Ponder Post: Two By Two

Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors and I have read every one of his novels; but I felt Two by Two was a big deviation from his normal works. Except for his Three Weeks with My Brother (April 2004), a travelogue of sorts, Nicholas Sparks writes love stories. Love stories are to be differentiated from romance novels. Nicholas Sparks describes the distinction in these words.

Love stories must use universal characters and settings. Romance novels are not bound by this requirement and characters can be rich, famous, or people who lived centuries ago, and the settings can be exotic. Love stories can differ in theme, romance novels have a general theme—"the taming of a man." And finally, romance novels usually have happy endings while love stories are not bound by this requirement. Love stories usually end tragically or, at best, on a bittersweet note.

Writing classes often purport that authors do best writing from their own experiences. Sparks and his wife of 25 years divorced in 2015. I was shocked to learn this earlier this year. Two by Two is about the dissolution of a marriage; it describes the angst that separation introduces into the lives of the couple and the confusion it inserts into the life of their daughter. I can perhaps understand why Sparks picked this topic, and even though it meets Sparks's definition of a "love story", I did not take pleasure in reading about this particular relationship gone awry. The couple in Two by Two were quite civilized and the self-analysis of their emotions was thought-provoking; but, nonetheless, the overall tone of the book was sad. Thankfully, in no way did their disagreements have the spitefulness and the vindictiveness of the divorcing couple in the 1989 movie War of the Roses starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. The breaking up in Two by Two was just... sigh... disheartening.

I can comprehend how this chosen topic could resonate with couples once in love who separate and divorce for various reasons. Maybe I can presume it was cathartic for the author to write. I can even admit that reading this novel expanded my horizons in a way that a view from 41 years of marriage could not. I saw aspects of a marriage that could indeed prove challenging. The story had the bittersweet sadness of a lost love, true, but it did not have the same tenderness that brings me to tears as most of his other books have done. I give this book 3 stars - a low score in my opinion for Nicholas Sparks. The literary quality of the book may be higher but I can not overcome my personal bias in order to rate it so. By the way, the "two by two" reference is not constrained to only the separating couple. Pairings in life also extended to the exploration of father/daughter and brother/sister relationships. These other non-marital interactions were actually quite touching and make a strong case for reading the book, despite its depressing theme.

Two by Two is Nicholas Sparks's twentieth novel. Here is the complete list of all twenty. The links are wikipedia links but beware. Wikipedia often contains spoilers so just read the first few lines to get a gist of the story and do not delve too deeply into the plot. Try out Amazon links instead, but avoid reader reviews who often divulge spoilers, too. Nicholas Sparks usually has a twist in his stories that I know to be on the alert for and yet nevertheless rarely see coming. My personal favorites among these novels were The Notebook, The Choice, and Safe Haven. For those eleven that were made into movies, the book was always better! Happy reading.

1. The Notebook (October 1996)
2. Message in a Bottle (April 1998)
3. A Walk to Remember (October 1999)
4. The Rescue (September 2000)
5. A Bend in the Road (September 2001)
6. Nights in Rodanthe (September 2002)
7. The Guardian (April 2003)
8. The Wedding (September 2003)
9. Three Weeks with My Brother (April 2004)
10. True Believer (April 2005)
11. At First Sight (October 2005)
12. Dear John (October 2006)
13. The Choice (September 2007)
14. The Lucky One (September 2008)
15. The Last Song (September 2009)
16. Safe Haven (September 2010)
17. The Best of Me (October 2011)
18. The Longest Ride (September 2013)
19. See Me (October 2015)
20. Two By Two (October 2016)

Before he became famous, Nicholas Sparks, co-authored a book with Billy Mills, a member of the Lakota American Indian tribe and the second Native American to become an Olympic Gold Medalist. I wanted to check the box that I had read all  books by Nicholas Sparks, not only his love stories. Not readily available in my local library, I was able to locate and purchase online a used copy of the book Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding (1990). I am curious if any parts of it are similar to Two by Two. I'll let you know.