahdi Lotfi447 116

????? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ???? ? ???? ????????? ?????? ?? ??????. ????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?? ???? ?? ??? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ???. ?? ???? ?? ?? ?????:
?????? ?????? ??? ????? ??? ???. ????? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???...22 s Lenore603 372

This is making my brain hurt. No more.

DNF at about 60%.2013 apallamused audio ...more20 s VikasAuthor 3 books177

I read this immediately after A Bend in the Road so Garrett's wife's death is very similar to Miles' wife but here there was no mystery but lot of love and sadness. The story starts while a success columnist who at 36 is divorced with a 12 years old son is vacationing and comes across a message in a bottle and the content is so full of raw emotions that she can't help but cry. And soon somehow it finds way to her column and soon she finds there are other letters which people found similarly to her and curious she wants to meet the guy who has so much love in his heart. So she finds the guy Garrett with the help of her Boss/Friend Diane who was a kick-ass character whom I d a lot, Theresa not so much.

This book is seeped in emotions and most/all of Sparks's books in set somewhere around North Carolina there are sea, beaches, boats and vacations and flings and romances along the way but so often happen the reality and egos soon come between them and then there are the understanding and misunderstandings they have to go through all in all it was a typical Sparks book which is also tinged by tragedy here and there and I am already kinda getting over it but when I have promised myself to go through as many of these books as possible then I shall do so.

May be if you are still missing the Sparks in your lives then pick one of these books maybe you will find something to love so love and read and love and enjoy and just keep on reading.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.nbtr18 s Veronica Alvarez337 21

Another books from Nicholas, and another of the same type

At this point, I don’t feel the need of keep reading his books, I’m pretty sure its just the same book over and over again.

This is his first novel and it shows, because:

1) The way its written

2) One of the worse books I’ve read by him

I don’t even know where to start with this book.

The plot of this book, its very not realistic, and sometimes I have problem with it, because at the end of the day it’s a romance and it should be realistic, but in another times, I get it because it’s fiction and it’s supposed to give you this kind of unrealistic love story but if you’re going to do that, please do it right, but of course this wasn’t the case.

I get that Theresa wants to know about the person who wrote the letters, but she was beyond obsessed, not just this but she implies multiples times, that she’s in love or what about he’s an old man? He’s married? Etc. And I’m just here …

Her fried is the one pushing her, which that’s weird, you can be girl go find him or something that, but she was also implying that she could fall in love with him and I’m no, friend no, friend.

Before reading this book, someone mentioned that all Nicolas Sparks books are set in NC, which I never noticed that, and I was reading this book, and at the beginning I was really excited that we get a new state, but then, of course, the person who she’s looking lives there and she has to go, therefore this book is set there, so we have the same “ambience” as the other books.

The love of course it came pretty fast as the other books.

The writing, omg, the writing, I always have seen this white man writing women, but I never actually re called a book that or an author, but let me present you this one:

"Her breasts had always been smallish, and though it had bothered her when she was younger, she was glad now because they hadn’t started to sag or droop those of other women her age”
“Her stomach was flat, and her legs were long and lean from all the exercise”

And multiple characteristics about her body and how hot she is in comparison of other women.
It does have its good moments and sometimes cute, in the unrealistic way, but just that one part good.2021-books18 s1 comment PurplyCookie942 207

If you thought "The Notebook" was a tearjerker, then get ready to have a hanky on hand and be on an emotional rollercoaster ride with Sparks's second star-crossed love story, "Message in a Bottle".

When Theresa Osborne takes a much-needed summer holiday at Cape Cod, she finds a lot more than a break from the hustle and bustle. On an early-morning jog along Cape Cod Bay, she comes across a corked bottle with a scrolled-up message inside that reads, "My Dearest Catherine, I miss you." Subsequent publication of the poignant missive in her column turns up two more letters, found by others, from the same mysterious writer, Garrett Blake.

Piqued, Theresa follows the trail to North Carolina, where she discovers that Garrett has been mourning his late wife for three years; writing the sea-borne messages is his only solace. Theresa also finds that Garrett just might be ready to love again and that she might be the woman for him. There are few surprises here as we watch the couple learn to love in Catherine's slowly waning shadow. "Someday you'll find someone special again. People who've been in love once usually do. It's in their nature."

The struggle Garrett has to forget his past and look at the future allows many readers to relate to Garrett. The fact that Garrett conquers himself may give people hope to win their own battles. "Do you really think it's possible if we don't see each other very much? When would I get to hold you? When would I be able to see your face? If we only see each other once in a while, we won't be able to do the things that we need to... to continue feeling the way we do. Every time we saw each other, we'd know it's only for a couple of days. There wouldn't be time for anything to grow."

The story relates to the inner romantic in us--whether you choose to admit it or not. It's a real tearjerker--you can't help but wish you'd also be swept up in a love this. On the whole, it's a compassionate story of a person looking for love, meeting a person who never thought he would find love again. The relationship between Theresa and Garrett is natural and relatable; just get ready for the tears to flow when you read the ending.


Book Details:

Title Message in a Bottle
Author Nicholas Sparks
Reviewed By Purplycookieromance-novel16 s Henry735 38

Nicholas Sparks' second novel (after the Notebook). A classic love story.13 s Megan Mweemba502

Since I don't really have time and don't want to write a detailed review, I'll just say a few things...

1. I didn't really this book as much as some of Sparks' other novels. I'm not sure why...

2. I would give this book three and a half stars, still, because it was still good.

3. One thing that really bugs me is that i almost feel Sparks thinks he needs to write an explicit sex scene to sell something. Out of all his books that I know of, A Walk To Remember is his only one thr doesn't. You don't need sex to be in love. And especially not in such detail. But I guess some people it.

4. Another thing I'm rather tired of is that his characters seem to fall in love after only a few days! That'd not enough to build a relationship on! Don't get me wrong, I still love his novels. That's just not realistic.

Well, that's just in my humble opinion, which everyone is entitled to. I'm sure that some of you have different opinions, and I'd love to hear how you feel!

Oh, a P.S. to those of you who dis Sparks' books because they don't have "happy endings": get over it. It's life. Not everything is always roses and weddings, okay?15 s T? H??ng4

Two questions:

Why does an experienced, professional diver neglect to wear his effing life jacket on a journey that is known to be later than usual, with a storm that is known to be approaching?

and,

How can Garrett write Catherine a line such as, "Before we came together, I moved through life without meaning, without reason. I know that somehow, every step I took since the moment I could walk was a step toward finding you." when they have known and loved each other since (at least) third grade?

Those are not irrelevant trivialities, but typical illustrations as to why I don't read romances which are mere romances with clichéd and unrealistic turns of phrases and events lazily thrown together in an attempt to push as many tear-jerking buttons as possible.

On a really irrelevant note, I finished the book and turned to the dedication to see that "Catherine" and "Theresa" are the names of Sparks' wife and agent. Ew.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review14 s Anne Dragovcic234 60

Is it better to have love & lost or better to never have loved at all …?

Not my favorite Sparks novel but I connected with the main character Theresa and felt everything she went through.

Pass the Kleenex please.17 s2 comments julia cudney21 1,216

... the woman was too stunned to speak13 s Chana1,604 143

Written in a very simplistic way, one story line, nothing going on but the conversation or action currently on the page. I can see how it could easily be made into a movie as it is very low on content and high in maudlin emotion. Being a romance it has to have some silly language, in this case the overuse of the word "tightening". Take this line, "The breeze was blowing through her hair, and the sight of it made something tighten in his stomach." If that isn't enough to get you giggling, take these lines, "There was something mysterious and different about the way he acted, something masculine. And that made him un anyone she'd ever met before." Am I the only one who thinks this is funny? Despite myself, I've been eyeing corked bottles. Should I send a message in a bottle? chick-lit11 s DJ97 3

Read this book while vacationing in Cancun in 1998. Read the final page watching the dawn on the beach. Perfect experience!

If I remember correctly, it was one of my favorite books during that time. The book made me compelled to write a letter and throw it out to sea, which I never did.

It's a heartfelt story that should be read. However, it's not memorable because after all of these years, I am not interested in reading it again. It's a one-time-good-book read. If you Sparks's writing, then I highly recommend this book. If you enjoy stories about how two people don't know about each other, but it's fate that they should be together, get this book. If you're into sappy love stories, get this book. Otherwise, don't. :-)10 s Sherri Thacker1,435 313

Theresa finds a bottle with a message in it washed up on the beach. She’s determined to find the man Garrett who wrote it. A love story begins between the 2 of them and wow! I loved this book and just didn’t want it to end. I appear to be the ONLY person who has not read this book yet with over 200,000 . Loved it! 5-star-books-that-i-loved favorites-20229 s Shreya Kashyap19 11

The plot was good I think but the book in totality lacked the cohesion or fluidity. I am no fan of his way of writing, but if you've got it, you can read it in a stretch lying down, under a table-lamp before going to sleep.
The novel starts as it does, but the urgency in Deanna’s character forcing Theresa to go meet Garrett and see if he is the love of her life looks sad and bad. The Garrett person is already in pains and to go down there, meet him for your own gains is very selfish.
Then, their experiences together, their so immediately falling in love with each other felt unreal because it appeared that the chances of everything falling in place so soon does not happen so easily in real lives. Garrett who couldn’t think of anything without Catherine in his minds suddenly steered in path of finding of love again in his life is just fictitious. I don’t deny the possibility but it was a bit tacky. Rather, the inabilities of Garrett fighting his feelings for Catherine and Theresa simultaneously later have been displayed aggressively.
I got bored with it while Garrett and Theresa were trying to figure out their lives together, how they wanted to live their lives. It got way too descriptive and even then Garrett was showed to have not thought of everything in anticipation when he asked Theresa to move to Wilmington.
Frankly, I was worried I was not getting tears in my eyes until the last. Yeah, this novel will bring tears in your eyes. I didn’t the climax. It felt even God was willing to skip on dealing with the complications in people’s lives and it was easier to remove him from her life. But, the sequences of actions enveloping the climax were adequately written. The last letter to Catherine to make it reach Europe made it a bit cheesy but okay, another for Theresa to forgive him. Truthfully, the letter he wrote to Theresa sounded the best of all and what she had written to him in the last owing to moving on welled up my eyes.
I don’t know if it was intentional but I d the way she signed her letter ‘T’ and not Theresa so that even if anyone found out about it, they wouldn’t know who the sender was and she wouldn’t be caught in the vicious circle of what she had created when she went to contact him.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review8 s Em47

Message in a Bottle is the first Nicholas Sparks novel that I have read. I was in high school back then and my mum received a copy of it few years after it was released. I read it for myself and instantly fell in love with the story. Until today, I consider it as one of the best novels of Sparks.

I can still remember how I passionately copy by hand and read over and over again the letters of Garrett to Catherine. As young as 13, I discovered my love of the written language through this unforgettable tale.

Garrett grieved over the death of his wife, Catherine. As a way of release, he put into words his sadness by writing love letters addressed to his late wife, place them in a bottle and throw them to drift out in the sea.

The love letter traveled from North Carolina to the shore of Boston, where Theresa, a divorcée, found it and instantly got interested to find out who Garrett and Catherine are, guided by the feelings that she could not explain.

Her determination to find the details brought her to North Carolina where she and Garrett met, and eventually fell in love, the latter unaware of Theresa’s knowledge of the letters.

The day came when Garrett discovered the letters in Theresa’s possession. Confrontations and doubts arose and eventually their love was tested.

However, everything was resolved and fell into place. They decided that what they have spells forever.

Unfortunately, the story had a tragic ending. They decided to be together, but the heavens tore them apart.

Tragic as it is, Message in a Bottle remains to be one of the best loved creations of Nicholas Sparks.

http://flipthrough.wordpress.com/2010...borrowed-by-friends nicholas-sparks8 s Laurelina54 5

Just many, if not most, the movie did NOT do justice to this book. Nicholas Sparks wrote a very detailed, vivid story of Theresa and how she found Garrett through clues in the letters that eventually were found offshore. The difference lies in that the characters described in the book were more human, they were much more flawed, but definitely real. The movie portraied Garrett as a victim of the circumstances that was lied to and that somehow did not have any say in what occurred. It also projected Theresa as someone that was easily thrown into searching for Garrett for the purpose of "knowing what kind of person would right romantic letters," which seems a lame excuse. I mean, realistically speaking, how many people would go out of their way to seek, find and become intimate with, the author of a romantic letter?
One of the most interesting descriptions is that Theresa later finds herself in the same situation she found Garrett in when they first met, and did not understand.... a lesson embeded everyday life.8 s Anu370 920

Listen to this instead. Much better Message in a Bottlechick-lit contemporary-romance drama ...more8 s Delyana Naydenova29 13

????????? ?????..8 s Serafim Silva40 4

Género de livros que não consigo gostar.8 s Geo Marcovici1,346 318

O poveste de dragoste care împlete?te speran?a cu durerea. Care-?i rupe sufletul ?i te cutremur?. 9 s Nicole775 274

Message in a Bottle

This book is amazingly romantic and emotion wrecked. It poor my heart out. A great book to read when life is against you, when you've lost someone very dear. It will make you cry and give you hope at the same time.


"The bottle was dropped overboard on a warm summer evening, a few hours before the rain began to fall. all bottles, it was fragile ans would break if dropped a few feet from the ground. But when sealed properly and sent to sea, as this one was, it became one of the most seaworthy objects known to man. It could float safety through hurricanes or tropical storms, it could bob atop the most dangerous of riptides. It was, in a way, the ideal home for the message it carried inside, a message that had been sent to fulfill a promise."




Personal note:
I found very old a copy of this book. The cover is folded, the pages are colored in time and bend a lot. You can see this book is read by many. The book came all the way from USA and ended up in a Dutch Free Little Library. I cherrisch this book with my whole heart. My little gem.books-i-own favorites fiction ...more7 s Grecia Robles1,600 413

Hace mucho que leí este libro que digo mucho muchísimo era de mis primeros libros de romántica que leía y no recuerdo mucho sólo lo de la botella y el mensaje que me gustó pero el final fue horrible me dejó con una sensación horrible de vacío por eso JAMÁS le volví a dar otra oportunidad a Nicholas Sparks, sólo a sus adaptaciones de las películas que me parecen mejores que sus libros jajaja7 s Bilal Taibzada52 2

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