The Longest Ride Comparison

Blue Carpenter

Mrs. George

Film and Literature

25 April, 2017

The Longest Ride Nicholas Sparks, an author everyone knows, created another masterpiece in 2013, with his novel, The Longest Ride. As many of his novels do, The Longest Ride developed into a movie, directed by George Tillman Jr. Throughout the movie, viewers can see how individual characters develop and how their inter tangled relationships develop as well. With the help of the movie, some viewers can see the emotions felt between characters shown easier than reading the novel. While the movie provides a strong story and a comparison to the novel, I feel that the novel has shown the storyline, relationships, and emotions in a more successful manner and, therefore, prefer it to the

They do not develop a strong relationship with him before he ultimately dies, though, because they saved his life, a small relationship does develop. In Sparks’ novel, when he knows he will die soon, Ira calls his lawyer and sets up an art auction, inviting not only art critics and collectors from around the world, but also Luke and Sophia. This surprised me, as a reader, because Sparks does not show much of a relationship between the pair and Ira after they rescue him; although it may be assumed he invited them because they saved his life and learned his story through the letter they found in the destroyed car. In the movie, Luke and Sophia find Ira as they return from their first date, at the beginning of the movie. After Luke pulls Ira out of his burning truck, he mumbles one word: “box”, leading Sophia into the burning car to retrieve what she learns is a box of letters. As Ira spends time in the hospital recovering, Sophia begins to visit him every day, growing their relationship. To reflect on his life, Sophia reads one of Ira’s letters out loud each day. Through this, she forms a bond with Ira and learns about his strong love for Ruth. Sophia also recounts her relationship with Luke to Ira. When Ira passes away, after the many days he has spent with Sophia and few he has spent with Luke, he sends them invitations to his art auction, similar to the action in

As readers go through the novel, Sparks paints pictures in the their heads with his words. Through these pictures, readers can develop their own opinions on Sophia, Luke, Ira, and Ruth individually, but also in their relationships. The detail put into describing Black Mountain University, where Ira and Ruth spent every anniversary, helps readers to visualize their time there together, rather than just see it on a screen. Although readers can see the happiness the couple shares in the movie, the ability to visualize this allows for their happiness to be interpreted in ways the reader