Love Story

My mother told me what a huge sensation this book was in her day, and a copy was lying around the house, so I read it as a teen. (Even though I didn't really "do" romance.) I thought it was actually okay for what it was--I didn't go into it expecting much, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't some kind of sex book (which a lot of "romance" stories seemed to have been, in my experience). I thought the characterization wasn't bad (again, for what it was), but I did feel like the author minimized some of the physical suffering one of the characters would have to go through, maximized the canned sorrow through sort of manipulative string-pulling, and exploited that whole "hate at first sight turns into amazing love" trope. But it was readable and kept the pages turning for me, and that was more than I could usually say for a romance book.

Oliver Barrett, the hero of "Love Story", has been a widower for nearly two years. He spends his time at work, and socializing with Phil, his late wife's father. After a couple of awkward attempts at dating, he meets a beautiful, mysterious woman while jogging in the park. This novel deals with their relationship, which ALMOST becomes real love, but winds up in hurt and disillusion. I liked this book. It does not have the spare, poetic type writing of "Love Story," but it gives an excellent insight into Oliver's heart. Incidentally, Oliver also meets another interesting woman, but she only has a small role in this novel. I think the ending would have been quite different if he had pursued her instead of Marcie, the mystery lady!

"Love means never having to say you're sorry" (187). Love Story by Erich Segal was a very emotional book with an unsuspected twist. He conveyed the relationship between the two main characters very well and made them very straightforward with their feelings and thoughts.

This book was about two college students who met and immediately fell in love. They have to go through many emotional struggles, that most young couples go through. Oliver Barrett IV was a jock, and Jenny Calvilleri was studying music. They came from two different worlds; Oliver came from a rich family and Jenny came from a poor family. They were complete opposites in almost everything. Jenny and Oliver met in the school library and from that point on Jenny was straightforward with him and always said what was on her mind. They were always making wisecrack comments to each other, but they were never serious with what they were saying when they insulted each other. Their comments to each other were very comical and will always make you crack a smile. "This is not the official goddamn threshold. Upstairs you turkey" (113). For most of the story they were in college, but later in the book they get married and move in together. They had to go through the struggles of not having much money and trying to get by with what they had. Oliver had a bad relationship with his father so they could not ask for money. Oliver absolutely hated his father and refused to talk to him and visit him. Jenny and Oliver both had to work to earn enough money for themselves. Oliver was going to grad school so that he could become a lawyer, and they had to earn extra money to pay for that. He got a degree and a lot of job good job offers at different law firm. His favorite was the job offer he got from a New York law firm. He took that one and they moved there and he started earning plenty of money for them. Now that they had settled in and had an in come, they wanted to start a family. Oliver and Jenny wanted to have a child very badly, but they were having problems. They went to the doctor and that was when the twists started to happen. If you want to know what happened in the end you will have to read the book.

I chose to read this book for a choice novel for English. I loved this book. I would read it again even though I know what happens in the end. I recommend this book for a good short read. I don't think a guy would like this, but it is perfect for a female that is looking for an emotional filled book. With the wisecrack comments that Jenny makes and the emotional moments you will never get bored with this book.

This book the Love Story, by Erich Segal shows many aspects of love. The fight of two people who are faced with the life ahead of them and the love for each other. There love is strained in many ways, but they find there way out of that tunnel.

The story of Jenny and Oliver is a realistic story of two young people that come from two separate worlds and are joined together in the most unlikely of ways. Through out the love story different obstacles get put in their way; rich vs. poor, troubled fathers, young aged love. All these circumstances are real and can happen to anyone and you can live with them, but one obstacle might be the end of this odd relationship of the polar lovers. Can there love hold through it or will there love die?

This book held me captive through the two lovers journey. Although they come from totally separate living styles, you can see there love is strong. The thing I like the best about this book is the way Oliver and Jenny show their love to each other. They are like brother and sister; arguing about their constant differences. The family of these two people are important in this story and some times get in the way of there relationship with one another. Through out the book, I was rooting for their love and wished maybe someday this kind of relationship would happen to me. There love is the most exiting, fun, on-going adventure that I have ever read.

I would think this story would be best read by girls who are looking for a good love story that is not impossible. The love is real and the story can be followed. I would not buy the book I feel like it's a one-time read. It's a one read ending, then the excitement is all gone. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm sure you will too.

If you like this story there is a sequel to this book that continues the love life of the characters.

This book the Love Story, by Erich Segal shows many aspects of love. The fight of two people who are faced with the life ahead of them and the love for each other. There love is strained in many ways, but they find there way out of that tunnel.

The story of Jenny and Oliver is a realistic story of two young people that come from two separate worlds and are joined together in the most unlikely of ways. Through out the love story different obstacles get put in their way; rich vs. poor, troubled fathers, young aged love. All these circumstances are real and can happen to anyone and you can live with them, but one obstacle might be the end of this odd relationship of the polar lovers. Can there love hold through it or will there love die?

This book held me captive through the two lovers journey. Although they come from totally separate living styles, you can see there love is strong. The thing I like the best about this book is the way Oliver and Jenny show their love to each other. They are like brother and sister; arguing about their constant differences. The family of these two people are important in this story and some times get in the way of there relationship with one another. Through out the book, I was rooting for their love and wished maybe someday this kind of relationship would happen to me. There love is the most exiting, fun, on-going adventure that I have ever read.

I would think this story would be best read by girls who are looking for a good love story that is not impossible. The love is real and the story can be followed. I would not buy the book I feel like it's a one-time read. It's a one read ending, then the excitement is all gone. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm sure you will too.

If you like this story there is a sequel to this book that continues the love life of the characters.

I love 'love story'. My first contact with this book was when I was about 8 and I saw it on my cousins book shelf. I never actually read the book, nor saw the film until the summer of 1994 when I was 15. I have now read the book so many times and the film will also be played regularly in my house. It is just the most heartrending book ever written, and has taught me a lot about how to build relationships and also how it can be the differences between two people that make them so close.
The book is so thought provoking and Erich Segal must be seen as a genius for writing this book which is a modern classic. It states so many points which are relevant to life and has so much to offer to any unassuming reader.
The catch phrase of the book, 'Love means never having to say you are sorry' is an ambigious comment. Does Segal claim that Oliver should not have hurt Jenny in the first place to have to say sorry? Or does he mean that Jenny should automatically forgive Oliver if she loves him? This thought has played on my mind severly and I have pondered over it many times and I don't quite know which of these possibilities I believe to be true.
However I do know that it is the most touching book that I have ever read, and the one which has left the biggest impression on me. Anyone who can fail to feel sadness when Jenny falls ill and eventually dies must be lacking emotion.
Throw away your copies of 'The Rules' or 'Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus' and buy 'Love Story'. For this is the most realistic book on relationships you are ever going to read.

This book the Love Story, by Erich Segal shows many aspects of love. The fight of two people who are faced with the life ahead of them and the love for each other. There love is strained in many ways, but they find there way out of that tunnel.

The story of Jenny and Oliver is a realistic story of two young people that come from two separate worlds and are joined together in the most unlikely of ways. Through out the love story different obstacles get put in their way; rich vs. poor, troubled fathers, young aged love. All these circumstances are real and can happen to anyone and you can live with them, but one obstacle might be the end of this odd relationship of the polar lovers. Can there love hold through it or will there love die?

This book held me captive through the two lovers journey. Although they come from totally separate living styles, you can see there love is strong. The thing I like the best about this book is the way Oliver and Jenny show their love to each other. They are like brother and sister; arguing about their constant differences. The family of these two people are important in this story and some times get in the way of there relationship with one another. Through out the book, I was rooting for their love and wished maybe someday this kind of relationship would happen to me. There love is the most exiting, fun, on-going adventure that I have ever read.

I would think this story would be best read by girls who are looking for a good love story that is not impossible. The love is real and the story can be followed. I would not buy the book I feel like it's a one-time read. It's a one read ending, then the excitement is all gone. I enjoyed this book immensely and I'm sure you will too.

If you like this story there is a sequel to this book that continues the love life of the characters.

Ever since it was first published, "Love Story" has been lambasted and ridiculed by both critics and self-proclaimed literati as mindless fluff. Such criticism is as short-sighted as it is unfair.

Segal's book (reputed to be a novelization of his screenplay)is deceptive. To be sure, there's nothing very new about the story of a man's love for a doomed woman and his ambivalence about his father (perhaps the real love story in the piece). The writing itself is simple and direct. The book is short in length. But it is within such surface weaknesses that the book's real power is disguised.

The lack of literary pretentiousness in both content and style makes the protagonist's first-person narration believable and compelling. Despite his Harvard education, narrator Oliver Barrett tells his story from the heart instead of trying to intellectualize it. While some may argue that this prevents the book from offering anything new and profound, I think they miss the point. This is a book about loss and pain and love and hope -- powerful feelings than can transcend intellectualism when simply stated with searing honesty.

The book's simplicity and sentimentality will give all kinds of different readers what they want. For the urban sophisticate who wants to snicker and sneer as emotional camouflage, there's plenty here. There's even more for the mainstream American heartlander who wants a good, simple story and doesn't mind keeping some Kleenex beside the chair.

Measure Segal's book with a pedant's yardstick and it will come up short, but if you use an open heart, you'll find a damned good read that deceptively borders in literature.

Erich Segal's Love Story is a simple, tocuhing, beautiful and heartfelt novel. It is an easy read, full of sentimentality served with dash of really delightful wit and exchanges between Oliver and Jennifer. Oliver starts a Harvard stud, hailing from a family of superachievers, and has reserved acute enimity towards his father who he calls "sonofabitch". Jenny is a small town girl, who studies music, and comes out as a perfect match for Oliver. Its a romantic novel, runs like a movie, and besides being a love story, addresses father son relationship quite well as well as brings out the character an ivy-league garduate acquires simply because of his schooling. The novel manages to drive a dagger through a readers heart towards the end, which I will not disclose for benefit of those who haven't read. Read it; it requires few hours at most, and believe me you might like it. At least a diehard romantic like me would think so!

"Love Story" by Erich Segal shamelessly follows a well-known, Shakespearean-esque plot involving two star-crossed lovers separated by tragedy. The catch? The characters are NO fluffy Romeo and Juliet.
Set in the Harvard University of the late '60s/early '70s, "Love Story" is the tale of Oliver Barrett IX, a polite, well-spoken hockey jock heir to a pretentious Barrett fortune. His father, Oliver III, is a Rhodes Scholar, national rowing champion, and successful businessman. HIS grandfather, Oliver I, was a tycoon who donated the fictional Barrett Hall to Harvard. So, needless to say, Oli's got more than a couple of expectations to fulfill.
Oliver, a senior at Harvard's undergraduate school, has his hopes set on maintaining his solid academic record in order to gain admission into Harvard Law School. It seems everything is set out for Barrett, until Jenny comes along. Jenny Cavilleri, a wisecracking music major at Harvard's presitigious Radcliffe college, is everything Oliver is taught to shun: artsy, liberal, non-Jewish, and poor. But Jenny is also ridiculously smart, quirky, amusing, insightful, and naturally beautiful. Her charming demeanor keeps Oliver interested, and he soon forgets the original contempt he felt for her in their first encounter.
To make a long story short (without spoilers), a friendly relationship b/w Jenny and Oliver soon blossoms into a sweet, intimate romance, not excluding the predictable obstacles (Oliver's father, Oliver's social elite, law school, and one that will not be revealed here...read the book!).
Erich Segal writes a short page-turner, but unlike most romance novels, "Love Story" does not lack in intelligence or in depth. My favorite aspect about the novel is the character development, especially noticable in the two lovers. At the novel's conclusion, you feel sad and a bit weary in parting with Jenny and Oliver, almost like saying good-bye to close friends. Also to be appreciated is Segal's knack for developing UNIQUE characters. With "Love Story", he didn't do the typical thing and make Oliver a bratty rich kid, he actually gave the guy some heart, passion, and BRAINS. And he didn't make Jenny so far-fetched that you couldn't relate to her - she is, perhaps, the best character in the book. She is not a damsel in despair, or a silly girly girl, but a witty individual with honesty and compassion. She's an awesome character, and a great example for girlfriends everywhere. Ali McGraw played her to perfection in the 1970 film. Even Oliver Barrett III, with all his snobbery and professionalism, is relatable, and even makes some good points.
I call "Love Story" the 'one that started it all' because it started taking the star-crossed lover story to new heights, adding realistic characters in realistic environments and situations. Far better than its spawn, Nicholas Sparks' sugary "A Walk to Remember", "Love Story" is a book for the ages, to be read and enjoyed by lovers everywhere. A perfect V-Day gift!

This love story is so effective because of the character of Jenny. She is alive, witty, vivacious, unpredictable, wise, charming, alluring, extremely appealing. She exudes life and caring wherever she goes. Every man hopes to meet and to love such a woman someday.

The book (and movie) are a bit dated in the relations between father and son. In the sixties "everybody" hated their parents, so no one was at all bothered by Oliver's treatment of his father. True, his father is difficult, but not bad or cruel; and anyone who is a college senior should have been able to deal with him better than Oliver does. Oliver's rage borders on the incredible.

But this is a mild irritant that does not seriously damage the tremendously effective love story (although you do wonder sometimes what Jenny sees in HIM).

If you like this type of love story, check out Last Things, First Things, which is of the same type, but involves thirty-somethings rather than twenty-somethings.

Love Story, written by Erich Segal, is a tragic love story in which Oliver Barrett and Jennifer Cavilleri, being opposites, attend Harvard and fall in love. Oliver Barrett IV, son of Oliver Barrett III, and whose family built Harvard’s Barrett Hall, is the school’s hockey jock. He comes from a family with money who gives a descent amount of it to Harvard. Opposite of Oliver Barrett is Jennifer Cavilleri, whose close knit family is by no means as wealthy as the Barrett’s and the only way she is at Harvard is by scholarship. Oliver Barrett came from a high class family who was not as close as Jennifer’s family, but who only cared about who was more successful. Jennifer Cavilleri is an only child whose mother died at a young age and whose father raised her from a child on up, creating a close bond between the two of them. Having a strong relationship with her father, Jennifer tries to bring Oliver and his father closer, failing, in the meantime bringing Oliver and Jennifer further apart.
Although this book was a tragic love story, I rate it a nine out of ten. The book evoked a lot of different emotions, but the profanity in the book was a little cruel and not needed. I do understand that this book was set in 1970s so the content is different. Despite the profanity, I did love the story and the romance in it and I thought that it was a well written book. Once I picked up this book, I could not put it down. Love Story by Erich Segal was romantic, tragic, and at parts funny. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance. Even though it was a short novel, it was a great, tragic love story with a lot of words written in between.

Have you ever experienced love? Has someone ever opposed to you being with the person you love so much? How did you fell about that person? If you haven't, this book, based on the true life of two adventurous youngsters, Oliver Barret IV and Jenny Cavilleri who live in different worlds, will give you an idea of how love can be both, sweet and bitter at the same time. I really got into this book because it is based on a true story, but what happens in the end changed my opinion towards it. It made me think a little more about how people classify themselves in different social classes.
Oliver is a very handsome guy that goes to college. He is from a very well known family that has given him a very complete education. He is starting on his career, so he wants to be a doctor like his father and like his very well known grandfather. On the other hand, Jenny is a very attractive girl, but she doesn't have a lot of money so she studies at a public school near her house. She is going to graduate that year and since she has only her father with her because her mother is dead, she will have to work in order to pay her college.
One day, Oliver goes to Jenny's school library because he is looking for a book that is not available on his university. Oliver is not very well welcomed in it the library because rich boys are not accepted by the people of Jenny's school. Oliver asks Jenny for help, and since she is the only one available in that moment, she has to help him out, even though she does it in an idly way. Later, Oliver asks the girl to go out with him to have coffee together, Jenny accepts so they go out the next day. This marks the beginning of the "Story Love" that Erich Segal wrote about. He did a wonderful job, because what happens during the story is a very common problem with which many people might seem identified.
After they had known each other for a long time, they fall in love. They become a very close couple and Oliver takes the courage to present Jenny to his demanding family. Jenny easily gets Oliver's mother's love but not his father's. Oliver wants to marry her, and his father warns him, that if he does so, he will no longer be his son. Oliver doesn't pay attention to him, so when Jenny turns 18, they get married. Oliver had lost everything his father could give him by then. After a while something will happen to Jenny that will change everyone's way of thinking including Oliver's father, because is something that no one would expect to happen.

Oliver and Jenny made me laugh. They made me cry. They made me fall in love. I read this book for the first time when I was 15 and well - a teeny bopper would be taken away by this book and I was. I have read it over and over again and cried like crazy - laughed like a maniac and gone hysterical reading this love tale.
It's not the language of the book - but its simplicity that I believe has earned it so many fans throughout the world. After all love does speak the universal language - of warmth, of caring, of being in the moment in the arms of the beloved till its gone and all remains is memories - moondust...
Its one book I keep close to my bed. Never know when I might need it again!! Great classic!!

The story is simple. Boy from rich family meets girl from not so rich family. They fall in love, rich father doesn't approve and boy chooses girl.
This is one of those books that you can read in a afternoon, it's short and easy to read.
I see lots of people gave it 5 stars, which I don't quite agree with. It's one of those books that after you read it, you say to yourself "ya, that was good, I liked it" not "wow, that was really good"
For me, it's good, but not exceptionally good.

With the possible exception of "The Old Man and the Sea" and"Jonathan Livingston Seagull", I have never before read anyother book that packs so much into just about 125 pages. The greatest thing about the book is that the author tells you in the very first line that the story is a tragedy, and still it doesn't prepare you for the last sorrow that the last few chapters evoke in you. When I put the book down, I was crying unashamedly. When you read the book, you don't just read about Oliver Barrett and Jennifer Cavilleri ; you actually live with them. And THEY live within you forever afterward.

While studying at the Radcliffe library one day, Oliver, a rich and cocky Harvard scholar and athlete, meets Jenny. She is beautiful, tough, and confident, and agrees to start dating him. From that time, the two are nearly inseparable. They are not at all similar--she is a musician who lives with her single father, who is a working class baker. He is a hockey player bankrolled by his enormously wealthy family.

Oliver is intrigued by the way Jenny is unimpressed with him, and tries all the harder to impress her. Eventually the two are sure of each other's love and devotion, and they are willing to stay together even under the most difficult of circumstances.

The characters in this story are one-dimensional. There is conflict between Oliver and his father that seems meaningless. Jenny spends most of her time in this novel saying mean things to Oliver, which left me wondering why he ever would have fallen for her in the first place. I didn't understand any of the relationships in this story, and most definitely didn't find it at all heartwarming or a good example of what love should be.

They should use this as a text when teaching scriptwriting. It's great for trying to describe what a "treatment" is. It shows writers how much of an effect they can create from a story's first line. - This is my favorite book ever. I memorized segments of it back when I was in fourth grade.

Really more of a short story than a novel. Reads more like a screen play. I've never seen the movie, but I remember my mom and sisters crying their eyes out for days after seeing it in the 70s. So I expected some sense of grief and sorrow, but, sadly, I was unmoved. Of interest, however, is that the story is based partly on the extravagant family of Al Gore (yes, that Al Gore) and his Harvard football player roommate, Tommie Lee Jones (yes, that Tommie Lee Jones).

Most of the customer reviews seem to have been written by females, so here is at least one fella's opinion. I was flying from Atlanta to Dallas the other day and was looking for a quick book to read. My friend tossed "Love Story" in my bag, and I'll admit that I was actually a little embarrassed when I pulled it out on the flight and saw the title. So I quickly planned on reading only a page or two and then burying it in my bag before anyone could catch me reading it. But I couldn't put the darn thing down! Lucky for me it's so short (I don't think anyone saw what I was reading), but it's still a wonderful little story, nonetheless.
Some of the customer reviews seemed to create a lot of hoopla for the book, but I wouldn't set the expectations too high. If you are looking for a quick read, however, just a simple love story between two total opposites that will make you laugh outloud and maybe even cry a little (but not me, of course!), "Love Story" won't disappoint.

Love Story by Erich Segal is a wonderfully entertaining story about to complete opposites who fall head over heels in love. Oliver Barett the IV is a Harvard law student from a wealthy family of jocks and lawyers. Jenny Cavilleri is working class music student studying Radcliffe. This unexpected pair takes a journey that teaches them that "love means never having to say your sorry."

Oliver likes to study at he Radcliffe library where it is quiet and no one knows him. At he library Oliver meets Jenny Cavilleri who is sitting at the librarians desk. She immediately takes Oliver for a dumb, rich boy and nicknames him "preppy." The two go out for coffee. Oliver and Jenny have a sarcastic relationship that at first is filled with unspoken tension. Jenny pretends to not want Oliver, but Oliver continues to pursue her. They start dating and eventually fall in love. Oliver tells Jenny that he wants to marry her. Oliver then takes Jenny to meet his snooty family. Oliver's father puts the families status in society above Oliver's happiness by telling Oliver that he will abandoned them if they get married. Oliver puts his love for Jenny first and marries her against his father's wishes. The first few years of marriage are hard. Jenny and Oliver and both working while Oliver attends law school. After Oliver graduates third in his class he gets job offers all over the US. Jenny promises to follow Oliver anywhere on the East Coast. The couple moves to New York City, excited to spend more time together and not so much time working and studying. Jenny and Oliver decide that they want to have a baby. After trying and trying with no success, Oliver and Jenny go to see the doctor. The rest of the book is surprise after surprise. There are unexpected twists and turns that will make you smile and break your heart.

This book is the sappy love story that is perfect for reading anytime. When the book finally ends you will have laughed and cried. Love Story is a fast, but enjoyable read. I would recommend this book to all teenage and adult ladies.

This review and others can be found on notrequiredreading.com.

Beautiful story of love, loss and extreme heartache. I saw this movie but found the book added more to the story and is a well written look at the ultimate romance with all the twists and turns that life takes.

I saw glimpses of romanticism in Love Story, but nothing memorable. I felt the book was hurt most by its short length which was paralleled by a somewhat fast pace. Large monumental events in the relationship between Oliver and Jenny pass by without enough reflection by either the author or the characters. The simplistic dialogue does not help either. The most complex dialogue is between Oliver and his father, not Oliver and Jenny, puzzling for a love story. Due to its short length and limited dialogue I was unable to really feel the chemistry between the two build. Passion was mentioned, but as the reader, I didn't feel it.

On a different note, I think, "Love means never having to say your sorry," is a terrible message. But each reader must come to his own conclusion on that one.

Don't let the simplistic title fool you. Love Story by Erich Segal is one of the best books I have ever read. Published in 1970, this book is a classic. It spent over a year on the bestseller's list. A quick and easy read, the story urges you to read from the first line, "What can you say about a twenty-five year old girl who died?" to the very end.

The love that blossoms between Oliver Barrett IV and Jenny Cavilleri is captivating. The two college students are entire opposites. Oliver is a stereotypical jock, playing hockey at Harvard. Jenny is a music buff, and is often in the library studying. They insult each other at their first meeting in the library, but Jenny tricks him into taking her out for coffee. The book perfectly describes how their love for each other grows-from college graduation, to marriage, to trying to start a family.

The book has no flowery language to get stuck on, and with a simple plot that's easy to follow there's no need for deep thinking. Love Story is a great book to read for pleasure, and appeals to anyone who has ever been in love or wants to be in love. My mom handed me the book two summers ago. She told me it was my dad's, and normally I wouldn't have been interested in a book my dad had read. But the title intrigued me, being a teenage girl with great expectations about love. I read it in one day, practically in one sitting. By the time I was finished, I was in tears. The ending isn't a surprise at all, since it's given away in the first line, but you still hope a small miracle will happen.

Segal followed up with Oliver's Story, another huge success. Besides writing books, Segal has written plays for both on and off Broadway, and was a screen writer for the Beatles' film Yellow Submarine. To add to his versatility, he often lectures at universities and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard.

Love Story is a must-read. Oliver and Jenny will make you both laugh and cry, and the challenges of their relationship are easy to relate to. Bottom line: you will fall in love with Love Story.

It is one of the most classic, simple and lasting love stories of all time. Agreed with other reviewers that the first read is the best ... but the fact that one is inclined to pick it up again and still rate it at 3/4 stars suggests that it was a powerful read in round 1 and holds up even on round 2. This is not a puzzling story you need to play twice to understand. You will comprehend it instantly, because it will speak to emotions each of us have felt albeit in different time, place and levels of intensity.

In emotional terms, this is the most densely populated book I've ever read. Segal inspires tears and laughter within a single page, and has you feeling throughout. You won't regret the read.

I love this! It is incredibly unique, short and sweet! It reminds me of my love story! Such a great idea to write a love story with poetry! I truly appreciate your work and creativity. I would recommend anyone who enjoys something different along with poetry to read this story.

Love Story, by Erich Segal

This is Oliver's story about his love and life with Jennifer. Oliver is a smart Harvard student who is on the hockey team; he is from a wealthy family and had all the advantages. Jennifer won a music scholarship to Radcliffe; her father is a baker in Rhode Island. They meet in a library and fall in love. Does the difference in background affect them? No, they are influenced by the style and culture of the Ivy League. Oliver's father objects to the marriage, but they go ahead. After graduating with honors from law school they move to New York city and live in the upper East Side. But Jenny has a problem, it turns out to be incurable. The best doctors can do nothing. There is a sad ending to this story. Is it a throwback to some of the movies of the late 1930s, like "Dark Victory" or "Pride of the Yankees"?

The story of Cinderella ends with them living happily ever after. Was that realistic even then, given the life of the Medieval and Renaissance eras? This was a very popular novel in the early 1970s, perhaps because its ending defied popular conventions. Erich Segal wrote a simple tale that is sparse in details. Its as if he outlined the story to arrive at a predetermined ending. "Fairy Tales" were stories that taught some lesson to listeners. They have been banned and lost to the modern generations. If you ever see the opera "Hansel and Gretel" you will see how scary and gruesome they were. Or the other Grimm Fairy Tales. They warned children that the world wasn't perfect. Note how the story avoids the real problems of that era. Both Oliver and Jenny seem to have no prior involvements before meeting.

After reading this, I started a bonfire in the garage and burned all that Steinbeck, Faulkner, Joseph Conrad, F.Scott Fitzgerald and all that trash by those losers Keats, Dante, and Milton.
I decided never to read another scrap of print in my life,instead I will just read this book over and over again.
If I am reincarnated,I will find a way to continue in the next life with my nose buried in this book. Ditto if I get to Heaven.
And if I go to Hell, I have no doubt it will be there,too.

I was excited to read this novel after having seen it on a list of Greatest American Bestsellers, and having read reviews on the store about what a fantastic short novel this was. However, I was very disappointed with the novel when I was finished.

I think Oliver and Jenny are just too underdeveloped to be taken seriously. I didn't feel any real love between the two characters, and it felt like everything that happened was very abrubt and was dealt with in very few pages (i.e. Jenny and Oliver getting together, Oliver graduating from law school, meeting the parents, getting married... basically everything that happened!). At the end of the story I was actually surprised that it was over. It wasn't as breathtaking as some people have described it, and it just wasn't that great of a love story overall.

If you want to read a REAL love story, I recommend The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. That book breaks my heart every time I read it.

Love story is one of the most simple and interesting books that I have never read. Since the beginning , I went inside the history, I feel what Oliver Barret feels about his dad, what jenny thoughts about Oliver and so many other things. This short book makes you feel a true history, like many in this world, but also makes you think about love, about the person you like or the person that you want to like. Love story began in a very soft way, to young boys that feel in love, and then they start to have problems like a normal couple, but the difference was that the problems were with theirs parents, cause they didn't want them to get married. Then the live starts to change for this couple and Oliver starts to have money and at this part of the book you can imagine that everything would be ok for them but, after this came the best part of the book, the part that you don't imagine, but makes you feel everything that they are feeling at that moment. That's all I can say , so read it and enjoy it like I did.

I was excited to read this novel after having seen it on a list of Greatest American Bestsellers, and having read reviews on the store about what a fantastic short novel this was. However, I was very disappointed with the novel when I was finished.

I think Oliver and Jenny are just too underdeveloped to be taken seriously. I didn't feel any real love between the two characters, and it felt like everything that happened was very abrubt and was dealt with in very few pages (i.e. Jenny and Oliver getting together, Oliver graduating from law school, meeting the parents, getting married... basically everything that happened!). At the end of the story I was actually surprised that it was over. It wasn't as breathtaking as some people have described it, and it just wasn't that great of a love story overall.

If you want to read a REAL love story, I recommend The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. That book breaks my heart every time I read it.

Love story is one of the most simple and interesting books that I have never read. Since the beginning , I went inside the history, I feel what Oliver Barret feels about his dad, what jenny thoughts about Oliver and so many other things. This short book makes you feel a true history, like many in this world, but also makes you think about love, about the person you like or the person that you want to like. Love story began in a very soft way, to young boys that feel in love, and then they start to have problems like a normal couple, but the difference was that the problems were with theirs parents, cause they didn't want them to get married. Then the live starts to change for this couple and Oliver starts to have money and at this part of the book you can imagine that everything would be ok for them but, after this came the best part of the book, the part that you don't imagine, but makes you feel everything that they are feeling at that moment. That's all I can say , so read it and enjoy it like I did.

I first read "Love Story" when I was sixteen years old, shortly after it was published. I laughed. I snorted with derision. I wept. Rereading it again, many years and romances later, I am amazed at how well "Love Story" holds up. For a young person, even a cynical one, Segal compresses many Kozmic Trooths about what it means to love someone, and how it feels to reconcile that love with a parent's disapproval. I did not appreciate until years later Oliver's struggle to make something of his life on his own, and found myself more moved than I'd have imagined. In addition, "Love Story" is classic American kitsch, '70s-style. In its timeless camp quality, appealing to readers of all ages and backgrounds, it occupies an honored spot on my shelf of yellowing trash novels, right next to the collected works of Jacqueline Susann. Any of Susann's heroes and heroines would have given anything, anything at all, to love and be loved as purely and sincerely as Oliver and Jennifer loved each other. Buy this book. Corrupt your children. Seduce a friend into reading it. And hey, the store.com, how about stocking it in Spanish? I don't know what happened to my copy of "Historia de Amor." Students and native speakers of Spanish would thank you...

This book teaches manay things. Not only about love but also about death and time, and that every meeting had parting. Being afraid of parting, I was afraid to love someone as once I could but this book changed me. I decided to live with this book - because I did not want to 'say sorry'. However as I had mentioned, I had to experience 'parting' also. It was not the death - but it was inevitable. Someone I loved had to go back to his country. Having read this book before, I could tell that we should cherish each moment we have. It is not only between us. I think I can say this in terms of any relationship. We have no idea when one of us will die. No one can predict it - so we have got to cherish and live our time. It allows you not to 'say sorry' even if that relationship would break up. You can keep it as a part of good memory.
This book is a good text book for life forever.

...is perhaps the most wonderful gift one can get, and to lose her is an experience one would rather not have. This is perhaps, no, not perhaps, but certainly, the most wonderful 'book' I have ever read, I just wish that all those who haven't been exposed to this story find it sooner, if not later in their lives. They dont know what they are missing. Here's what the copy I have says
"What can you say about a twenty-five year girl who died? That she was beautiful. And Brilliant. That she loved Mozart and Bach. And the Beatles. And me.
Oliver Barret IV went to Harvard and Jenny Cavilleri to Radcliffe. He was rich, she was poor. He was sporty, she played music.
But they fell in love.
This is their story"
@mi

I liked this just a little better than "Love Story" because I thought the characters, especially Oliver, were more fleshed out. When Oliver starts to see a psychiatrist to help him deal with Jenny's death, we're able to get into his head and understand his motiviations much better. I found the ending quite sad and maybe a bit overly pessimistic, but it felt real nonetheless.

When I first starting reading Love Story, I didn't really like it,because of how fast the couple moved, I like things to move slow in a romance novel. The story picked up for me after the couple got married, Love Story give you a look at a young couple struggling to make a marriage work while still in college. I wish the book could have longer, and not as sad.