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Unfortunately for most of the readers of my blog, I will not be talking about the sappy Nicholas Sparks novel, or the equally as tear jerking movie which I adimitedly have yet to see. However, I will be talking about the one thing that has sparked my interest thus far in the novel, and that is the theme of using a notebook. Before I get into that however, I would just like to say that I am not a big fan of this novel up until this point. It just seems so rudimentary to me, almost like Egan wants us to really feel like this book is being written from Ray’s perspective. I was also very confused about who Ray was at first. I figured it was just Danny having a flashback to when he was in prison, and I still kind of think that Danny and Ray could be connected more than just an author protagonist relationship, but I guess we will see. However, back to the whole notebook thing. I think the use of the notebook is interesting. For Howie, he uses the notebook to record all his ideas for his imaginary dungeons and dragons game he will play with his friends. The older “Howard” sees to keep a notebook to write down all his ideas he has for this hotel of imaginations he has in the works. And, There is Ray who seems to keep a notebook to write down all the slang words he hears throughout the day that are normally not used in todays street vernacular. Obviously, using a notebook helps rememeber things you don’t want to forget, but I also wonder why Egan keeps hitting us in the head with this theme of using a notebook. I think it could be using the notebook as a way to hold onto the innocense of an older time. For example, Howard keeps a notebook to try and remind himself of all the ways he can restore this castle and make it feel like it did back when people still use it. I am not sure I feel like I have almost talked myself into a circle, what does everyone else think?
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