Dear John

I bought this book last week at the airport after bidding goodbye to my parents who came back to Malaysia for the weekend. My baby sister is in boarding school, just registered the Wednesday before they came back, and they were so excited yet scared. Everyone's worried of her, but I guess things will eventually lighten up and be better.

I can't say this is my favourite novel of all time. Yes, over and over again, books and movies have manage to pressed into my weak side, shedding tears out of me. It took me some time to finish reading it, not because of the tears, but because I had a mid-posting exam which I had to study for that week, and I felt guilty every time I opened a page in that book.

Yet, I finished reading everything in the end at last. A beautiful love story, a rare one indeed. I know how we've always been fed by stories like happily ever after and it will be alright in the end. But trust me, this story give its readers a pinch of reality, though it still does have its fairy tale element in it.

Honestly, I cannot wait for the movie to be downloaded, since it is not released in Malaysia. I think it is because it has something to do with the war in Iraq, the invasion and so on. I genuinely hope that the movie would be if not better as good as the novel but sometimes you describe things better in word forms rather than a two hour movie. Yet I would still watch it and enjoy it, regardless. I know I should keep my expectations low so that I would be able to appreciate the movie.

Beautiful story, beautiful words. I hope there would be another book which would describe how Savannah felt.

If this were a true story, I would love to be able to write to both of them, Savannah and John, and this is what I would say:

Dear John,

I know that you've tried your best to keep the distance between you just as a stepping stone to be together with the girl you truly adore, and you believe that there is happy endings, or there would be if you ever hold on to your faith. But love is a feeling that needs to be nurtured in so many ways that you could not afford to. Being miles apart was not the only reason. But you cannot expect a person to love you unconditionally without even ever thinking about what will and could happen in the end. I know it is not fair for you, for you did not choose the life you led. But one day new love will arise, and even though in your heart you still truly love Savannah, just try to open your heart, and you'll learn to love again.

Dear Savannah,

I know how hard it is being away from the man you love. Feeling left behind, not knowing if you could trust the words he says or if his feelings for you are still the same. You might wonder if by the day, the feelings start to fade, and there are times when you feel like there's nothing there to hold on to. You cannot keep on fighting something you cannot see, nor could you feel. Falling in love for the second time was not your fault, though I believe that deep inside your feelings towards the first guy you loved could never be pushed away. Our heart is big enough for love. Even if a new one comes, it will not push the old ones away, but it would expand to give more space.






I have two most favourite quote from this book:

"If you come back, I'll marry you. If you break your promise, you'll break my heart"

and

"Love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be."



There are other beautiful lines in this book that I would love to share, but I would spoil everything. Deep inside, I truly believe in these two quotes and I believe that true love is out there for each and every one of us, no matter if we could or could not feel it.