4 posts tagged “bella swan”
I knew it would begin with the end, and the end would look like death to these eyes. I had been warned.
Not these eyes. My eyes. Mine. This was me now.
Stephenie Meyer's new book, The Host, dropped Tuesday. I put myself on the waiting list at the library a few weeks ago, and I was perfectly okay with being 11th. I mean, I admit, I wasn't all that enthused to read it. After all, this was wholly separate from the Twilight series. No Edward. No Bella. No impossibly, epically, gut-twistingly angsty romance. No life-and-death situations whereupon death would be more welcome than spending eternity without the one your heart yearns for...
Wait...where was I again?
Oh, yeah. The Host. So anyway, even though I'd heard really good things about it, I still was leery. I mean, it's being described as sci-fi-ish. I'm always leery of the sci-fi genre, even though I have discovered jewels like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly amidst the weird puppet-y Farscape stuff.
And then I got to work, sat down to count drawers and compile the morning deposit, switching on Glenn Beck as I always do. Five minutes after I did this, he starts raving about Stephenie Meyer. His daughters love Twilight, and so he's become quite familiar with the series as well, and then he proceeds to read the first few paragraphs of Chapter One of The Host, including the above excerpt, and I stopped everything I was doing to listen.
And then instead of going to the bank, the other store, and back to the main store to continue about my day, I made a quick detour to Barnes and Noble to pick up my own copy.
I am hooked. So yeah. There will be no vacation recap, no pictures -- I probably won't even unpack (!!) until I'm done.
I'm only on Chapter 2 and although I already know it won't top Twilight -- I'm not sure anything ever will -- it's going to come dang close.
So I've been tagged by Slow Learner to do the following book meme. (It circulated through a while ago, too, but I never did do it.)
- Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
- Open the book to page 123.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the next three sentences.
- Tag five people.
Well, it should come as no surprise to any of you (and especially since I confessed to my weakness on the blog) that I'm reading Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. (Again.) Because of that, I can't post only three sentences.
Context: a conversation between protagonist Bella Swan (one of my favorite fake people ever) and new friend Jacob Black about the heretofore mysterious Cullen family.
"That's Sam -- he's nineteen," he informed me.
"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.
"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation." He looked away, out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.
"Why not?"
He glanced back at me, biting his lip. "Oops. I'm not supposed to say anything about that."
"Oh, I won't tell anyone, I'm just curious." I tried to make my smile alluring, wondering if I was laying it on too thick.
He smiled back, though, looking allured. Then he lifted one eyebrow and his voice was even huskier than before.
"Do you like scary stories?" he asked ominously.
As for tagging, hmm, I can't remember which of you already did this! I'll go with Erin, Steph, Eli's Dad, Steve Betz, and Kelly S.
Logan: I thought our story was epic, you and me...spanning years and continents. Lives ruined and blood shed. Epic...
Veronica: Come on. Ruined lives? Bloodshed? You really think a relationship should be that hard?
Logan: No one writes songs about the ones that come easy.
It was one of my favorite quotes -- and one of my favorite scenes -- in all three seasons of Veronica Mars, and it kept running along the bottom of my mind, like a news ticker, throughout my consumption of Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse.
Before I continue, let me issue this disclaimer, in case it wasn't clear in past posts: I love Harry Potter. I have loved that series since I first discovered it on a plane to Chicago in September of 1999. I waited with eager anticipation for each volume thereafter, and inhaled each one in one day. I have seen each of the movies the day it premiered -- in fact, it's become quite a fun little tradition for myself, Kevin, and Mia. I have taken them to see every one, even when they didn't weigh enough to hold down their seats in the theater for ...and the Sorceror's Stone. I continue to anticipate the releases of ...and the Half-Blood Prince and ...and the Deathly Hallows. I never thought another series would be able to come along and have the same impact.
Until Twilight.
I've been trying to determine exactly why Bella, Edward and Alice have trumped Harry, Ron and Hermione in just three books' time. While I feel Stephenie Meyer is overall a better writer than JK Rowling, especially when it comes to evoking emotion and creating very complete, very layered, very realistic characters (seriously, when Bella was curled up on the forest floor, numb and practically catatonic, I was there right along with her -- I've been there), I think it ultimately comes down to what I've mentioned in earlier posts: Meyer's world is more realistic than Rowling's. And also? The epic, rip-your-heart-out romance between Edward and Bella.
Now, when I say the word "realistic," I am not implying in any way that I believe vampires and werewolves are any more realistic than witches, wizards, and trolls. However, when I suspend disbelief enough to make those worlds realistic, it is far easier for me to insert myself into Forks, Washington, than Hogwarts. It is easier for me to identify with Bella (and Alice, and Edward, etc.) than Harry.
Like Joss Whedon did when creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, Meyer writes about characters who just happen to be vampires. Yes, their vampire status defines their world and creates a number of conflicts and complications, but -- again, like Whedon -- Meyer's creations are very human. They strive to retain their humanity. They want to fit in with society.
Harry Potter exists in a separate, secret reality, where nobody can know about them, and there's this underlying, catastrophic battle always lingering on the horizon. On its own, the series is quite exciting and interesting. But at the end of the day, I can't see myself in that world the way I can in the Twilight books. That is how I determine what books (and movies, and TV, etc.) with which I fall in love -- if I can imagine myself inserted into those particular settings and scenarios.
I finished Eclipse last night (about five minutes before I passed out -- the meds my doc prescribed to help me sleep worked far more quickly than I anticipated) and it was all I could do to pick up The Lovely Bones on my way to work rather than grabbing Twilight to begin the, well, epic experience all over again. (Yes, I have since purchased all three books. I can't not have them in my collection.)
Edward Cullen has ruined me for, you know, non-fictional men. Steph (who I am happy to say is addicted right along with Erin and me, yay!) said she was trying to remember if there had ever been another relationship quite like Bella and Edward's, and I have to say, I don't think so. Sigh. Romance and love like that does not exist outside of fiction.
And it sucks.
Pun not really intended.
ETA: Eight hours, 45 minutes, and 498 pages later, I'm done. So. Amazing. And now I'm irritated that I've got to wait for the next one, especially when the third one is already sitting on my shelf...sigh...
So a few months ago, Erin recommended a particular book series to me. I remember thinking it sounded really interesting, but I always have a pile of books that I'm in the middle of reading, or need to read, or whatever, so I kind of filed her recommendation away in the back of my mind for a later date.
Then came my recent reintroduction to the public library. I was looking for titles to put holds on -- I love using the internet to hold books and then run in and out in five minutes to pick the books up off the hold shelves and check them out myself -- and I remembered Erin's suggestions.
The first book of the series, Twilight, arrived at my local branch yesterday and I picked it up this afternoon. Originally, I wasn't going to read it. I was going to merely tuck it away on my library book shelf, along with The Lovely Bones and Nineteen Minutes and House of Sand and Fog, while I finish Atonement. (WHY is it taking me so long to finish? Ian McEwan is a fantastic author, and Briony Tallis has quickly become one of my favorite protagonists this side of Scout Finch. And yet, it's taken me two weeks and I'm only halfway through. Sigh.)
But Erin's veiled (okay, not-so-veiled) hints at how awesome Stephenie Meyer's series is, coupled with my discovery that the movie version of Twilight, starring one of my favorite actors, Kristen Stewart, is due out this December, prompted me to preempt Atonement.
I meant to read a couple chapters while I ate dinner and then move on to other tasks. Namely, cleaning my apartment, packing up some more of my belongings into Chick-fil-A Waffle Fries boxes, and oh yeah -- watching "The Constant," the newest LOST episode.
And yet, until five minutes ago, I was still reading Twilight.
I am completely besotted with this novel. I admit -- I heard "Young Adult" and "vampire" and thought that, while it sounded interesting, it couldn't be all that masterful. And yet it is. I love Bella, the main character. She is written so well, and even if I hadn't already known Stewart had been tapped to play her in the movie, I would've probably imagined her anyway. It is so the type of role at which she excels. I am also a bit in love with Edward. You know, the fictional -- and immortal -- male protagonist. (He's being played by Robert Pattinson, the (hot) guy who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.) Holy crap. I think my breath actually quickens when I read the scenes of the two of them together. It reminds me a great deal of Season 1-2 Buffy-Angel interactions. So incredibly, incredibly -- and epically -- romantic.
I am afraid, though, that people my age -- you know, "grown-ups" -- will be disenchanted, or just plain turned off, by the notion that this is technically a Young Adult series, and that there are characters who just happen to be vampires. (And, I think, werewolves -- I haven't gotten that far yet.) It's kind of the same prejudice that caused people to miss out on the brilliance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I am willing to read anything, whether it's intended for high schoolers or adults, as long as it's well-written and involves compelling plots and engaging, relateable characters. Meyer delivers in spades.
She really is an excellent, very descriptive writer capable of evoking a great deal of emotion. She's a better writer than JK Rowling, I must admit, and while I will always be enamored with Harry Potter...well, I can't wait to read the entire Twilight series. According to an interview I read, KS said there would be a fourth book coming out soon, and that she's hoping they shoot all four (or however many there are ultimately) and that she's excited to be involved in all of them.
I'm only 160 pages in, and I'm already willing to go out on a limb and highly, highly -- and unequivocally -- recommend this series.
