Love Story | Erich Segal | Book Review

PLOT: 4.5/5
CHARACTERS: 5/5
WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5
CLIMAX: 4/5
ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 5/5

As I sat down writing this review, I looked at the book and wondered who am I to rate such a masterpiece.

This book is amazing, the best I have ever come across in romance books.

The simplicity and the subtlety of the plot and the adorability of the characters are profound and there is no way, simply no way for someone to read it right till the end without shedding a few drops of tears.

After all, it is not for nothing that the book has sold over 21 million copies worldwide and even after 44 years of its first edition, it still rules most people’s hearts.

So, forgive me for deviating from the issue at hand, for I am bound to pay respects to this extraordinary work of fiction and to the man who created it.

Oliver Barett IV is a young and rich Harvard student who belongs to one of the most elitist and richest families in the country. Needless to say, Oliver is the heir to the Barett fortune and legacy, and it is because of this specific reason that his dad has a lot of hopes riding on him.

On the other hand, Jenny Cavilleri, the smart and enthusiastic daughter of a Rhode Island baker is a music student from Radcliffe College, whose ultimate ambition is to study in Paris.

They say opposites attract each other and they say the truth, for Oliver and Jenny hit an instant connection from the moment they met. Young, adamant and irrevocably in love, they decide to get married despite many hindrances.

Oliver braves his dad’s refusal for their marriage and subsequent severing of all ties with his son, and Jenny braves the fire of her ambition. So, as soon as they graduate, they get married.

But things are not yet settled, as Oliver has a law school to attend and Jenny has to look after all his fees and home expenses in Jenny’s meagre teacher’s salary.

Things settle when Oliver lands with a very good job in the New York City and the couple moves to the city.

But as fate would have it, when Jenny consults a doctor regarding having a child, Oliver is informed about the most disastrous news of his life. That Jenny has leukaemia and her days are outnumbered.

What follows is a tragic little story full of emotions and gloominess.

If you are a hopeless romantic like me, then you are sure to cry your eyes out because trust me, it is that beautiful.

Oliver and Jenny seem like the perfect made for each other couple and with all that pain and suffering at the end of their tiny little love story it becomes a lot to take and digest, so definitely the melancholy sets in and the reader experiences one of those moments when they lose touch with reality and cry their heart out for their fictional characters.

That being said, I urge all my readers to read the masterpiece that Love Story is.