John meets Savannah in North Carolina while he is having a vacation there meanwhile Savannah is having her spring break and helping to build a house for Habitat for Humanity.Their attraction is mutual and they quickly fall in love. However,John has to leave two weeks after they met to go back to complete his army enlistment. Savannah agrees that she would wait for him to finish his tour of duty. They write letters to each other and pick up where they left off when he comes back on another leave. However they start to drift apart when 9-11 occurs and John is forced to re-enlist in the army. They begin to grow apart and eventually Savannah sends him a letter that says she is in love with someone else. John is heartbroken and stops communicating with her. Few years later, John's father dies and leaves John all the coins from his coin collection that is worth a lot of money. While John is home for his father’s funeral, he decides to go to visit Savannah.She is married with her best friend she grew up with,Tim. However,Tim has Melanoma and there is nothing the doctors can do anymore. Savannah wants to send him to a better hospital that can run experiments and tests on him but she can't afford it. John donates all the money of his father's coin collection to Tim's fund before John leaves to go back to Iraq because of his love to Savannah which can prove by what he said” I know that my feeling about Savannah will never change, and I know I will always wonder about the choice I made.”(p. 334)
-Loss of a loved one
Throughout the book there are many losses. For example, John had lost Savannah and his parents, Savannah lost Tim and almost John, and Tim lost both of his parents. They all lost their loved ones because of different things, mostly because of death or complications. People all deal with loss differently, some people go in deep depression, others try to forget it by not thinking about it at all and most people just learn to forget as time goes by. In some cases people will just accept that they are dying, like Tim, he knew that both John and himself were in love with Savannah and she was also in love with them both. Tim accepted that he was soon going to die and told John, “Because, it wasn’t the same. I know she loves me, but she’s never loved me the way she loved you. She never had that burning passion for me, but we were making a good life together. She was so happy when we started the ranch and it just made me feel so good that I could do something like that for her. Then I got sick, but she’s always here, caring for me the same way I’d care for her if it was happening to her.” (p. 324). This quotation shows how deep was Savannah’s love to Tim and John,however, she lost Tim and John at the end of the novel.
John Tyree was ruled by id and ego throughout most parts of the novel. He had a low self-esteem. He was a rebel in high school and wasn’t always the nice guy he is today. John Tyree used to hang out with the wrong crowd and flunked his classes, even though he knew he could do better. He didn’t always make the right decisions. Some nights he came home with his breath reeking of alcohol and his jacket lingering with the smell of smoke. He acted this way because he never had a stable parent to lay down the law for him. He took advantage of his lack of rules and control. While John grew out of his teenage years he was getting tired of his troubled life. He didn’t want to stay the way he was. He wanted a job and real friends. He then decided to join the army. The army was a good thing for John. He was finally doing something important with his life. He felt it actually mattered. During this time he became a stronger smarter man. His personality changed for the better. He was nicer and more genuine.
The theme thoughout the novel is sacrifice for love and happiness. There is a quote that could easily sum up most of what occured in the novel which is "If you love something let it go." John has to let Savannah goes, just as she has to let him go. John's father also must let go when John leaves for Iraq.The general story line was well laid out, and the ending was more realistic than most romance novels. John doesn't get the girl in the end, he experiences a lot of personal growth but with her help . Savannah also grows up through her experiences in the novel. In the beginning she is young and naive, and as the novel takes place she learns a lot about human nature, and the way the world works.Although this novel does not invoke deeper thought or narate about society and humanity, it is well written and a good read.
“Because, it wasn’t the same. I know she loves me, but she’s never loved me the way she loved you. She never had that burning passion for me, but we were making a good life together. She was so happy when we started the ranch and it just made me feel so good that I could do something like that for her. Then I got sick, but she’s always here, caring for me the same way I’d care for her if it was happening to her.” (p. 324).
This quote shows how deep was Savannah’s love to Tim and John,however, she lost Tim and John at the end of the novel.
" I know that my feeling about Savannah will never change, and I know I will always wonder about the choice I made.”(p. 334)
This quote proves John's truth and determine love to Savannah even though he knows she will never belong to him.
Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. All of his books have been New York Times bestsellers, with nearly 80 million copies in print worldwide, in over 45 languages, including over 50 million copies in the United States alone, and his popularity continues to soar.
Sparks wrote one of his best-known stories, The Notebook, over a period of six months at age 28. It was published in 1996 by Warner Books. He followed with the novels Message in a Bottle (1998), A Walk to Remember (1999), The Rescue(2000), A Bend in the Road (2001), Nights in Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian(2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005) and its sequel, At First Sight(2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010) and The Best of Me (2011), as well as the 2004 non-fiction memoir Three Weeks With My Brother, co-written with his brother Micah.
Safe Haven, currently filming in Southport, North Carolina is scheduled for release on February 8, 2013, and marks Sparks’s eighth film adaptation, following The Lucky One, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe, Dear John and The Last Song, which thus far have a cumulative worldwide gross of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars.
Sparks lives in North Carolina with his family. He contributes to a variety of local and national charities, and is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame, where he provides scholarships, internships, and a fellowship annually. Along with his wife, he founded The Epiphany School in New Bern, North Carolina. As a former full scholarship athlete (he still holds a track and field record at the University of Notre Dame) he also spent four years coaching track and field athletes at the local public high school. In 2009, the team he coached at New Bern High School set a World Junior Indoor Record in the 4 x400 meter, in New York. The record still stands.
In 2011, Nicholas and his wife launched the Nicholas Sparks Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to improving cultural and international understanding through global education experiences for students of all ages. Between the foundation, and the personal gifts of Nicholas and Catherine Sparks, more than $10 million dollars have been distributed to deserving charities, scholarship programs, and projects. Because Nicholas and Catherine Sparks cover all operational expenses of the foundation, 100% of donations are devoted to programs.
On April 19-22, 2012, he launched the inaugural Nicholas Sparks Celebrity Family Weekend and Golf Tournament in New Bern, North Carolina, a weekend devoted to raising awareness and funds for the Foundation. Sparks and his family hosted stars from the worlds of sports, music, movies and television, along with fans, for a full calendar of events, raising over $500,000.
Wilmington, North Carolina -The story is partially set in Wilmington, North Carolina where John's father was a single parent who had difficulty having meaningful conversation with his son and has an obsession with coin collecting. -John meets and strongly falls madly in love with a college student named Savannah Lynn Curtis who is staying at a summer home in Wilmington while she completes volunteers for a project for Habitat for Humanity. Iraq, Kuwait -The United States succumbs to the September 11 attacks and John, who realizes he wants to settle down with Savannah, must decide between returning to North Carolina to be with Savannah or re-enlisting. He decides to re-enlists and is sent first to Kuwait and then Iraq.
John Tyree. -born in 1977 . -grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina -father had raised him by himself. –like to go to numerous coin shows with his dad, seeing how he collected them and would sit in his den for hours just examining it and learning about it. -high school years were the hardest for him and he was a "rebel" and made many bad decisions. Which also led him to get two of his three tattoo's. -he loves to surf and loves the beach, where he would spend all his time everyday. - also occasionally like to read, Stephen King catches his attention very well. -The only one good decision he had made in his life was to inlist himself in the army after highschool, it was a decision he had to make, and needed at the time. -In early June, in 2000 he was home on leave for a couple of weeks and he met Savannah Lynn Curtis and fell in love. Savannah lynn curtis -a devoted Christian a rising senior atUniversity of North Carolina -background is more privileged than John’s. -has a loving family affluent enough to own an old plantation with a horse farm and a beach house -idealistic and unspoiled, volunteers her time to help build houses during her Spring Break -romantic,humor, doesn’t take life too seriously -falls in love pretty hard right away
In 2001, in Wilmington, North Carolina, John is on vacation. He meets Savannah , a college student on spring break, when he rescues her purse from the water. Over the course of two weeks, Savannah and John fall in love. John meets Savannah's family, her neighbor, Tim Wheddon, and Tim's son Alan who hasautism. Savannah meets John's father , a reclusive man who seems to be obsessed with his coin collection, but his genuine interest draws her, to John's surprise. Savannah mentions to John that his father, like Alan, may have high functioning autism. This upsets John, who storms off, and then gets into a fight with Savannah's friend Randy and, in the process, accidentally punches Tim. John apologizes to Tim, leaves Savannah a note, and then they spend one last day together, parting with, "I'll see you soon, then," rather than goodbye. John and Savannah continue their relationship through letters, expecting to build a life together when he leaves the army. But the recent September 11 attacks make him reconsider the army, and he ultimately chooses to re-enlist. Over the next two years, the romance goes on, through their letters. After a time, John finds himself anxiously awaiting the next letter, but when it arrives it is a Dear John letter, informing him that she has become engaged to someone else, John burns all of Savannah's letters.Despite being wounded and encouraged to return home, John re-enlists. After four more years and many missions, while waiting to receive orders on his unit's next deployment, John is informed that his father had a stroke. When John arrives at the hospital he learns that his father is still alive but in grave condition. John writes a letter to his father, which he reads to him at the hospital; John's voiceover at the beginning of the film was from this letter, in which he told his father that the first thing to cross his mind after he was shot was coins, and the last thing to cross his mind before he lost consciousness was his dad, ultimately the most important person in his life. Soon afterwards, his father dies. John goes to visit Savannah and is shocked to find that she has married Tim and is living with him. He learns that she had to abandon her dream of a riding camp for kids with autism because of Tim's fight against lymphoma, and John goes with her to visit him in the hospital. Tim tells John that Savannah still loves him and she has never forgotten him. That night, Savannah asks John to stay for dinner. At the table, John asks Savannah why she did not even call him and she says it was because just hearing his voice would make her change her mind. As John goes towards the door, Savannah says "I'll see you soon then". She asks him to reply the same (like they always do) but there is silence. He replies "Goodbye, Savannah" and leaves. John makes a decision to sell all of his father's coin collection except the mule that John found, to raise money which could help Tim in his treatment. Back in the army, it shows John using the mule as a charm. It then shows John receiving a letter from Savannah telling him that Tim died after two months and ending with "I'll see you soon, then." John never regretted loving her, and it ends with john watching Savannah looking at the moon. this makes him think, and remember the past, and makes him realise savannahs undying love for him.
An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life—until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who has captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. “Dear John,” the letter read…and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love—and face the hardest decision of his life.
Did You Know...
The film rights were purchases by Sony Screen Gems, and that the film stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfreid?
John’s last name (Tyree) was a childhood friend of Nicholas’s?
John’s character was inspired by Nicholas’s cousin, Todd Vance?
Savannah was named after one of Nicholas’s daughters?
Book FAQs
How do you envision John’s future? I’ve never shut the door on a sequel to Dear John, but as always, the first step is to come up with a compelling story. If I can do that, I’ll write it, and then your question will be answered. I can’t say anything more, obviously, since I wouldn’t want to ruin the (possible) story.
What do you think of the movie adaptation? I enjoyed the film and thought the filmmakers, director and cast did a wonderful job.
What details can you give us about the Dear John film? Filming took place in late 2008, and it stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. It was largely filmed in the Charleston area of South Carolina. Marty Bowen (Twilight) served as the producer and Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat) served as the director.
Why did you choose that ending for Dear John (John and Savannah not being together)? Because that bittersweet ending, to me, generated more authentic emotional power than either a tragic or happy ending. Moreover, it seemed to fit the story. I try to vary the endings in general so the reader never knows what to expect. Surprise is the final element of the modern love story.
Will there be a sequel? I’m uncertain. While I didn’t write the novel with a sequel in mind, I’m open to the possibility. If I can come up with a good, original story, I just might do it.
Discussion Questions
In the first sentence of the prologue, John asks: “What does it mean to truly love another?” How does John’s answer to this question change over the course of the novel? How would you answer this question?
Savannah and John meet when John is on a furlough from the military and they fall deeply in love after only a few days. Is their love believable? Do you think it is possible to have such an intense connection with someone you’ve only just met?
Trying to explain her interest in John’s dad’s coin collection, Savannah says, “The saddest people I’ve ever met in life are the ones who don’t care deeply about anything at all. Passion and satisfaction go hand in hand.” Do you agree with Savannah? Do you think John’s father is a satisfied man?
Why does John get so angry when Savannah suggests what she does about his father and how, in the end, does this revelation change John’s life and his relationship with his father?
Savannah is described by both herself and Tim as being somewhat naïve. Do you think Savannah is naïve? Why or why not?
When John goes back to Germany after his furlough, he and Savannah vow to stay in touch and to marry when he returns. Do you think it’s possible to stay in love with someone without seeing them for months or years at a time? How does being apart affect Savannah and John’s relationship?
John eagerly awaits his discharge from the military so he can begin a life with Savannah, but John also has a deep sense of duty and loyalty to his country and fellow soldiers. After September 11, John makes a decision that will change his life and Savannah’s life forever. Do you think John made the right decision? Does Savannah think he made the right decision? Given the outcome, do you think John regrets his decision?
Do you think Savannah should have waited for John to come home or do you think it was understandable that she moved on with her life?
After fighting in the war in Iraq, John has a hard time telling people about his experience there. Instead, when asked what it was like, he responds with a harmless anecdote about the sand because doing so “kept the war at a safe distance” for other people. What does John mean by this? In what ways does the Iraq War change John and what are his feelings about his role in the war?
After John’s father dies, he goes to visit Savannah. How has their relationship changed at this point? Is Savannah different from who she was in the beginning of the novel? Do you think Savannah is still in love with John?
How do you think John views Tim, and how do his perceptions change by the end of the novel?
What do you make of John’s actions at the very end of the novel? Would you have done what he did if you were in his position?
How do you interpret the novel’s ending? How do you imagine John’s future?
Inspiration
While I’ve earned a reputation as an author who specializes in tragic endings, I want to go on record as saying that my favorite novels to write are those with bittersweet endings. I love to craft a novel – like The Notebook – in which the characters long to be together but can’t, for fate has conspired to keep them apart. The problem, however, is that such novels are exceedingly difficult to conceive, let alone write.
Why, after all, if two people love each other, can’t they be together?
A hundred years ago, stories like these were much easier to craft. Class, race, feuds and religion were “fair game,” but in the 21st century – and especially in the United States – these issues simply don’t ring as true. Yes, prejudice still exists and in small pockets of society, such issues might still predominate, but as a general rule, prejudice is frowned upon, and I strive to write novels that feel universal to the majority of people. And besides, in novels where “love is supposed to conquer all,” most readers want to believe that almost any obstacle can be overcome
What then should serve as the obstacle in the relationship? What causes the bittersweet ending? Why can’t the two people be together?
The most obvious – and relevant – reason that two people who love each other can’t be together is that one or both is already married, and they are loathe to divorce their spouse for family reasons. This was the “obstacle” that kept the lovers apart in both The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller and The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans.
Yet, I have a problem with that obstacle as well. While I know it’s real and that it happens, adultery is nothing I want to glamorize. I’ll be perfectly honest when I say that I find nothing romantic in it. Nor does my wife. And, obviously, it’s an obstacle that now lacks in originality, since it’s been overdone in both books and films.
This is where, of course, I found myself when conceiving the idea forDear John. How could I make that idea at least somewhat original? How can I make it feel universal to the majority of readers?
In the end, the twist I chose was to have the characters fall in love while both of them were single, only to have separation “forced” upon them. In this case, I chose the circumstances surrounding the horrors of 9/11 and a soldier who feels the need to re-enlist, thus continuing the separation. When he finally returns, the girl he’d once loved is now married, and hence, they can no longer be together. Lovers are kept apart because of marriage, and yet no adultery occurred.
Everything else in the story – John’s relationship with his father, Savannah’s personality, Tim and his brother, the coin collection – were elements that came later and conceived as ways to best support the story’s bittersweet ending.
In the end, I was proud of the novel. It is, in many ways, one of my favorites. It is also one that I think will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned.
Writing Notes
After I was clear on the elements of the story, the writing of Dear John went relatively smoothly, which was exactly the type of novel I needed after completing True Believer and At First Sight. Those two novels took a lot out of me; I find it difficult to write two novels in a year, and by the time I settled in to begin writing Dear John in early 2006, I can remember sitting at the keyboard before typing the first page and hoping that the story would unfold in exactly the way it should.
There was, of course, some research I had to do prior to the writing. I had never written a novel in which the main character serves in the military, but I was well aware of the fact that I had to make John Tyree’s experiences as accurate as possible. I drew heavily from a cousin (Todd) who served in the army. Like Todd, my character was in the army, had nearly completed his tour when 9/11 happened, and chose to re-enlist (something he really didn’t want to do), for duty’s sake.
I also read a number of non-fiction books written by those in the military and published between 2004 - 2005; from those, I was able to glean the day-to-day life of a soldier, both on base and while in battle.
Like all novelists, there are some “story developments” that I find easy to write, and others I find challenging. I suppose I’m most comfortable with writing – and describing – the relationship between the two major characters. In this case, that was John and Savannah, and this novel proceeded quickly, since they met relatively early in the story. Nor, as in some of my novels, were there “secrets” (that sometimes have to be slowly unfolded and paced correctly throughout the novel, adding an additional layer of complexity to the story). These were simply two young people who met at the beach and quickly fell in love.
If there was one challenge to the story, it was in the “structure.” The first half of the novel – actually more than half – covers the couple of weeks that Savannah and John were together and fell in love. From there, I had to cover the next two years in much less time. Finally, I had to wrap up the story between John and Savannah and the aftermath. The breakdown of percentages was roughly this: Part I-55%, Part II-10%, Part III-35%. Thus, 90% of the novel covers maybe 3 weeks, while 10% covers two years.
It’s easier said than done to make a story structured this way flow “seamlessly” while trying simultaneously to up the emotional ante as the novel progresses. It’s a matter of balance, and by the structure, the balance seemed – and initially felt – out of whack. Thus, Part II was far and away the most challenging to write. I had to keep the characters in love until they suddenly weren’t; I had to abbreviate vast periods of time to keep the story moving. And all of it, of course, had to support and develop the emotional intensity that drives Part III.
Fortunately, after much ponderous, internal debate and long periods of simply staring at the computer without having any idea what to do next, I finally had it. And then I knew I was getting close and Part III flowed nearly as easily as Part I.
Reviews
For Sparks, weighty matters of the day remain set pieces, furniture upon which to hang timeless tales of chaste longing and harsh fate.—The Washington Post
Sparks’s novel brims with longing.—Publishers Weekly
Sparks, a perennially popular novelist whose name is synonymous with romance and bittersweet endings and whose work translates so readily to movies, lives up to his reputation with his latest novel, a tribute to courageous and self-sacrificing soldiers.—Booklist
International Editions
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Book Quotes
“In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I’ll carry with me forever and that no one can ever replace.”
“Part of me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable, but her story and mine are different now. It wasn’t easy for me to accept this simple truth, because there was a time when our stories were the same, but that was six years and two lifetimes ago.”
“I finally understood what true love meant…love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”
“Every single person you see is struggling with something, and to them, it’s just as hard as what you’re going through.”
“Part of me aches at the thought of her being so close yet so untouchable…”
“Even though you may not want to hear it, I want you to know that you’ll always be a part of me. In our time together, you claimed a special place in my heart, one I’ll carry with me forever and that no one can ever replace. You’re a hero and a gentleman, you’re kind and honest, but more than that, you’re the first man I ever truly loved. And no matter what the future brings, you will always be, and I know that my life is better for it.”
“What mattered most was knowing that love was mine to give, without strings or expectations.”
I finally understood what true love meant…love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”
“And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever.”
“I knew my father had done the best he could, and I had no regrets about the way I’d turned out. Regrets about journey, maybe, but not the destination.”
“There are memories for both of us, of course, but I’ve learned that memories can have a physical, almost living presence, and in this, Savannah and I are different as well. If hers are stars in the nighttime sky, mine are the haunted empty spaces in between…”
“Two weeks together, that’s all it took, two weeks for me to fall for you.”
“Right before everything went black, you wanna know the very last thing that entered my mind?...You.”
“And when her lips met mine, I knew that I could live to be a hundred and visit every country in the world, but nothing would ever compare to that single moment when I first kissed the girl of my dreams and knew that my love would last forever.”
Movie Trailer
Film/TV Sales
The film, starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, and directed by Lasse Hallstrom, was released on February 5, 2010.
