Three Weeks with My Brother

Nicholas Sparks · Micah Sparks

Apr 2004 · Sold by Grand Central Publishing

About this ebook

In this New York Times bestseller, follow the author of The Notebook as he travels the world with his brother learning about faith, loss, connection, and hope.

As moving as his bestselling works of fiction, Nicholas Sparks's unique memoir, written with his brother, chronicles the life-affirming journey of two brothers bound by memories, both humorous and tragic. In January 2003, Nicholas Sparks and his brother, Micah, set off on a three-week trip around the globe. It was to mark a milestone in their lives, for at thirty-seven and thirty-eight respectively, they were now the only surviving members of their family.

Against the backdrop of the wonders of the world and often overtaken by their feelings, daredevil Micah and the more serious, introspective Nicholas recalled their rambunctious childhood adventures and the tragedies that tested their faith. And in the process, they discovered startling truths about loss, love, and hope.

Narrated with irrepressible humor and rare candor, and including personal photos, Three Weeks with My Brother reminds us to embrace life with all its uncertainties . . . and most of all, to cherish the joyful times, both small and momentous, and the wonderful people who make them possible.  

Ratings and reviews

In Three Weeks with My Brother, personal analogies create a sense of wonder. Can Nicholas Sparks craft a non-fiction book as inspirational as his fiction novels? Yes, Sparks, the author of popular novels A Walk to Remember, The Notebook, and Message in a Bottle instills in the reader a sense of empathy, inner strength, and hope. In 2003, Sparks coauthors this contemporary novel with his brother, Micah. The two brothers interweave their personal life experiences in with their journey across the world. This journey aids the brothers in escaping the overwhelming obligations of daily life. This journey gives them the opportunity to reminisce on their personal trauma from their childhood and young adulthood. Bound by these tribulations, the two brothers through their writing create an ability to relate with the readers’ own tragic experiences. The brothers achieve the arduous task of allowing the purpose of their book, is not only a personal narrative but it also connects to the readers’ personal tragedies. The theme of the book is to acknowledge that all of us experience different degrees of difficult times in our lives. Sharing our experiences offers empathy and hope to others going through their own personal tragedies. It is through our own choices and thought processes that we can learn to balance our life. When reminiscing on his childhood Nicholas Sparks, the narrator, keeps the reader’s interest. The same is not true for the brother’s traveling experiences. Sparks thoroughly and accurately explains his personal tragedies and his perseverance through life. Nicholas Sparks writes regarding his tenacity towards life: “You go, go, go. Otherwise, the waterfall’s going to take you” (30). The reader can infer, from Sparks’s statement that his stress and obsession with engulfing himself in tasks which can enable him to escape from his misfortunes. Contemplating on his tragedies, Nicholas Sparks emphasizes, “Dreams are always crushing when they don't come true. But it's the simple dreams that are often the most painful because they seem so personal, so reasonable, and so attainable. You're always close enough to touch, but never quite close enough to hold and it's enough to break your heart” (86). The Sparks brothers demonstrate a great ability to relate their childhood trauma to the reader’s personal battles. However, when the book describes the cultural aspects of their journey across the world, the reader does not feel the same sense of awe that the two brothers experience. Their travels encompass Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Tikal, Guatemala; Lima, Peru; Easter Island, Chile; Rarotonga, Cook Islands; Ayers Rock, Austral; Angkor, Cambodia; Jaipur, India; Lalibela, Ethiopia; Valletta, Malta; and Tromso, Norway. The depictions of these places seem irrelevant in comparison to the stories of childhood tragedies. The reader gets lost in the facts, causing boredom. For example, Sparks says, “Horses were a symbol of prosperity on Easter Island. They had been imported in the late 1800s, but because the island was so isolated, feed was prohibitively expensive to import. The owners allowed the horses to run free so they could forage in the island grass” (134). This excerpt causes the readers’ mind to wonder; preoccupying it, and losing interest in the story. From the following quote the readers can infer that the brothers are also experiencing boredom with the trip and have much more of an interest in spending time together. The brothers demonstrate this view in the following quote: “The first statue we saw was fascinating. So were the second and third. By the time we viewed the fourth and fifth statues, the novelty began to wear off” (Sparks 134). The objective point of view of the brothers allows for a connection between choosing a positive attitude and appreciating the truly importance aspects of life. Micah's Sparks confirms this statement by saying, “You choose the kind of life you want to live

A captivating autobiography told through an amazing tour around the world, tragic, to say the least, but the best life lessons. I was on a solo backpacking trip around central America living the disparities of life the they saw themselves in the book so I sad able to connect directly to the traveling aspect. It also encouraged my already sought reflection on my life, values, goals, and perspectives. Remember that in a blink of an eye, life can be swiped right out of your hands, so live life accordingly, always choosing to walk out wearing a smile

Three Weeks with My Brother, by Nicholas and Micah Sparks, is a well-executed book that takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster. Although Nicholas Sparks is the main author, Micah Sparks has some say in what is included in the biography as well. The brothers describe how their bond grew on a trip around the world for three weeks. They include superb flashbacks in the book, which start with their life as children and continue until their marriages. In the spring of 2002, Nicholas Sparks received a travel brochure in the mail, which began the brothers’ journey around the world. Sparks, living in North Carolina at the time, called his brother, who was living across the country in California. Nicholas told Micah about this three week trip and said it gave them a chance to bond, being the last surviving members of their family. The readers are hooked from that point on, slowly learning about the brothers as kids. Every chapter begins with a detail about their adventure. Grasping young adults attention, the flashbacks show how the boys progressed throughout out their life and dealt with hardships, such as poverty. The brothers present their life stories chronologically through flashbacks set up by events on the trip. The reader finds out about everything that had an impact on them, for the better and worse. By bringing up God throughout the book, the Sparks brothers try to convey that God will lead people through all their tough and troubled times. Everyone struggles through awful, unexpected events that occur in life. The brothers mainly say if they got through what happened in their life, anyone can prevail. By the end of the book, the readers can feel a sense of closeness, like they have know the brothers for years. The sense of closeness to the Sparks brothers at the end of the story is due to the detailed descriptions of their life. Three Weeks with My Brother is very well thought out and has great transitions. Most events on the trip seem to be a set up for telling part of Nicholas and Micah's life story. When the brothers were in Lima, Peru, the Superbowl was being played in America. Micah and Nicholas wanted to watch the game, so they asked the crew on the trip they could make arrangements, and the boys got the opportunity to watch the game. When the game began it was televised in Spanish, the brothers were shocked, but enjoyed the game regardless. After it was over, the boys began talking about how they used to cry when their favorite team lost. Nicholas stated, “I know. I tended to go overboard in a lot of things” (101). Then, the brothers began a flashback about how, as kids, they shot a bow and arrow at a construction site, coming a few feet from a worker’s head, going over board with their birthday presents. The bow and arrows were taken away and never given back. The boys also used vivid descriptions showing their disappointing or sad memories. Nicholas wrote, “We would count down the days and talk endlessly about what we wanted for Christmas that year, and bikes were on the top of the list. Bikes meant freedom, bikes meant fun, and the ones we’d previously owned had become unusable through sheer wear and tear. We crept out to the living room and stared at our gifts in wonder. Micah’s bike was new and shiny. Dana’s bike was new and shiny. My bike was...shiny. I began to recognize it. Like a bad dream, I realized my parents had give me my own bike- albeit, a repaired one” (124). The sadness that Nicholas feels around Christmas time is made very apparent in the book. He explains another story in which he said he always had good grades and took pride in them. His mom only displayed his report card on the refrigerator for one day before taking it down. “When I asked my mom why [she took it down], she said, ‘It hurts the other kids’ feelings’” (125). Micah always kept a positive attitude and begins the next paragraph with “Despite these perceived childhood sights, I adored my mom” (125). Nicholas was very veracious and described what he was truly feeling. The scenes

About the author

With over 100 million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world's most beloved storytellers. His novels include sixteen #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all of his books, including Three Weeks with My Brother, the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than fifty languages. Eleven of Nicholas Sparks's novels—The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle—have been adapted into major motion pictures.