The Longest Ride By: Nicholas Sparks

(N) For those of you who have not yet read The Longest Ride or seen the movie this story is about two love stories one which took place in the past and the other that is happening in the present. Ira Levinson is an ninety-one year old old man who finds himself in trouble after getting into a car accident and is stranded on the side of the road. Throughout the story Ira is struggling to stay conscious and begins to imagine his late beloved wife Ruth, beside him. As a way to get him to stay awake Ruth begins to recount stories from their life together all the way from when they met to until her untimely death. Ira knows that Ruth isn't in the car with him but he holds on to just the though of her being beside him.
      Meanwhile a few miles away at a local bull riding event college senior Sophia Danko meets a young bull riding cowboy named Luke, who is unlike any of the privileged frat boys she knows at her school. It is through Luke that Sophia is introduced to this whole new world different than the life that she is used to. The more time Sophia spends with Luke the more she sees herself falling for him and thinking about a future with Luke instead of the the one she had planned for herself.
      Ira and Ruth and Sophia and Luke are two couples who have little in common. These relationship are separated by length of time together and the different challenges they face. But what they do have is a love worth fighting for and trying to overcome all of the challenges that they may face.
      So I might not be the best person to judge this book this time around just because of the fact that I did see the movie before reading this book. Normally I am fine with watching a movie or television show and then reading the book it was based on but that was not the case here. I found the movie to be so much better than the book while my friend who recommended that I read the book found the book more interesting and this may be because she read the book before seeing the movie.
     Another problem that I had with this book had to do with the fact that although I am fine with reading books where each chapter is a different narrator this one got to me. While from Ira's point of view everything was I and me, when it was Sophia or Luke's point of view these were told in third person writing he/she or Luke/Sophie. This made things confusing when about halfway through a chapter you would forget who was telling the story and there really was no way of finding out until a good while later.
    With that being said I would say either read the book or watch the movie and if you decided to do both then be prepared. You won't be satisfied, whichever comes first either reading the book or watching the movie will probably be the one you enjoy more.