Breaking Dawn: The Final Showdown of Twilight 05/02/2009

I noticed after reading the first book, each of the following books progressively got longer and longer.  After I read Eclipse, the third book, I wondered how Meyer was going to end her series because many things weren’t resolved – or even developed yet – and I couldn’t imagine her wrapping things up in just one more book.  When I bought Breaking Dawn and saw its thickness, I thought to myself that Meyer was definitely trying to cop-out of this series as fast as she could to be done with it – because she can’t weave better plot lines or explore other characters in-depth.  Take for instance Esme – the mother hen of the Cullens – who you would think would be a very strong character by being the matriarch, but she’s mostly in the background and really has nothing to add to the storyline.  All she does is offer her great hospitality to visitors but does nothing else.   I mean, literally, nothing else.  I can’t remember anything about her!

So ok, let’s get to the points I want to talk about…

***WARNING!  SPOILERS AHEAD!  Read at your own discretion***

~Book Structure & Jacob the Hated~

At the end of Eclipse, I ranted about the very out-of-place epilogue that was in Jacob’s voice, which was a complete 180 from all the previous narration that was done from Bella’s perspective.   Meyer should have written the whole saga in third person to keep the narration fluid but I guess she didn’t know she’d run into an issue like that when writing the first book.

The book was divided into three parts – or books – where Bella was telling the story in parts one and three and Jacob was telling the story in part two.   The reason why this had to be done was because when Jacob’s new pack – made up of Seth, Leah and himself – had to patrol the Cullen’s territory, it was easier for the reader to understand the thoughts of the wolves.  Otherwise, Bella would have had to constantly ask Edward what was going on out there with Jacob and his crew, and Edward would had to constantly inform her- or us, really.

This change in narration bothered me so much since I hate Jacob.  I surely didn’t want to get into his head and after reading his part, I hated him even more.  It just proved how much of a selfish, home-wrecking, immature asshole he was.  I mean, Bella married Edward willingly and he was still trying to jump on her bones, knowing that her love truly belonged to Edward.  I just couldn’t wait until he imprinted with Leah (okay, that didn’t happen) or somebody.  That part when he went to the mall, or wherever it was, to force himself to imprint on some random girl out of desperation was utterly corny.  Then he met a girl, who gave you an impression that maybe he could have a loving relationship with someone, sans imprinting, and then we never hear from her again.  What was the point of that?  Can you just please get over Bella and find someone who wants to be with you, Jacob!  She’s happily married.

And you know what Jacob the ass did again, like he did in Twilight?  He cut in on Edward while he danced with Bella – first their prom dance (which wasn’t in the movie) and then during their wedding dance.  You got some nerve, Jacob Black!   Edward was so gracious in letting him cut in, too.  Then Jacob grabbed Bella and tried to ruin her whole wedding day by upsetting her for his selfish needs.  Damn, I could not wait for him to go away.

And here’s proof to convince you that Jacob is a jerk.  Remember how he was going to murder the whole Cullen family for turning Bella into a vampire to save her life?  Ultimately, it was done because there was no other choice so Jacob should have been thanking them.  It’s not like Edward knew he would put Bella through that gruesome pregnancy and birth.  He was going to kill Esme after she was so nice to him and Carlisle, after he fixed his broken bones in Eclipse.  What an ungrateful selfish jerk he is, until…..well, I’m come back to this later.

~The Nymphomaniac~

In New Moon, as an explanation for wanting to become a vampire, Bella said that there weren’t many human experiences she could think about missing.  But in the final book, once she discovered the joys of sex on Isle Esme with her new hubby, she wanted to stay human longer than she had expected, all because she turned into a nympho.  After three books of begging to be changed into an immortal statue because she complained about getting so old (like 19 is old),  having sex with a vampire became more important to Bella.  (I hope children aren’t reading these books…but you know they are!)  If she only knew that it was going to get better when it was vampire on vampire sex.  Rosalie and Emmett knocked down a few houses when they used to get busy.

~A Higher Learning~

After discussing what colleges Bella and Edward would like to attend in Eclipse, there was no mention of attending college in the future.  If I was an immortal, I would try to major in every subject that interested me.  I’d have all the time in the world, right?  Why would you want to be uneducated just because you don’t need to work for a living.  Hell, don’t you think Carlisle was sick of being the bread-winner for the entire family all those years?  Doesn’t Bella want to do anything else than cater to her hubby for all of eternity?

I never understood why the Cullen kids just kept attending high school after high school as a part of their human ruse.  Why not just attend college over and over again?  Don’t you think some of them might look a little too old to be 14-year-old freshmen?

~Knocked Up~

I discussed this in my Eclipse post, but I don’t see the reason for vampires having sex.  They don’t need to breath, eat, use the bathroom or sleep, and yet they have sex, even if they – vampire and vampire – cannot procreate that way.  Sex is a human thing, or an animal thing, but vampires are supposed to be perfect, superior beings.  Why do vampires have the need to pleasure themselves?  I mean, blood flow is required for an erection and Edward doesn’t fit into that category.  We know he’s ice cold and as hard as granite…wait, I don’t even want to think about it!  The point is, vampires don’t need to have sex- even out of pleasure.

And you know it doesn’t make sense for him to produce sperm, either.  Yup, Bella got pregnant.  Whatever, Meyer!

~The Denalis and Other Immortals~

After three whole books without ever meeting the Denali coven, Tanya and her family, we finally meet them “in the flesh” at Bella’s wedding.   They shook  hands and well, that was it.  Wow, I thought they would be more interesting than that!  But, they did return later in the book as some of the witnesses.

Now, there was a horde of new vampires that we’ve never met before, twenty deep or so, in the Cullen’s house near then end to act as witnesses to the Volturi’s “trial.”   All these interesting vampires, who have had a history with Carlisle,  showed up and yet Meyer never worked at least one of them into previous plots of all the other books.  How come none of them were called when help was needed to fight against Victoria’s army in Eclipse?  Hmm?  Hmm?

Meyer has so much potential but she just doesn’t know exactly what to do with her characters or plot development.  It’s so disappointing.  I’ll never read another one of her books again.

~More Irritations~

• I can’t believe Edward was ready to pimp his wife out to Jacob.   Jacob was trying to pretend that he wouldn’t do that but you know he would have loved it – being the jerk that he is.
• Sam quickly ordered the death of Bella because of her pregnancy.  I thought this was out of character for him because Sam was usually the  cool, level-headed and rational werewolf.
• The whole resolution between the separation of packs, Sam’s and Jacob’s, was completely skimmed over.  It was an important issue with a lot of tension then all of the sudden, after Bella turned into supermodel vamp, it was just said that everything was all goodie goodie now.  Whatever!  That was a complete cop-out resolution.
• Charlie has been the classic overprotective father and yet he didn’t rush over to the Cullen’s house when Bella was declared ill and possibly dying.  I think Charlie would have hauled himself over there no matter what.  The whole Cullen family was with her too and he knew they didn’t get sick, right?  Then later, he just accepts the fact that Jacob can turn into a werewolf and that something is a little strange with his daughter but he’s not freaked out or concerned.  He  just accepts it so easily.  Sue Clearwater really put her mojo on him!
• I hated Renesmee’s name.  I hate when people combine two names together because they think it’s cute. Especially when it comes out like reh-NEZ-may.  But that part when Bella was mad at Jacob for nicknaming her daughter after the Loch Ness Monster was pretty funny.  Oh, Nessie.
• Edward kept loaning their sports cars to the vampire guests, so they could hunt farther away, but the cars are only two-seaters.  Where are they all going to sit?
• The venom syringe. It was Edward who came up with the idea of turning Bella into a vampire via injection.  Now, why didn’t Carlisle, the centuries old doctor, think about that before?!  It’s always been said that it takes so much self-control to bite a human and to stop from killing that person.  Well, why didn’t Carlisle give a venom booster shot to Edward, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett and spare himself the frenzy for the taste of human blood.  He’s an educated doctor who has been practicing for centuries and he never came up with that idea?!
• The donated blood. When Bella was pregnant, her diet was donated human blood, which got me thinking…  Now instead of leading a vegetarian lifestyle because they don’t want to harm humans, why haven’t the Cullen’s lived on donated blood?  Why?!
• And what?  No Asian vampire witnesses?

~Jacob Imprints~

Remember when I said I’d get back to the subject of Jacob being a selfish jerk?  Well, he imprints on Renesmee.  Eww!!!!!   Gross!!!!!  He’ll be Bella’s son-in-law one day!  Bleck!!!  Yuck!!!  No, I’m not grossed out about what you’re thinking.  I know that Renesmee is just an infant and right now Jacob just wants to protect her and make her happy.  But one day when Nessie is grown, he’s going to feel the same way about Renesmee as he did for her mother.  Jacob had imagined Bella naked and he wanted her for so long;  now he’s going to want her daughter someday.  *Vomits*  Bella’s daughter!

Ok, but eventually, I did see the point of Jacob imprinting on Renesmee because maybe she needed a protector that wasn’t a vampire for some unknown reason.   Well, Meyer tried to make us think that the Cullens were going to be annihilated and if that rang true, then it would have made sense that Jacob imprinted on Renesmee; he’d be the only one to protect her.

But the good thing that came out of his imprinting on Renesmee was that Jacob finally got off of Bella’s nuts and accepted the fact that she was a happily married woman, er, vampire that could never live in a world without her Edward.  Why would Jacob want to be second best to Edward?   So he accepted that they were meant to be  just friends and became a selfless person.   This was when I finally liked Jacob Black.

I’d like to add something Edward said to Jacob when they thought they were going to die.  When saying his goodbye to Jacob, Edward called him his brother….and his son.   WTF?!  So there was no doubt that Jacob would eventually marry Renesmee.  How sick is that?  Your former rival hooking up with your daughter.  But what about Nahuel?  It looks like Jacob is in for a taste of his own medicine when he’s going to court Nessie.  Bwahahaha.  I think Renesmee and Nahuel, the other half-breed, is a better pairing.

~What I Liked~

I liked imagining how the house on Isle Esme and the island itself  looked like.  It was tranquil.

The chapter called “Forgery” played out like a noir film.

The chapter called “New” was about how Bella saw and felt the world through her new vampire eyes and body.  Instead of always observing how vampires acted, we get to feel it straight from her thoughts.

The final 200 pages or so were definitely page-turning.

The cover art for all the books is quite appealing with their black backgrounds and the simple red and white icons on each.

Hmm…I can’t think of anything else.  How sad.

~Bella, the Supervamp~

In previous books, it was implied that Bella would have great defensive powers when she became a vampire and it turned out to be true.  Heck, she was more powerful than all of them, including Aro, Jane and Alec because they simply couldn’t get past her defensive force field.  What?  That’s it?  Just an expandable mental force field?

So, the special talents of each gifted vampire stem from the intensification of a human trait.  But it was never explained why nobody could get past Bella’s brain – why she was so hard to read.  I think Bella pretty much wore her heart on her sleeve, though.  Remember how depressed she was when Edward left her in New Moon?  Her dad clearly read her and so did Jacob.  All Bella’s friends from school even stopped talking to her, but she still sat with them during lunch, even though it was at the other end of the table.   I just didn’t understand where Bella’s mental defense came from.  I guess she just had some weird and unexplainable brain wave glitch.

~Someone Had To Die~

For the ending of the saga, I knew someone important had to die to make the story more poignant. It had to be one of the Cullens, or who I thought would die – Jacob.  But no, nobody died.  It’s your perfect Hollywood ending.  Well, Irina died but we didn’t care about her anyway so that didn’t touch our hearts at all.   But Jacob didn’t have a chance to die because the whole confrontation with the Volturi at the end was non-violent.    They didn’t get physical with each other at all.  All that power on both sides and no showdown at the OK Corral.

I thought Aro’s decision to leave was rather rash for him.  He had already decided to execute the Cullens and all the witnesses no matter what evidence came up to defend Renesmee.   But it was his vote that was the deciding factor- Marcus voted no out of boredom and Caius voted yes- but Aro voted no.  Even if many of the witnesses fled, their talented Demitri would have tracked them all down eventually.  So I don’t understand why Aro changed his mind.  He’s supposed to be this all powerful millennia-old vampire and he was truly scared of Bella.  He should have at least tried a physical attack.  Oh well.

The Volturi left and it was all safe and happy again.  It was implied, though, that they will come back one day and Alice – who returned to the family – would be able to predict their coming.  But since time to the Volturi moves slower than to the rest of the people and vampires in the world, it may take several decades before they decide to reappear and threaten Bella’s life again.  Gosh, Bella turned out to be the center of the world.  But for now, she can live in peace with her topaz-eyed Edward, her half-breed daughter, her werewolf (I mean shape-shifter) best friend, and her in-laws happily ever after- just like the title of the last chapter.

~My Predictions~

From the beginning, I always knew that Bella would end up with Edward, despite the Jacob love triangle annoyance.  She would have never lived without that velvet voice and liquid gold eyes of her immortal beloved.  But, I always thought Bella would remain human.  I kind of imagined her old and saw Edward visiting her each night, still loving her like she was as a teenager.  He was so against her becoming a vampire anyway, then all the sudden in Eclipse, he accepted it.

I still think that Jacob or one of the Cullens, like Emmett, needed to die.  I guess Hollywood endings are more ideal to some people.

And I’m pretty sure that Bella is going to turn Charlie and Renee into vamps one day.  Don’t you think so?

~What About Seth?~

Seth was one of my favorite characters in these books, but at the finality, after the whole Hollywood ending, he wasn’t even acknowledged!   He didn’t come by the house in the end where all the visiting vampires were saying goodbye, and no one told him, “Hey Seth.  Thanks a lot.  Drop by anytime to visit.”   Nor were Sam, Leah or the other “werewolves” – they’re really shapeshifters – thanked for standing up with the Cullen crew at the “baseball field” against the Volturi.  Wasn’t Seth Edward’s new best friend and yet, no fist-bump or anything?!  Seth got robbed!

~What About Bella’s “Friends”~

What the heck happened to Mike, Angela and Jessica?   After the graduation party, we never hear from them again and none of them are even wondering about Bella.  Again, there’s so many forgotten characters that Meyer just didn’t know what to do with.

~Breaking Dawn~

What’s the significance of the title “Breaking Dawn?”  It’s the first light of a brand new day.  Hope.  The beginning of something.  The beginning of a happy life for Bella, without any threats to her life or to her loved ones.  Bella gets to be the lucky one.

What about the symbolism of the chessboard on the front cover?  Chess is a game about planning your moves to achieve the right outcome.  The white queen is Bella.  What about the red pawn?  It could be Irina because she was used as an excuse for the Volturi to judge the Cullens.   But Aro didn’t implant that false idea into her about Nessie, I mean Renesmee, being an immortal child created by the Cullens.  Or it’s just Renesmee who’s the pawn.  Hmm, just some random thoughts.

~The Twilight Saga Overall~

Overall, I give the whole series a C+, which is the same rating I give to all the books.  The plus rating was because I wanted to keep reading the saga until the end. (Hell, I bought two hardcover books which I almost never do unless they’ve been marked down to less than $10.)  I don’t have a favorite book that I would want to read again.  My favorite part was still the Italy sequence in New Moon.  I didn’t hate the books but I surely didn’t love them, nor could I recommend them to someone.  Like I mentioned, the series was something that I wanted to keep reading, but maybe it was because I didn’t want to cop-out of it and rely on a chopped up screenplay to finish the story in my head.  Also, I don’t have a nostalgic feeling when I think about the saga and I don’t really care to know what might happen with the character’s futures.  Poor Seth was so ignored at the end and I’m mad about that! As for the other characters, I simply do not care what will happen to them.  In Meyer’s world, they’ll live happily ever after no matter what; so there’s no point in adding anything else to the story.   And I paid $45 for these books!  Argh!!

And for fans of the series, I respect your feelings so I hope you understand mine.  Don’t hate.

~Final Thoughts~

1. These books were highly overrated.
2. Read Anne Rice instead. She’s on a whole other level than Stephanie Meyer.

For my previous 4 posts about the Twilight Saga, click here and scroll down.

For a better book:  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Eclipse: Thoughts About the 3rd Twilight Book 04/26/2009

*****WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!  Read at your own discretion*****

After starting off as my favorite book of the series (I haven’t finished Breaking Dawn yet), it floundered and fizzled at the last third of the book because it turned into a love triangle soap opera with an unexciting climax.

As in the first two books, Meyer starts off with a one page preface – teasing us with the climax – which is usually about someone’s life in danger.  Again, formulaic with this series.

But, the pattern FINALLY changes in Eclipse.  It doesn’t follow that same storyline in the first two books.  Here’s what I mean.  The following is from my “New Moon: Thoughts About the Book” post:

Twilight:  Bella meets Edward.   Bella falls in love with Edward.   Bella realizes something is kind of strange with Edward.  *Lightbulb*-  Edward is a vampire!   Near the end of the book, it’s a race to save someone’s life, in this case, Bella’s.   Bella is saved.  The end.

New Moon:  Bella gets dumped by Edward.  Bella becomes best friends with Jacob.   Bella is falling in love with Jacob.   Bella realizes something is kind of strange with Jacob. *Lightbulb*- Jacob is a werewolf!   Near the end of the book, it’s a race to save someone’s life, in this case, Edward’s.  Edward is saved. The end.

“That pattern wouldn’t be repeated.  Maybe all the patterns were broken.  Yes, someone had broken out of their pattern” (p. 387).  Hmm, ya think Meyer was subconsciously talking about her writing?  Haha.

Now as for Eclipse, I don’t really have a succinct summary for it because it didn’t really have a structure. The main plot here is that there has been many vampire-related killings in Seattle, which they figure out to be a newborn army of uncontrollable vampires that have been created to kill, not the Cullens as first suspected, but Bella.  I’ll come back to this later.  But, oh Bella, will her life always be in danger?  First from James, then  Victoria, then from her own depression, then the Volturi, and always from her own clumsiness.  I guess that pattern won’t be broken.

The only important thing you need to know, if you want to know, is that Bella realizes that she is IN LOVE with Jacob, but there’s no doubt in her mind who she wants to be with.  It’s Edward, of course, her perfect marble statue of an angel with his sweet-smelling breath and velvet voice that she has proven, in New Moon, that she could not live without.

~Bella, the Hated~

Who’s hatin’?  Besides Rosalie, of course…moi.  Bella is turning out to be the most irritating, hypocritical and can I say, ahem, “slutty” character from a book I’ve ever read.  Sure, it’s okay to be a flawed character but I just can’t stand her silly ass sometimes.  She can’t live without Edward and has begged to become a vampire to spend eternity together but she doesn’t want to marry him because she thinks she’s too young, that it’s old-fashioned, and my gosh, what will her friends from school think, let alone her mommie dearest?  She does say that she was raised to think badly about marriage because that’s the way her mother, Renee, feels but she’s her own person, right?  If she thinks she can’t breath without her Edward, then why not be overjoyed to marry him.

Another reason I dislike Bella is that she is creeping around too much with Jacob, claiming that they are just friends but she lets him hold her hand and hug her and be close to her physically.  Friends of the opposite sex do not do that because then they won’t be labeled as “just friends.”  Edward, on the other hand, knows all about it.   He does get jealous but he understands their friendship and why Bella needed Jacob when he himself left her in that state of horrible depression.  Edward is even gracious enough to let Bella choose between the werewolf and himself because her happiness is the most important thing, while Jacob is just a jerk, knowing that Bella would never really choose him and he even forces a kiss on her.  Bella socked him in his face for that and broke her right hand.  What a jerk.  Why can’t he just leave her be and stop trying to be a “home wrecker.”

Now you know if the situation was reversed, if it was Edward who had another girl who had designs on him and was hugging up on her, we the readers, especially girls and women, would be like, “No way! That freaking dog!”  Am I right, ladies?  Why should Bella get special treatment?  She just needs to tell Jacob they can only be friends that do not touch each other in any way.  If that’s not possible, then they can’t be friends anymore.  She doesn’t say exactly that but ultimately makes her choice, which made Jacob run away at the end.  Good riddance!  I don’t understand why there’s a “Team Jacob” out there.  Let me take a break from this rant…

~Tanya and Her Family in Denali~

After Edward and Bella mention that they may be going to college in Alaska, I thought we would finally meet Tanya’s coven- to know them better and see how they would add to the storyline.  But psych!  We don’t.  They actually bail out of the battle to save Bella’s life and we never meet them.  What a waste of characters!

~Interesting Highlights~

Rosalie reveals why she hates Bella for being human.  She once wanted the fairy tale wedding to a handsome husband with children in the future but it turned out that her fiance and friends assaulted her and left her for dead.  That’s when Carlisle found her and turned her into a vampire to save her life.  She wants Bella to realize what she is giving up as a human being- that she’ll never have children or a normal life ever.  And she doesn’t hate Bella because Edward wanted Bella instead of her.  All her life, Rosalie was so used to being wanted by everyone because of her beauty.  Edward was the only one who didn‘t want her.  But as brother and sister, they very much love each other.

One night, around a campfire/bonfire, werewolf legends are told in La Push.  I was taken away for a bit but was pleased with the storytelling.   Sometimes Meyer’s background stories outshine the real story in her books.

Jasper also delves into his backstory.  He’s the oldest, next to Carlisle and comes from the Civil War era, where he was knowledgeable about military tactics.  He was part of another newborn army bred to satisfy another vampire’s personal vendetta.  The Cullens tried to figure out why someone was creating a newborn army – either to take control of Seattle, to wipe out the Cullens or for some other reason…

~The Newborn Army’s Target~

Isn’t obvious that the target would be Bella?  It wasn’t such a mystery, I mean, they knew a strange vamp was rummaging around her bedroom.  Of course she’s the target!   And who could be the creator?  Victoria was the first one to come to mind.  But it couldn’t be that easy.  I thought that it was Jane, the one with the power of Darth Sidious. (heh heh)  I thought she was jealous of Bella’s potential powers as a vampire, since Bella is immune to Edward’s, Aro’s and her, Jane’s, powers.  I thought Bella embarrassed Jane at the Volturi’s labyrinth when Bella did not cower down in pain when Jane used her mind trick on her.  And Jane would have to carry out her plan without Aro knowing.  But no.  The villain turned out to be Victoria, which was no great surprise at all.  Don’t you think the story would have been better if it was Jane that created the newborn army?  Just a thought.

~Knockin’ Boots~

Bella decides that she wants to give up her virginity to Edward but she is very “breakable.”  Yikes!  I don’t even want to think about it.  I wondered if vampires having sex made any sense.   Meyer’s vampires are not required to breath – they do it out of habit – and they do not need to eat food.  Why would they want to have sex if it’s such a human thing?  It’s mainly for reproduction but vampires only create other vampires by biting them with their venom.  (Note: I am reading Breaking Dawn)  So it doesn’t make sense for vampires to have sex, unless it’s for pleasure, but to me, that’s still too much of a human thing.

~A Century Old Vampire~

If I had a chance to be with a vampire as old as Edward, I’d ask him what was it like to live through those significant times in history, like World War II.  Bella has never asked anything like that until near the end of this third book.  She asks him what his ten best nights were.   Sadly, they’ve all happened after meeting Bella.  Not even one night!?  Well, I guess that just proves his love for her.  He waited all his life just for this particular girl, right?

~Finally!~

After 500 pages of hating Bella’s two-timing relationship with Jacob, she finally realizes she has to let him go and say goodbye.

“I had what I wanted.  I couldn’t have them both, because Jacob could not be just my friend.  It was time to give up wishing for that.  How ridiculously greedy could any one person be?” (p. 518)

Damn skippy!  You finally somewhat grew up, Bella!  Oh yeah, and she finally agreed to marry Edward too.  Here comes the bride…

~Heartwarming Highlights~

I love Seth!  What a sweet werewolf boy.  He became friends with Edward because of the “big” fight at the end to save Bella’s life.  He was the only werewolf to truly accept the Cullens as friends.

And you can’t help loving Alice too.  She’s one of those people, er, vampires, that put you in a good mood when you’re feeling down.

~Eclipse~

So what does eclipse mean?  Jacob mentions on page 600 that Bella is his “personal sun…that balanced out the clouds nicely.”  He can handle the clouds, but can’t fight with an eclipse.

Now can someone explain what the torn ribbon is supposed to signify?   I get the apple being offered and the wilting flower but the torn ribbon – what the heck is that supposed to mean?  Her attachment to Jacob? Hmm…

~So Out Of Place~

In the epilogue, the story  is abruptly changed from Bella’s perspective to Jacob’s voice.  This sudden change in narration was so out of place.  I was NOT diggin’ that at all!  Just wait until you see the narrative structure for Breaking Dawn.  =/

Grade: C+

(Overall, I liked Eclipse slightly better than New Moon, but my favorite part in the first 3 books has to be the Italy sequence in New Moon. However, I can’t pick a favorite book because I don’t have one.  There hasn’t been a book that I loved or even liked from beginning to the middle and to the end.)

For additional posts, “Twilight: The Movie”, “Twilight: The Book & Movie Comparison”, “New Moon: Thoughts About the Book” and “Breaking Dawn: The Final Showdown of Twilight”,  click here.

Work Cited:  Meyer, Stephanie. Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

New Moon: Thoughts About the Book 04/15/2009

***WARNING!  SPOILERS ahead about New Moon & Twilight.***

New Moon is the second book of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight saga, and like Twilight, the whole structure of these two stories seem to follow the same pattern.  Here are the similarities:

Twilight:  Bella meets Edward.   Bella falls in love with Edward.   Bella realizes something is kind of strange with Edward.  *Lightbulb* -  Edward is a vampire!   Near the end of the book, it’s a race to save someone’s life, in this case, Bella’s.   Bella is saved.  The end.

New Moon:  Bella gets dumped by Edward.  Bella becomes best friends with Jacob.   Bella is falling in love with Jacob.   Bella realizes something is kind of strange with Jacob. *Lightbulb* – Jacob is a werewolf!   Near the end of the book, it’s a race to save someone’s life, in this case, Edward’s.  Edward is saved. The end.

Ya feel me?  I did, however, enjoy reading New Moon.  A big gripe about it is that the Cullen’s are absent for most of the book – the middle part.  It’s like having an Oreo without the cream filling.  After Edward and the Cullen’s leave, most of the story is about Bella, Jacob and his friends.  It got to a point where I started to not like it anymore and I was longing for Edward or any one of the Cullen’s to revive the story.  I understand that Meyer was just trying to put us through what Bella was feeling when Edward was gone – to feel as heartbroken as she did – but the werewolves were not a great replacement for the mean time.  Actually, when I found out Jacob was a werewolf, I thought it was ridiculous, even if the book is about vampires.  I guess it was too much of a coincidence how an outsider like Bella stumbled upon supernatural beings and also befriended them.

The best part of the book is when we are whisked away to Italy, where we can see the stone walls and castle turrets of the Old World intertwined with the modern world of yellow Porche 911 Turbos (Alice had to steal one- vroom, vroom).   The ancient Volturi family, who were mentioned briefly in Twilight, are present in “the flesh” and I was completely intrigued with them – their lifestyle, special powers and background.  I felt like I was standing with Bella, Edward and Alice in their labyrinth.  That was finally something really exciting in Meyer’s books.  The whole race to save Edward was also suspenseful; I liked how he was described standing there in the shadows, with his eyes closed, bare-chested like a marble statue.  (Have you seen the New Moon poster with Edward on it? Woo!  My favorite picture.)

~The Big Contradiction~

Bella is a hypocrite!  In Twilight, after knowing that Rosalie and Emmet had been married several times over the years, she asked Edward if it was the same kind of marriage that it is to humans.  Edward gets the hint because Bella admitted that she wondered about she and Edward marrying someday (pgs. 309-310).

And in New Moon, when she is depressed and practically suicidal over the breakup with Edward, we know that she can’t ever live without him and has been wanting to be turned into a vampire so that she can spend all of eternity with her vampire angel, with his “marble skin” and “silky, velvet voice.”  Near the end of New Moon, it’s decided that Bella will be turned into a vampire by the majority of a vote by the Cullens – sans Edward’s vote, of course – and she discusses at what exact time she will be turned.  So, it’s no doubt Bella wants to be an immortal vampire to spend eons and eons with Edward, right?  Edward actually informally proposes to Bella near the end of the book and you would think that she’d be ecstatic- jumping up and down and fawning all over her precious Edward.  I mean, what’s the difference, right?  If you’re going to be an immortal vampire couple, it’s like they’ll already be married to each other so why not make it legit?  Well, Bella scoffs at his proposal and says that she’s only eighteen and that “marriage isn’t exactly that high on my list of priorities…It was sort of the kiss of death for Renee and Charlie” (p. 540).  Then she goes on to say how her mom was strongly against someone getting married before the age of thirty, which Bella thinks is way too old.  Hello!  She’ll never reach the age of thirty as a human anyway because she’s been whining about becoming a young vampire.  This makes me want to smack Bella right in her head for being so contradictory and stupid!  *SMACK*  Edward- although his body is stuck as a 17-year-old- is actually 108 or 109-years-old mentally, and his maturity points out her contradiction.  Edward, I think you need to find a woman and get rid of this silly, little girl!  Ok, I’m just venting out a little rant here.  Don’t get mad at me!

~Bella, the Super Vamp~

Since Edward and Aro cannot read Bella’s mind, and that she was immune to Jane’s power, it looks like Bella will be the ultimate super vampire when she is turned.   That’s ironic knowing that Bella is klutzy and a little feeble-minded.  Hey, but Alice can use her power to see Bella’s future, but it’s been said that she can’t see it too clearly.  Whatever.  Just some more discrepancies.

~Extra Thoughts~

Dakota Fanning is going to play Jane, who can mentally make you writhe in pain with her “Dark Side of the force” powers.

I wonder who will play the ancient Volturi, Aro?  I pictured him as Alfred Molina or Ian McShane; they may be too old though.

As for Jacob, in the book he is supposed to be much taller and buffer than Edward.  I don’t think Taylor Lautner can pull that off and he was clearly miscasted from the beginning.

I think for a movie adaptation, Bella’s part of the story after being pseudo-dumped by Edward will come off as being utterly lame and pathetic.  She’ll be seen shaking, holding herself, crying, riding a motorcycle without a helmet and jumping off a cliff.  To see that on the big screen might be overkill.  Then they have to deal with the flashbacks and Edward’s voice in her head.

~Victoria~

They still haven’t caught her ass yet!  She’s such an important threat that doesn’t quite seem so important.  Meyer will probably drag her story out until the very end.  (Yeah, I’m getting there.  I’m only on Eclipse, y’know.)  Oh yeah, and Edward said that he tried tracking Vitoria but was absolutely terrible at it – he followed a false trail to South America.

~Another Annoyance~

Although Bella has turned 18, Charlie treats her like she’s in junior high and Bella puts up with it.  She threatens her dad by saying she can move out but she really doesn’t want to, only because she wants to freaking cook for him and keep him company.  Why don’t you just move the heck out and live your life with Edward like you’ve been wishing to!  Who cares about Charlie; he’s obviously old enough to take care of himself like he has already been doing!  It’s embarrassing for an 18-year-old telling people that she’s been grounded and can’t go out with her boyfriend.  Hopefully Bella will mature in Eclipse, but I doubt it.

Grade:  C+ verging on a B- (only because I liked the Italy sequence)

~For my “Breaking Dawn: The Final Showdown of Twilight” post, click here.

~For my “Eclipse: Thoughts About the 3rd Twilight Book” post, click here.

~For my  “Twilight: The Book & Movie Comparison” post, click here.

~For my “Twilight: Thoughts About the Movie” post, click here.

Work Cited- Meyer, Stephanie. New Moon. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008.

(Trade paperback edition)

Twilight: The Book & Movie Comparison 04/13/2009

After seeing the movie before reading the book, I was left with questions as to why Edward loved Bella and why he was attracted to her - other than just her scent.  (Read my original post here.) I never felt that the movie explained that thoroughly, even after watching it more than once.  I was also hoping for more background story of each of the Cullens; luckily, the book does offer that.  If you were wondering the same things as I was, then read on!

~Why is Edward attracted to Bella?~

That first day in Biology lab was when Bella’s luscious scent enticed Edward to lure her into a trap after school to have her as a meal, but he couldn’t disappoint Carlisle and their family’s beliefs.  That’s why he hated her so much at first because she made him want to lose control.  And if you were wondering if he really went “out of town” those days he was missing from school, yes, he went to Alaska, where another vegetarian vampire coven like the Cullens lived.  (pgs. 269-271)

But other than her smelling like the finest Fillet Mignon in town – well, it’s actually described as a floral, lavender scent in the book -  Edward is fascinated by Bella because he says that people are predictable but she never does what he expects (p. 245).  After 90 years of never being interested in a girl, Bella is the one that catches his attention – he cannot read her thoughts, she’s different than all these other girls in school and she’s interesting.  Edward also “found himself caught up in her expressions” (p. 272).

Now what about physical attraction?  Edward is a vampire and even though he was once human, his human memories and feelings have diminished over time but are buried deep within.  Edward tells Bella of his “other hungers” – other than his vampire thirst – that he doesn’t quite understand himself, that are “foreign” to him (p. 278).   I interpret this as his physical and sexual attraction for Bella.  (Do vampires have sex anyway?)  In addition to that, on page 311, Bella asks Edward if he is in fact attracted to her in a physical way and he replies, “I may not be a human, but I am a man.”   So he does find her cute, even though she’s not a girly-girl, rather plain, but beautiful in her own way.  I like the fact that he’s not into the most gorgeous girl because it’s what’s on the inside that counts and it doesn’t make him shallow.  (When do you ever see a gorgeous guy with a plain Jane?  Never!  When do you ever see a pretty girl with an ugly guy.  Always!  Ok, I’m off on a tangent again.)

So other than the whole drug addict analogy that Edward uses in the movie – Bella being his “personal brand of heroine” – the book expands on why Edward is attracted to Bella.  I get it now!

The innocence of their romance is something you easily fall in love with.

~Is there more backstory about the other vampires in the book?~

I was hoping very much for this in the book and I was pleased that a whole chapter is entitled “Carlisle.”

Rosalie was actually brought to the family in hopes that Edward would take to her.  But that didn’t work out.  Two years later, Rosalie saved Emmet from a bear attack and ever since then, he’s been her “monkey man.”  They’ve gotten married many times over the years.

Esme jumped off a cliff because of the death of her baby; that’s how Carlisle came to save her.

Alice didn’t know where she came from or how she became a vampire.  It turns out that James was the one who made her.  Hmm…interesting.

Jasper lived with a non-vegetarian family but decided to leave after becoming depressed.  Alice found him and they’ve been together since.  His special talent is being able to “manipulate the emotions of those around him- calm down a room of angry people… or excite a lethargic crowd (p. 308).”

Carlisle was from seventeenth-century London and a son of a pastor who hunted vampires.   He took over for his father when he died and Carlisle himself became the hunted instead of the hunter.  When he writhed in pain for three days or so after being bitten, he tried to destroy himself by any way he could think of, like jumping from great heights, but you know that didn’t work.  He spent a while with the Volturi in Italy, who will become more important in New Moon, but left them because of his vegetarian beliefs.  Carlisle keeps his father’s huge wooden cross in their home and you may have spied a little piece of it in the movie at the foot of the stairs when Bella is taken to their home for the first time.

If you’re wondering about vampire powers, not all of them have a special talent.   They get those talents because some of their human traits can become intensified when they become a vampire.

Of course for the movie, which is more focused on Bella’s and Edward’s relationship,  all the vampire background had to be cut out and that was unfortunate.  (See, so if you’re not a reader, you may want to try to read a book sometime because it offers so much more depth than a screenplay ever can.)

~The book’s pace and plot compared to the movie~

I complained about how there was not plot in the movie until near the end when James was on the hunt for Bella and it was a race to save her life.  Well, it’s pretty much the same in the book.  Ho hum.  The first half of the book did not offer any more insight to the movie; the screenplay pretty much got the gist of the book up to that point. Disappointing.   So basically, in a nutshell, the story goes like this: Bella meets Edward, Bella is falling in love with Edward, Bella realizes something is weird about Edward………….*lightbulb!* Edward is a vampire (gosh, didn’t that take her long enough to realize), a plot development near the end- a race to save someone’s life, in this case, Bella.  (In my upcoming New Moon post, the plot development is pretty much formulaic for Stephanie Meyer.)

But the book is still worth reading because you fall in love with Edward the same way Bella does.  Plus, all the background stories and dialogue that was cut out of the movie is also worth it.  Mind you, this book is categorized for young adult readers and it’s really written that way; this is not high end literature.  You’ll be able to fly through these 498 pages in no time, especially because the font is larger than your average book and the spaces are wider, also.  But to me, it seemed like a whole different author kicks in for the second half of the book.

~The flaws~

1.  Take a plane- When James is on the hunt for Bella, Alice and Jasper drive Bella all the way from Forks to Phoenix.  Why didn’t they just take a freaking plane, which would have been an easier travel, plus Bella’s scent trail would have been lost.  Maybe there were no flights available at the time they left Forks?

2.  Carlisle the savior-  When Bella is writhing in pain in the ballet studio after getting bitten by James, why couldn’t Carlisle just save her since he’s perfected his restraint for the thirst of blood?  His excuse is that he needed to stop the bleeding from Bella’s head but Edward could have done that himself.  I didn’t read about him having to do some stitches on her or anything.

3.  Stolen car- In Phoenix after saving Bella, we find out that Edward stole a car to get to the ballet studio from the airport (if I remember correctly).   AND FOR WHAT?  He can do the freaking “Edward run”; he’s faster than lightning.  It was already night time so it’s not like he had to be conspicuous about it.

~Extra tidbits~

Alice had become great friends with Charlie, Bella’s father, since she was always helping Bella out after she broke her leg.  And she did become Bella’s new best friend, not that Jessica or Angela really was.  Wait, shouldn’t Edward be her best friend?  She never states that though.  Hmm.

In the movie, I was surprised that there wasn’t a mean girl at her new school;  Rosalie doesn’t count because she’s a vampire.  In the book, the dreaded hater is a girl named Lauren but there’s no plot with her.  (Meyer needs to work on plot development and subplots.)

~Why was the movie called Twilight?~

I don’t think the significance of the word twilight was even explained in the movie.  And I forgot to mark the page in the book that mentioned that it was that time of day that felt safe, because the vampires knew night would come soon.  It was something like that.

Let’s look up the definition of twilight other than the obvious one: a period or condition of decline following growth, glory or success; a state of ambiguity or obscurity.  Hmm.  I’ll let you think about that.

And after you ponder those definitions, if you enjoyed reading Twilight, you need to check out some real writing.  You know who I’m going to mention, right?  Of course, Anne Rice.  Her writing is on a whole other level!

Grade for the book: C+ (mostly for the backstory)

~For my “Breaking Dawn: The Final Showdown of Twilight” post, click here.

~For my “Eclipse: Thoughts About the 3rd Twilight Book” post, click here.

~For my “New Moon: Thoughts About the Book” post, click here.

~For my “Twilight: Thoughts About the Movie” post, click here.

Work Cited- Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2006.

Twilight: Thoughts About the Movie 03/24/2009

First of all, I haven’t read the book yet. I am all for books and hate film adaptations because there’s no way to adapt any book in just 2 hours or three…or four.  Even if it’s a miniseries, you just can’t get every word and thought on screen so people should really read the original sources of stories. (Well, the Lonesome Dove miniseries was pretty damn good though.)

So this post is just about my thoughts of the movie without having read the book.  I’ve heard book fans of Twilight were utterly disappointed.  There’s another movie out there that completely ruined a great book, Corelli’s Mandolin.  Ugghh!  They completely changed the ending and the rest of it was so bad.  Even in The Da Vinci Code, the code for the cryptex was not “apple” but “sofia” -  knowledge.  Whatever!!

So back to Twilight the movie, which is basically a teenage love story.  Damn, it made me want to have an Edward Cullen.  For me, the thing about Robert Pattinson, he was cute as Cedric in Harry Potter, and sexy in Twilight, but in real life he looks a  little scary, weird and un-hot.  (And no, I’m not a teeny bopper.)  I guess he’s just appealing as a vampire, but these are no Anne Rice vampires, even though they live a more sophisticated life as “vegetarians”.  They are Meyer vampires- a whole new breed but not for the better.

One gripe about the movie is that there was no plot until half an hour before it ended! OK, Bella’s the new girl in Forks and surprisingly there aren’t any mean girls, except Rosalie but she doesn’t count because she’s really a vamp.  She meets Edward by being his Biology lab partner (which was funny for me because I’ve had a little love story by meeting someone that way) and then they fall in love.  They swing in the trees.  They lie in the meadow.  They play baseball.  Still no plot, not until the evil James vampire wants to hunt her so then the Cullen family has to get her to safety and kill James.  Hello!  Didn’t Laurent tell you not to underestimate the lady vamp, Victoria.  When they finally kill off James, they just say that Victoria ran off.  Laurent specifically told you NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE her!  I thought the Cullens were supposed to be more witty than that.  Then they go to the Prom.  End of movie.  Hmph.

Another gripe is something I don’t really understand about Edward’s love for Bella.  He’s first attracted to her because she smells like the finest fillet mignon on Earth.  She’s is food to him. Is he really attracted to her as a person and love her mind and her spirit?  I just don’t get it.  But I get why she loves him – he’s gorgeous, mature, protective (verging on obsessive?), different and caring.  But Edward restrains himself everyday from sucking out all her tasty blood.  Is that real love for Bella, the person, or is he just hanging around her hoping  for a sip of the finest brew in town?  I don’t get it.

Have you listened to the DVD commentary?  Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart totally make fun of themselves, their acting, their scenes, what they’re doing in scenes and why they are doing what they’re doing in scenes.  Dang.  They seem to be ashamed of doing this movie.  The director, Catherine Hardwicke, is a complete hippie child and acts younger than the kids in the cast.  She actually says “gnarly” too…lol.

Did you know Robert Pattinson composed and performed a couple songs in the movie?  That was actually him playing the piano and he also plays the guitar AND SINGS!  That’s him singing “Never Think” during the dinner scene in Port Angeles and the soulful, bluesy song that comes on during the montage in the ballet studio, “Let Me Sign” is actually him singing!  I was like, ” Who is singing this soulful song?  It seems so out of place in this movie but I like it.”    I love a man who can tickle the ivories and sing so that’s just another reason to love Rob.

So, I am going to read the book and I want to read New Moon before seeing the next movie.  Sometimes though, if I read the book first it makes me so biased about a movie.   It makes me wonder if I would have liked a movie better without having read the book first.  So reading before watching can be a disadvantage sometimes.  But I am a book lover and no movie can ever be better than the story written on a paper.  Well, except in one case.  The Shawshank Redemption was better than Stephen King’s novella, don’t you think?

More Thoughts

• Why the heck was a fan on in the Biology lab room anyway when you know it was cold outside?
• Edward writes with his right hand but also wears his watch on his right wrist.  It’s usually the opposite.
• Bella had footless tights under her prom dress.
• A real biology teacher would have scolded Edward & Bella for dragging around that microscope left and right.  It can get damaged, ya know!
• Why was this movie even called twilight?  What’s the significance of the word twilight?
• Robert Pattinson as himself: 4 out of 10 stars.  Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen: 10 out of 10 stars…well, more like 9 out of 10 because he’s a tad skinny.  (I swear, I’m not a teenager!)

The movie: 3 out of 5 stars

(I’d really give it 2.5 stars, but since Edward is so easy on the eyes, it gets an extra half a star.)

~For my “Twilight: The Book & Movie Comparison” post, click here.

~For my “New Moon: Thoughts About the Book” post, click here.

~For my “Eclipse: Thoughts About the 3rd Twilight Book” post, click here.

~For my “Breaking Dawn: The Final Showdown of Twilight” post, click here.