Endless Love

Rating:
Summary: It sucks you in
Review: I've been having a hard time getting into reading lately, but this book really engaged me. The writing is lyrical and psychological and hypnotic. I can't get over how good the prose is, which is usually the first reason I turn to a book, and not for plot. It's very descriptive, but hardly ever over descriptive, and it's easy to imagine the characters. Then there is the story that draws you in with a sense of suspense. The transition from part one to part two is strong, in particular. At that point, you can't help being glued to the book. I haven't read anything else by him, only looked over some stuff, but from what I've seen it doesn't seem to match the lyrical intensity of Endless Love.

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Summary: A stunning insight into love and ouryearning for the eternal
Review: My experience reading 'Endless Love' transcended the normal like/dislike/enjoy categorizations - I not only enter the world of the hero, he entered me. I found myself taking on the protagonists cause as though it were my own, and regardless of his extreme behavior, I still can't let go of the notion that everyone else (but for Jade and Ann) was less sane than David, that it was he who possessed the purest insight. Perhaps that is why I felt grief stricken when I put the book down. Spencer writes with such descriptive power and emotional truth (the' Jade and David' reunion scene is truly stunning - encapsulating the furious extremes of these characters' experiences). I suspect David and all the people close to him will live on in me. And perhaps, (thinking of the title), that is like the heroes ultimate achievement - in all the euphoric heights and shattering lows, David was never more alive than when he was with Jade. And isn't that the point? To be truly alive, just once? PS If anyone would like to discuss this novel, or has links to other articles feel free to contact the above email address (I feel I will need this, having just finished the book).

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Summary: phenomenological
Review: one of the best novels i've ever read. i picked it up from the recommended books pile at the bookstore and in 2 minutes was hooked. in the first 10 pages, david, the hero tries to get back into his girlfriend jade's house by covertly starting a fire and then heroically putting it out. unfortunately, her hip family is tripping on acid, reacts slowly, and he accidentally burns down the house. what an opening! i didn't put the book down til i finished it. a top example of a phenomenological novel: the writer puts us into the head of an unfamiliar type of protagonist. the hero is sympathetic; i was totally behind him. go, david; get jade back! yet the hero is, from an outside perspective, a stalker!

Rating:
Summary: Forget Brooke Shields!!!!!!!
Review: Please give this book a fair chance-its unfortunate connection to the vapid, mindless Brooke Shields vehchile of the early 80's, as well as the saccarine pop ballad that served as its theme song, have unfairly sent this book into unsung obscurity and premature out of print status, despite the positive reception it recieved at the time of its first printing. Having suffered through the film many years ago, I was highly skepticle about reading the novel when urged to do so by a friend, but with its first line, it held me in its thrall with its lyricism and emotional pull. The prose is extraordiary, and Spencer skillfully takes what on the surface appears to be a truly ridiculous story and weaves it into a masterpiece that explores the power of love, obsession, sanity, family relations, and heartbreak. This is one of those truly rare finds that seeps into your very being as you read it and pulls you along with the characters on an intense journey through the exhaulatation and despair of human love. There are far too many complexities and layers to this story to surmise in a brief sypnopsis, but if the reader gives themselves to the book, the emotional punch packed on the last two pages is so devastatingly heartbreaking and magnificantly written that the occasionally unbelievable events and frustrations encountered along the way are well worth it. A modern classic.

Rating:
Summary: The Work Of A Genius. Thanks Scott Spencer. Forever!
Review: Please read all of the wonderful reviews below if it will make a more urgent recommendation that you read this book and, of course, forget that the movie was ever made.

I, like many others, picked up the paperback in the early 1980's. There was something about the cover, of all things, that clued me to the fact that it was worth skimming the first page. That was all it took to whisk it up to the check-out counter and begin my eighteen-year long relationship with this masterpiece.

What was so enjoyable about the book, aside from the superb writing, were the evocations of the happy times I spent in Chicago. As David comes home from his two-year long stay in a private mental hospital after burning down his girlfriend's family home, he returns to his parents home in Evanston to make the necessary transition to a productive and happier life. His time in Chicago appears, for all the world, to be the best thing for his recovery. He takes us downtown to many beloved landmarks in the city and through his successful re-entry into the world. Beware, for that is the most uplifting, gratifying part of this story. The rest of the tale will put your heart through a meat-grinder as you come to discover that David's recovery is something done merely for show. He is putting in the requisite time and the necessary smoke screen before he can make his next self-destructive move. Yet, in spite of the fact that I knew every step of the way that he was flying toward imminent disaster, I was also cheering him on and hoping that the looming obvious might not be true.

There were scenes in the book that were more wrenching, infinitely more vivid and unforgettable that any you could see in a film--even a film of the best quality. So it should come as no surprise that the film adaptation of Endless Love truly stunk. It was a reeking insult to a book that probably should have never been filmed in the first place.

When I got to the last page, I was still hoping even though David's life was so hopelessly different from the way it had begun. But what you, the reader, cannot possibly know until you have read the last line of the book, is the depths of David's obsession. The last line of that book was so devastating, that I knew it was the book of my lifetime. Any book that has brought the level of emotional involvement to as many serious readers as has Endless Love, is truly the work of a genius.

Rating:
Summary: a never-ending emotional roller coaster ride
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: give it a chance...
Review: Scott Spencer has written a confession of love that is so passionate and enduring that by the time you get to the last few lines it literally breaks your heart. Endless Love is the tragic novel about David and Jade- and the crime of loving too much. DON'T see the movie- just read the book.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably good...
Review: The most astonishing thing about this book is the fact that Scott Spencer actually pulls it off. On paper, the plot is almost ludicrous''I mean, try explaining it to someone and they will look at you kind of funny. Yet, because of the passionate writing style, it works. The author manages to pull us into David's warped world. We empathize with him all the way through, even towards the end when he starts making some really bad decisions (I don't want to spoil this for anybody.) We understand and care about the other major characters, as well. A brilliant move: Jade doesn't really appear in the first half of the book, which forces the readers to see her through everybody else's eyes first. Let's just say it builds momentum. Bottom line is, this is a great, moving book. I agree with some of the previous reviewers: the last two pages left me floored.

Rating:
Summary: True Love is Ageless!
Review: This beautifully written novel tells the story of David Axelrod, a tormented young man, crazy in love. This was my first taste of Scott Spencer, and I am definitely going to read more of his work. I would recommend "Endless Love" to anyone looking for a love story that will not only touch their heart, but also draw them in and keep them glued til the final page!

Rating:
Summary: a genuinely passionate novel from the male point of view
Review: 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.