All about love and travel
ERICH Segal's Oliver's Story is a popular romantic book from one who was born 1937 in New York as the son of a rabbi. He is a graduate of Harvard and wrote texts for musicals. Today he lives in New Haven and is a professor for literature in New York
When Love Story was published in 1970 it became a number one bestseller. The book was translated into 23 different languages. Over three million people saw the film when it came into the cinemas in the same year.
This huge success inspired Segal to write a sequel in 1977 called Oliver's Story, which was equally turned into a movie a year later, once again starring Ryan O'Neal as Oliver.
Oliver Barrett IV is a 30 year-old young man, who has finished law school and works as a lawyer at Jonas & March in New York. In the previous book, Love Story, readers are introduced in Oliver's student life. He has many mental differences and problems with his father (Oliver Barrett III). He marries a girl called Jenny Cavilleri. At the end of the novel she dies because of leukaemia. Oliver doesn't want to meet anyone, his social life becomes empty and seems to be irretrievably destroyed…
Years have gone by. Oliver is still single. He often meets Phil (his father-in-law) and they do different things together. Phil's favorite topic of conversation is to convince Oliver to remarry as soon as possible. But he is the only social contact he really has (apart from his parents with whom he had reconciled). Business is going well.
Then he meets a girl called Joanna Stein, but there is no real closer relationship developing between them.
Jogging through the park he later gets to know Marcie Binnendale (rich owner of a big clothing shop chain) and there is enormous passion coming up by the time. They begin to love each other. Oliver's feelings have come back. He feels great and never wants to lose Marcie. The couple spends very much time together (they have different excursions, trips, sports, dinners, romantic evenings…). Everything seems splendid. But then well-known differences and problems happen between them, which do not come up immediately but develop and slowly and get more important by the time: Marcie is very busy and Oliver is very busy. She has to travel all around the world to present her collections. So they often cannot see each other for a week or even more, which is not too beneficial for their love.
On top of it Oliver learns (during a common travel to Hong Kong) that the Binnendales' purveyors (which are employed by Marcie) employ very young children (and influence them to work). The adult workers agree upon sharing the pay if they all may work. All this is called sweatshop labour. Oliver - years ago - (still at Harvard) had learned that the Barretts' money came from sweatshop labor, too (since then he had dissociated with the Barretts' business). Because of this he separates (very painfully: "You are a cold and heartless bitch") from Marcie (as she finds this business practice normal: "Everyone does it.")
In the end Oliver becomes senior partner in his father's company as his father is going to retire. He comes to the conclusion that he would be alive if Jenny were still alive (he feels physically dead)
At first you'd rather say the ending was bad. Oliver gets to know a very nice girl (Marcie) they love each other very much. Oliver has overcome his grief and his (social) life is back. And then: The insurmountable differences come up and destroy the marvelous feelings Oliver had during the past 2 years. He's single again. Lonely. A one-way street.
But then you might change your mind: Difficulties with Oliver Barrett III had destroyed the father-son relation (which was slightly repaired after Jenny's death). We learn that the origin of the Barretts' money stems from sweatshop labor. Oliver completely disagrees with that. That's why the situation in Hong Kong escalated. At that moment it's when these 'insurmountable differences' come up again. Oliver has stuck to his principles. So good ending or semi-bad ending (depends on the reader.)
Israt Sawda will be pursuing higher education in the United Kingdom.
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