Nicholas Sparks Film Adaptations

As someone who loves literature, I try to give every book a chance. I don't like to write off an author as "lame" before I've read at least one of their books, even if it is about sparkly century-old vampires with crushes on susceptible young women. So when it comes to Nicholas Sparks, know that I've read a couple of his books - A Walk to Remember and The Notebook, to be exact - and still think he's one of the most repetitive authors out there. Probably the only one to top him would be Danielle Steele - my mom used to read her books, and after about a dozen she realized they're all the same plot but the characters have different names, hair colors and careers. Not my idea of a good read.

So I was at Target the other day, browsing through the book section while waiting for our prescriptions to be filled, and found an entire endcap devoted to Nicholas Sparks, specifically the novels that have been adapted into movies. After the initial eye-roll, I noticed something a little fishy.

 

The cover for Dear John based on the 2010 movie looks suspiciously like the cover of Message in a Bottle, from the film with Kevin Costner in 1999. Dark-haired guy snuggling with a blonde on the beach, centered in the shot? Sounds like a great idea... 

 But then I looked at the rest of the books on the shelf, and that's when it got really good. 

 

Really? Is that all the characters do in Sparks' novels, nearly kiss while touching their lover's face?  Didn't anyone realize that all of the covers look EXACTLY THE SAME? Or did they do it on purpose as part of some marketing strategy? I just don't get it. 

Thankfully, the one book/movie I actually did like - probably because it reminds me of fun times I had watching it at sleep overs during high school - doesn't look exactly like all of the rest of the film adaptation covers. 

 

It does still include the two main characters happily in each others arms, though. I guess that's the signature look for Nicholas Sparks movies. Word has it that his 2010 novel Save Haven is set to be adapted into a film by 2013. It's set in North Carolina, so maybe it's time for another snuggling on the beach cover? I guess we'll have to wait and see...