Post 7: The Longest Ride Reflection

The reason I originally chose The Longest Ride is to investigate all of the hype on it, particularly coming from girls. I was curious to see if I would end up enjoying the book, since I would never read it. Prior to reading it, I had watched a few of the Nicolas Sparks books, and from the beginning I assumed The Longest Ride would be just like the others. And in a way it was, yet I will admit that I was surprised. While it did contain all of the romantic elements I expected, the story line took a different path. The story itself is actually two different stories of their own that eventually get twisted and intertwined.

The novel begins with Ira Levinson, a man in his nineties, who sets out to fulfill a long standing commitment. It is snowing outside and Ira, who has had problems with his vision, misses a curve and wrecks his car. Throughout the rest of the book, it continues to come back to Ira as he sits in his car, envisioning having conversations with his wife Ruth, who passed away years before. They speak about their life together and flash back to all of the memories they can recall, giving us a glimpse of one of the two relationships in the novel. While this is taking place, the main relationship is brewing.

Sophia, a current college undergraduate, heads off to a party with her friends at a barn. It had been weeks since she last left the dorm for anything besides class, and her friends decided it was time to get her out of her depression from her recent break-up. At the party, she meets a professional bull rider named Luke. From the first instant we meet Luke, it is already evident that Sophia will forget about her ex-boyfriend and soon fall in love with the new starry-eyed cowboy. These parts of the story were very predictable, as Sophia and Luke soon got to know each other and were eventually falling in love before they could realize it. I didn't forget about her ex-boyfriend, Brian, and just as I imagined, he popped back into the story line by fighting Luke. Though, the fight was over soon and Brian wasn't seen much more. All of these little conflicts throughout the story were easy to predict, but what I never expected was how the two relationships would get intertwined. I honestly do not want to spoil it just in case you decide to read it, but I will say that the novel wrapped up a lot better than I had predicted.

In the end, The Longest Ride contained predictable elements that seem to occur throughout all Nicolas Spark books. Though, what was not evident to occur was the aspect of intertwining two separate relationships. Viewing the book through the eyes of a girl, I can understand all of the hype about the book, as it did turn out to be a very well written love story. But even looking at it through my own eyes, I believe guys could actually relate to it and enjoy the book. The main reason guys don't is because society tells us that it is meant for girls, while in reality there is not one specific gender for the book.