THE LAST SONG - Nicholas Sparks
THE LAST SONG - Nicholas Sparks
Written by Sian Rafferty   
Sunday, 13 December 2009 14:17
Nicholas Sparks - The Last Song I have to admit, I have more than my fair share of irrational fears. Sewing machines, airplane toilets, bean-bags; there are many examples which make their way onto the list. Yet I have one fear which is entirely rational. Entirely justifiable in every single way. I speak of my fear of book adaptations of films.

It’s a perverse form of fiction which just shouldn’t be allowed to exist. Surely the realm of novel adaptations exists only as a tag along marketing scheme; a sure fire way to wring the last few bucks out of a blockbuster making a carving at the box office. Yes, this is one entirely rational fear.

Let’s take this one step further. Let’s say the movie we are speaking of, is the new Disney cash cow. And let’s say the main character in the film (and consequently book), was tailor-written for none other than... Miley Cyrus. Yes people, you may now all shudder - as this is exactly what happened with the new novel by Nicholas Sparks: ‘THE LAST SONG'.
Sparks is a pretty serious writer, with blockbuster hits like ‘The Notebook’ and ‘A Walk to Remember’ under his belt, and he was recruited by Disney after Cyrus expressed her need for a serious film. Sparks wrote the script, the film went into production... and the book was released. Yet in saying all this, Sparks does manage to pull it off and create a novel from a script. To my surprise - nowhere in the book does it feel like a shot-list, ready to be translated onto the screen. ‘The Last Song’, truly is a novel through and through.

The story is based on Ronnie; a tear-away New York teenager who is sent by her mother to live with her small-town dad. Ronnie and her dad Steve have a rocky relationship after his divorce, leaving Ronnie trying to pick up her life in a new town with no friends. Eventually she meets Will, a too good to be true rich boy, who (sigh) instantly falls for Ronnie. However... family tragedy, guilty secrets and bad-guy Marcus threaten to tear them apart - making for one rocky ride into adulthood.

The main problem I had with this book was the unrealistic depiction of teenagers. It’s harsh, but I sort of felt like the characters were written by elderly people after hearing stories about the high-jinks of their neighbours grandchildren. For example Ronnie: “Wears black. Has a purple streak in her hair. Yells a lot. Goes to night clubs at all hours.” Will: “Blonde and hot. Rich. Plays volleyball with his rippling bronze muscles.” Marcus: “Drinks and Parties. Has dreadlocks. Is basically... bad news.” Seriously, I haven’t been a teenager for a few years now, but surely I didn’t fit into any of these stereotypes?

Despite the stock characters, ‘The Last Song’ does deserve some credit. The depictions of family dynamics and human grief are really compelling and well written. And I have to admit it is a bit of page turner, which had me frantically hurdling toward the end. But don’t tell anyone that... Truth be told, I can definitely recommend ‘The Last Song’ as an easy to get into and fast-paced, holiday read. Oh well! You win this time - book adaptations of screenplays.
 

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