Love Story

By Erich Segal

Book Overview

"Funny, touching and infused with wonder, as all love stories should be."--San Francisco Examiner

The basis for the 1970 film starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali McGraw, Erich Segal's Love Story is an enduring classic that has captured hearts for almost 50 years.

It is the story of Oliver Barrett IV, a rich jock from a stuffy WASP family on his way to a Harvard degree and a career in law, and Jenny Cavilleri, a wisecracking working-class beauty studying music at Radcliffe.

Oliver and Jenny - kindred spirits from different worlds - meet, talk, question, answer and fall for each other so deeply that no one, themselves included, can understand it. So instead of trying to understand it, they accept it and live it as best they can.

This is their story - a story of two young people and a love so uncompromising it will bring joy to your heat and tears to your eyes. It is the story that told the world, "Love means never having to say you're sorry."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060748095
• ISBN13: 9780060748098
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

One of the best love stories of all time

I read this for the first time in college. The book is short, but Segal does so much in so little space. His characters, dialogue, and narration are top notch. You can read this for fun, or for an exercise in critical theory. If you're a nerd like me, you can do both.

Best The First Time Around....'Sorry'

"Love Story" by Erich Segal, is a romantic and funny, yet a tragic story, that over 35 years ago had an entire generation in love, in tears, and spouting "Love means never having to say you're sorry". It is the story of 2 young college grads, who's love was stronger then any of the tests life threw at them. Oliver Barrett IV, a rich(very rich), big Harvard jock, heir to the Barrett fortune and legacy. Jennifer Cavilleri, daughter of a Cranston, Rhode Island baker, with not much money, but lots of love. Oliver was expected to follow in his father's huge footsteps, Jennifer, a music major was to go on and study in Paris. Both from very different worlds. But when they met, the sparks flew, and we get involved with them as their love grows deep and strong. Oliver turns his back on his family and fortune to marry Jenny. Jenny gives up her dreams of Paris and being a musician. But to each other, there is nothing as important as the other in their lives. When life throws them a tragic turn, they find solace in each other arms, and the reader can not help but feel their pain and their deep love as well. It's a moving story, and if you have a hankerin' for a real romance, you want to laugh and cry, and have never read this one before, you should go for it. It will definitely leave you sighing. 5 stars the first time around. Having read this for the first time in about 30 years though, I have to say 'sorry', I just didn't love it as much as I did the first time around. After this time, I wished I had just stayed with the memories of how it felt after the first read. A good read,and a fast one, just doesn't have the same sentimental punch over time. Highly recommended to romantics who have not read it yet. You'll smile, you'll cry. Be sure to have the Kleenex on hand. Enjoy the read and the New Year...Laurie

Greatest Love Story Ever!

I saw the movie before I read the book, so when I found out the movie was based on the book, I had to check out the book cause the book is always better than the movie. Well, luckily, I guess, the book is a relatively short read, so the movie keeps all the important stuff. This to me is the greatest love story ever. People are turned off by the cheesy, overquoted phrase from this movie, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," but it's the context behind the quote that is meaningful rather than the quote itself. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever had a glimpse of true love. It's a modern-day tragic romance. I say give it a try.

Simple and beautiful

I am 13, and I picked this book up at my school library, having heard of it but having no idea of the plot. I read it in two days, and that's only because school (what a pesky little bugger) got in the way.Love Story is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. It doesn't have a lot of elaborate details; however, that doesn't diminish its charm. It is cuttingly funny, and completely absorbing. I read it on the lunch line, during lunch, during math, during science...you get the picture. The ending almost made me cry. This book is a work of art.

No Words To Describe.....

I do not know how many times I read this book. The ending is excellent. Every conversation between Jenny and Oliver is a master-piece. If you haven't read it...GO GET IT.