Book Review: "One Day" by David Nicholls

First off, I loved this book. It's smart, which is something I have never said about a book before in my life. It's been described by others as a British version of "When Harry Met Sally...", which, I suppose is a pretty accurate surface description of the book. It is about a relationship between Dex and Emma, but the deeper meaning in it is the significance one day has on a life.

Dex and Emma meet the day after they graduate in 1988. As the book goes on, each chapter checks back in with them on that same day every year for 20 years. We see, as time goes on, what the importance of that day really is.

At first I was a bit nervous that the book would be choppy and awkward, but the idea of the story that spanned that long of a relationship made me curious to read it. Author David Nicholls did a good job of stringing together snapshots of the relationship over 20 years. The transitions were seamless. His writing style clues the reader in on what has gone on in the last year of their lives that puts them where they are now by weaving it into the narrative rather than pages of 'Here's what changed. Here's what went on in the year. Now look at what they are doing.'

I could relate to Emma in the beginning of the book, in her fresh out of college years. When the book starts, graduation was the day before, and she and Dex are having a conversation about their lives that lie ahead of them. It said,

"...feeling a ripple of anxiety pass across her shoulders at the thought of it: independent adult life. She didn't feel like an adult. She was in no way prepared. It was as if a fire alarm had gone off in the middle of the night and she was standing on the street with her clothes bundled up in her arms. If she wasn't learning, what was she doing? How would she fill the days? She had no idea."

Don't all graduates with no job lined up feel that way? And maybe even if they do have jobs lined up they feel like that. Since I am in the former category, I can't really speak for the later, but I assume they feel the same. In talking to some of my friends that have jobs, they still feel like 'Ok so I'm an adult and I can't just not go to work if I don't feel like it like I could with class,' and still feel it's kind of weird to be working rather than going to school. I like what Emma believes is the answer to her own question of how to fill up her days. She says,

"The trick of it,...is to be courageous and bold and make a difference. Not change the world exactly, just the bit around you. Go out there with your double first, (side note by me, that's the British way of saying a double major), your passion and your new Smith Corona electric typewriter (side note again, remember this is 1988 people, home computers, internet, all that stuff wasn't around like it is today) and work hard at...something. Change lives through art maybe. Write beautifully. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved if at all possible...."

I wish I could tell you more about this book, but I want you to go pick up a copy and read it yourself. Anything else I could say might give something away. But I will say that at the end of it, I was touched and crying and it was just very real. There are some parts that are a little slow, and all you can think is, 'Are Dex and Emma going to get together or not?' but that's how real life is too. We have our dull moments, but then a lot happens all at once, good and bad, and you kind of wish for those moments of peace back.

I want to talk more on the idea behind it all, the significance one day has on a person's life, but I'll leave that for another time. Until then, go out, get a copy of this book and read it! I really enjoyed it, didn't want it to end, and can't wait for the movie. I hope you feel the same. I'll leave you with a blurb that 'USA Today' wrote on the coming movie, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess.