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seabird78If you happened to read my post on Twilight a few weeks back, you know that I had a few bits of praise, followed by a helluva lot of criticism concerning that book.
I stand behind everything I said, but somehow the things that put me off haven't prevented me from continuing to read the series (in my defense, the remaining three novels were acquired as Christmas presents). Makes me somewhat of a masochist, I know, but now I'm so close to being finished with New Moon that I feel duty-bound to get through Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as well, just so I can say that I did it.
I'm determined to figure out what makes these characters so appealing to so many people, and I think the following passage offers a strong clue. It's a bit of dialogue from Edward to Bella in case you're interested, and it won't spoil anything if you read it:
"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars--points of light and reason. Suddenly, everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."
My rational, bullshit-detector side wants to dismiss this as nothing but swoony emo nonsense, wants to laugh it off the page for being so ridiculously melodramatic.
But then my overly sentimental inner twelve-year old takes over. She wants to embrace this for being so nakedly sincere, wants to swoon over the thought that such romantic proclamations still exist. She delights in the notion of such all-consuming passion.
And so, you understand my internal struggle as I turn each page. Definitely makes for the strangest reading experience I've had in a long time.
I stand behind everything I said, but somehow the things that put me off haven't prevented me from continuing to read the series (in my defense, the remaining three novels were acquired as Christmas presents). Makes me somewhat of a masochist, I know, but now I'm so close to being finished with New Moon that I feel duty-bound to get through Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as well, just so I can say that I did it.
I'm determined to figure out what makes these characters so appealing to so many people, and I think the following passage offers a strong clue. It's a bit of dialogue from Edward to Bella in case you're interested, and it won't spoil anything if you read it:
"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars--points of light and reason. Suddenly, everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."
My rational, bullshit-detector side wants to dismiss this as nothing but swoony emo nonsense, wants to laugh it off the page for being so ridiculously melodramatic.
But then my overly sentimental inner twelve-year old takes over. She wants to embrace this for being so nakedly sincere, wants to swoon over the thought that such romantic proclamations still exist. She delights in the notion of such all-consuming passion.
And so, you understand my internal struggle as I turn each page. Definitely makes for the strangest reading experience I've had in a long time.
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Date: 2009-01-16 03:07 pm (UTC)I had no idea that my feeling of obligation was shared by others. I wish I could describe it better...I mean, it's not that I'm overly attached to the main characters. Maybe it has something to do with the need to know whether Bella is FINALLY going to get Edward the way she wants him, and suffering through all the stuff she has to endure for the sake of that payoff. I mean, I know I'm not to expect anything super pornographic, or even slightly pornographic for that matter, but I'm still chomping at the bit to see the moment that they final give in to their desires, because if Meyer is skilled in one area, it's the ability to convey the tension that stems from wanting someone and being unable to act on it.