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This book is not even 200 pages long, and its plot is simple:two very different young people meet, fall in love, marry, and finally face tragedy. The chapters are short and the sentences are brief, yet the book is stunning in its emotional scope and impact. And what you read between the lines is incredible.

I read Love Story (Segal, 1970) the first time after watching the movie in the summer of 1970. I have read this book various times throughout my lifetime. The story has been called a modern version of Romeo and Juliet, but it goes deeper than that. The plot of the story addresses social differences in the American society, family pressure, and expectations. The characters are very unconventional and the story structure is not traditional. These characteristics make the story interesting and touching.
The characters and the plot interweave. The characters come from opposite ends of the social spectrum. Oliver Barrett IV comes from high society and from a very wealthy family whose members are Harvard alumnae. The family even donated the Barrett Hall to the University. Jennifer Cavilleri comes from a collar worker family; her father owes a small bakery. Oliver's family is from Ipswich, Massachusetts and Jennifer's family is from Cranston, Rhode Island. Jennifer attends Radcliff College under a scholarship. Oliver attends Harvard. When they meet their attraction is strong and mutual (p. 2). Their friendship develops and they fall in love. Oliver's family is very competitive and expects him to go to Law School, take over the family business, and marry someone in their same social level. His father is a banker, landlord, and business owner. Jennifer's father just wants his daughter to be happy. He does not pressure his daughter at all. She has no mother since she died when Jennifer was a child. Their social gap becomes evident when they visit each other's home. Oliver's parents are cold toward their own son and they treat Jennifer cordial but cold. Jennifer's father is a down-to-earth niece guy. Oliver's home is a huge state. Jennifer's home is a humble working class adobe in a row of street houses, with no extra land. Their difference in social status could not be any larger. Their love is stronger than Oliver's parents' prejudice. Jennifer receives a scholarship to study music in Paris, France and Oliver proposes. They marry. Oliver is disinherited by his father for marrying Jennifer and by doing so, defying his father.
It is interesting how the first sentence of the book opens with the climax of the story, in the form of a question: What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old-girl who died?" (p. 1). Even though the climax is given out on the first sentence of the book, a complete unconventional approach to traditional story structure, this "preview" that might have been considered a spoiler made the reader's curiosity grow. The readers want to find out how and why this young life extinguishes. The whole story is a flashback that takes us to the day these two young lovers meet in Radcliff College Library. The story moves through defined chapters and takes us through their courtship, marriage, Oliver's Law School, working summers in Massachusetts shore, Oliver's graduation from Law School, Oliver's law firm job, and their big move to New York City. Toward the end of the story Jennifer is diagnosed with leukemia and that is the reason why she can't conceive. Oliver is devastated and ridden with guilt. Oliver buys airline tickets for Paris, but Jennifer states that is not the way they are going to approach her disease and her final days.
This book was a success by the way the plot addressed social issues that were not openly discussed and were not well known by the general public, unless the reader belonged to the high class society. The story addresses love and sacrifice. It also shows how family expectations and demands are prioritized over parents love and support for their child. The characters idiosyncrasy and upbringing plus the story development and structure make a touching and fascinating book.

A quick read about a world in which we no longer live. I always enjoy the dialogue in the novel vs. the movie - although similar the novel is just better. I’ve rarely experienced happy endings and this book just keeps me company from time to time, and is somehow comforting in its reminder that life is not perfect.

i was sad about the ending, even though they tell you what is going to happen in the first sentence. Only bought the book because of "good girls revolt"

The plot unfurls the relationship between a husband and a wife; how two individuals from complete different cultural backgrounds live together—all for love.

For modern readers, Love Story is a victim of its own success. This simple book has become difficult to read for exactly the way it is . Many of its most famous lines sound corny because they have become trite with the overuse since the arrival of the book. In fact, some of them would only appear in jokes and satire now. The characters appear sweet beyond belief: it is almost as if after the book, no one can remain as naive or innocent having simply read the book and experienced the limits of these virtues!

Yet, like Cinderella, this is a fairytale. One of those rare ones written in modern times. One can go on a beautiful emotional trip with the leads, fall in love, get married, build a home and suffer the terminal cancer through the crisp repartees between them. The only condition is to believe in the text written - nothing more, nothing less. If you can do it, this is a tale that can be savored even multiple times and even when one is not in the teens.

This was a story to last the ages. Made into a movie and has been passed through the generations in the form of book and movie. It is a must read and a tear jerker.

It's not really the greatest story. Everything is so predictable and nothing amazing really happens until the last few pages. I felt like I was reading what that girl's name's story.