Endless Love by Scott Spencer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Endless Love
Book Review: Wow
Summary: 4 Stars
I had to read this book as an intro to my 20th Century Classics course. I was skeptical about it at first because I find romance novels to be tedious and almost wasteful to me. This novel though... I guess it would have to be a romance novel, but it blew me away. It was scarier than a horror book because it flirts with what is real and what isn't in a relationship - to the extent where I didn't know! For example, an unreal event would occur and then it would suddenly seem not only real but also justified under David's circumstances. But under normal circumstances, one would probably think it would be ludicrous and fake. Spencer's style is amazing and I can't believe this book hasn't received more acclaim. If you have a day or two of free time, this story will be worth your time - I won't forget it anytime soon.Book Review: a genuinely passionate novel from the male point of view
Summary: 5 Stars
This book changed everything about what I read, how I read, why I wanted to read. I admit to buying a copy after seeing the Brooke Shields movie when I was sixteen. It's a true shame that director Zeffereli took such liberties with the novel's point of view, timeframe while borrowing so heavily from the book for its dialogue. "Endless Love", the novel, is simply astonishing. I'm certain I've read it a dozen times, underlined passages, folded back pages, studied it inside and out. As an exercise, I even adapted it into a screenplay, then a television mini-series. It deserves a decent adaptation because, as one reviewer below put it, when telling friends about it, associated it with "the atrocious movie", tarnished forever (I don't think that needs to be so). The last page of the book is so overwhelming, I burst into tears when I read it (and no book has ever done that to me before or since). I would appreciate comments on a new adaptation of "Endless Love" as a film or mini-series (though I can't imagine a mainstream network touching it with its graphic and necessary sexual content). To get you started, I can see Susan Sarandon as Ann, Natalie Portman as Jade, but David...who could play David? He's so clearly etched in my mind, it would be difficult to associate another face. Anyway, I'm heartened to see others who share the passion for the book that I have felt for so long.Book Review: a never-ending emotional roller coaster ride
Summary: 5 Stars
Rarely have I ever encountered a book that grasps you from page one and does not let go until the final paragraph. This is an intense book that, permitting you allow yourself to enter into the mind of the protagonist, pulls you into his emotional turmoil and shares with you the hardships that accompany unrequited love. For those that have never experienced unrequited love, consider this an introduction. For those that have, you can consider this book an accessory. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has dared to love.Book Review: awesome and powerful writing
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read Endless Love when it first came out in 1980, but probably would not have had I seen the unfortunate film adaptation first. That would have been a shame, as this book was truly unforgettable and has become one of my all time favorites. Had it not been for the badly made film, this book would still be in print and would have become a modern classic. I have read it several times since it first was published, and am saddened to find it is no longer in print.
Spencer's writing is astonishing in its depth of feeling and the beauty of its prose. I am not a big fan of romances in general, but Endless Love is so honest in its depiction of a romantically obsessed young man that for this I make an exception. If you've ever been deeply in love, much of what is described will be painfully--and wonderfully--familiar. Trust me: this is no Harlequin romance. You will not find cliches or sappiness here. The few[physical] scenes, while explicit, are never trashy or shallow. In fact, they are necessary to truly bring to life the depth of David's feelings for his lover, Jade. These scenes are long and powerful. The type of love David experiences transforms the mundane to the poetic, the disgusting to the beautiful. ...
So are David's scenes with Jade's wordly mother Ann. The emotions in these scenes are astonishing, powerful, and many-faceted. We get to know both characters intimately, and while we could fault them for their immorality and lack of good judgment, we realize they are desperate--and both desperately miserable. They can't help what they do, so we can forgive them, and sympathize with them.
David is nearly constantly in tears or plotting to find the girl he can never forget. His misery is so intense it is almost a tangible thing. (Don't read this if you don't want to feel depressed). His traditional Jewish parents love him but do not understand him, or his obsession. Frightened and concerned about their only son, they they throw away Jade's letters "for his own good," which turns out to be the worst thing they could have done. Those letters were David's only tangible evidence of his shortlived life with Jade--and he literally falls to pieces there in front of their kitchen sink.
The saddest thing is the disparity between David and Jade's lives after the fire, and after David is released from the hospital. Jade, evidently, was able to move on and create a life for herself; David cannot--will not--let go. David is part of her past, a teenage romance, and she could take or leave him; to David, Jade is his only reason for living. Yet he is not a stalker in the sense one normally associates with that term. He never becomes violent or abusive in his efforts to win her back; the violence is only to himself. He is his own worst enemy, and he never is able to realize that, and move on. Witnessing the slow disintegration of his mind and soul is a frightening and tragic thing.
If you are able to get your hands on a copy of this book, grab it and read it! ... Spencer's writing style alone is reason enough to read Endless Love. I have read some of Spencer's other books, but this is by far my favorite.
Book Review: haunting story of love gone wrong
Summary: 5 Stars
I read a lot of books.I love to read, and my selections cover a wide spectrum - everything from Shakespeare to the much maligned Harlequin romances. But never, ever have I read anything that can compare with "Endless Love".
The gorgeous prose hooks you in from the first sentence and doesn't let up until the last line, when you're holding the book with shaking hands, wondering how to let it go. Because this is one of those rare stories that *won't* let you go. The characters - David, Jade, and Ann in particular - take root and germinate inside you, never to leave again.
David's description of falling in love and losing that love are part of the universal human experience. David merely got caught doing what a lot of us have done. Unable to let go of what others dismissed as a teenage romance, he clings to his memories of Jade and her family until the world views him as unhealthy. And maybe he is. But the reader is so convinced of the depths of his love for Jade, that being with her is the only way David will ever be happy, that we side with him, becoming his partner in crime.
The 30+ page love scene some 200 or more pages into the book is a masterpiece. I've read countless sex scenes and *none* compare to this one. It borders on becoming an out of body experience.
One feeling I was left with was that perception is everything in this story. David believed his relationship with Jade to be worth everything. Jade loved David, but essentially could live without him. They viewed their bond in very different ways.
Take a chance on this modern classic. If you've ever been so much in love that rules no longer applied, you'll walk away from this book forever changed.