Book Review: The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Before I decided to read The Longest Ride, I had thought of Nicholas Sparks as purely a romance writer. And, because I had assigned him to being a romance writer, I put him in the category of a Harlequin type romance writer. Now, there’s nothing wrong with Harlequin books. Harlequin readers get a well written, romantic escape to an idealistic, feel good world. I’ve just never been a fan of that genre.

So, I began The Longest Ride a bit skeptical. However, I wasn’t very far into the book, when I realized Sparks is far more than a cliché “Romance Writer.” He writes intricate stories, which I like. At the end of a book, I enjoy putting things together and seeing if all of the details fit. In The Longest Ride, I got my wish.

The Longest Ride is actually two, each almost stand-alone, stories that come together at the end in a very satisfying way.

The first story is about a young couple who have recently met and have fallen in love. The young man is a rodeo bull rider, which is the origin the title, The Longest Ride. The eight seconds a rider must stay on a bull, is often called the longest ride. That is because, to a bull rider, those eight seconds can feel like an eternity as that wild bull is trying to throw them off.

The second story concerns an elderly man whose wife had died many years before. She was the only women he’d ever loved and was still the love of his life. He almost lived within the memories he had of her and their life together. One day, as he was driving his car on a snowy road, he lost control of his car due to his poor vision. He drove off the road and crashed.

The first and second story intersect when the young couple is driving on the same snowy road and they see tracks in the snow, leading off the road. They investigate and find the elderly man had crashed and was stuck in in his car.

The young couple rescues the elderly man. As he recovers from the crash, they form an intense friendship. Not wanting to give any of the story away and spoil the enjoyment a reader would have reading the story, I’ll just say that their friendship changed their lives.

Yes, there is a romantic aspect to The Longest Ride, but it is far more than a romance novel.

I highly recommend reading that book.

Bill Kercher