Book Review: Three Weeks With My Brother

Book Review: Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks

I picked this up in the library a few weeks ago. I read quite widely but this one was a bit of a stretch. I'd never heard of the author, never read anything by him, and yet I was drawn to it. Weird. Anyway, I picked the book up and realized it was about 2 men who were going on an around the world trip in three weeks. It was a story about intimate brotherhood, adventure, and seeing the world. I took a gamble and signed it out. I'm very glad I did.

Nicholas Sparks was actually more known to me then I knew. He wrote the books "A Walk To Remember" and "The Notebook", both of which I have seen as movies. I will say this, Sparks has a almost a perfect writing style for me. He uses humor well, crafts his characters in a way that causes you to empathize with them almost immediately, and strikes a near perfect balance between eloquence and simplicity in the way he uses language. I was engaged almost immediately. As I read it over the past week I kept telling Jobina "This is a really good book." I read a lot of books and so I think that got her attention.

Without giving too much away, the story is really an autobiography written in the guise of a travelogue. As the two brothers go away on their adventure trip of a lifetime, Sparks starts at the beginning and tells his story beginning at birth and by the time the trip is done brings the reader right up to the present in his life. His life is truly an amazing story; equal parts joy and sorrow. In many ways it is the "every" book; it is a story, a motivation speech, a travel journal, a treatise on family, a book about faith, a reflection on suffering, etc, etc. I was very moved by reading it, one night I couldn't sleep for several hours after putting the book down, so emotionally engaged was I.

This book may not be for everyone. I told Jobina that I wasn't sure if a woman would like it or not but if you like biographies I don't think you will be disappointed. There are so many good parts about this book that it is difficult to choose which one meant the most to me. I give Three Weeks With My Brother 4.7 ninja stars out of 5. Highly recommended.