I finished reading Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer about twenty minutes ago. I've been reading it all day. It's the kind of book where you only put it down if you have to, and even if it means you only got 4 hours of sleep that night, you are waking up early to continue reading it. And sorry, I rambled a bit about it, and if you haven't read it, you might want to skim to the end. But I wanted to tell you how this book moved me and it was the only way I knew how.
I'd read that a lot of readers were disappointed and even angry at what happened in the book. The love triangle, of course. But I don't understand, don't they see beyond that? The struggle, the anguish, life? Life isn't about soulmates and love is complicated. They hated that Bella loved Jacob too and was torn between him and Edward, but I don't understand that either. Bella will always choose Edward, it is inevitable. She loved him first and she'll love him last. If she had loved Jacob first...but she didn't. For the past three books she has loved Edward more, he was her life. It would be series suicide to change that course.
But didn't they feel any remorse for Jacob? You knew he loved Bella but you also knew that it would never be anything more than what might have been. Jacob is better for Bella. Her future would be better with him. The way Stephenie Meyer describes what these vampires are like....their entire bodies are as hard as rock and cold as ice. I can't picture Bella like this. No, I don't want her to become a vampire. I want her to be with Edward, I do...but I wish there was a way for Edward to become human again.
I posed this question to some readers, if both choices were possible, would you rather Bella become a vampire or Edward become human again? Can you believe that they all said vampire? It's like...they just see the surface, or maybe I read too deep. They want Bella to give up her humanity, and they don't want her to love Jacob. Maybe it's cause they are young, I can tell that they were cause of their grammar and spelling. lol. Maybe it's because I'm older, not neccesarily in age, but in wisdom, that I have this view. Love triangles are real and they hurt, because it's supposed to hurt someone or everyone. Not everyone can win in a love triangle, usually no one does. What would the victory be if your choice caused someone else pain? No, love triangles have sharp corners and they pierce.
But...I've never had a book affect me the way this one did. When I read a book that I'm really into, I associate with the heroine. I feel her anguish, her joy, her anger, and her sadness. Sometimes so much that it might make tears gather in my eyes. But this book...Bella, Edward, and Jacob....I felt them all. By the end of the book I was bawling, and I'm still affected. But somehow at the end, all the pain I feel is for Jacob. I grieve for him. Bella and Edward have it all figured out, they are closed off. But Jacob...I do believe he loved her from the start. And most of all, I'm extremely uncertain about what is going to happen in Breaking Dawn. With New Moon and Eclipse....we had an idea. But Breaking Dawn, there isn't even a blurb written for it yet. Why, I don't even know if Stephenie Meyer has started writing it yet, last I checked it was still in outline stage. It won't be out until fall of next year...that is a long time. More than a year. Will I even care by then? Of course I will. I'm affected now and I have to know how it ends. And most of all, I want Jacob to have a happy ending, but without Edward losing his.
But I'm still amazed how this book affected me, how I still want to cry for Jacob even though I'm done reading it. All authors dream of their readers getting moved like this. Because it means that they got in your heart somehow and that it was no longer reading as a hobby or as pleasure, but an addiction. I have to know how the story ends. And even if it ends in a way I don't like or don't expect, that doesn't matter, because the story will still be over. No more.
That book moved me in a way no book ever has. Do you dream of having that power? That gift to give? I do.
I'd read that a lot of readers were disappointed and even angry at what happened in the book. The love triangle, of course. But I don't understand, don't they see beyond that? The struggle, the anguish, life? Life isn't about soulmates and love is complicated. They hated that Bella loved Jacob too and was torn between him and Edward, but I don't understand that either. Bella will always choose Edward, it is inevitable. She loved him first and she'll love him last. If she had loved Jacob first...but she didn't. For the past three books she has loved Edward more, he was her life. It would be series suicide to change that course.
But didn't they feel any remorse for Jacob? You knew he loved Bella but you also knew that it would never be anything more than what might have been. Jacob is better for Bella. Her future would be better with him. The way Stephenie Meyer describes what these vampires are like....their entire bodies are as hard as rock and cold as ice. I can't picture Bella like this. No, I don't want her to become a vampire. I want her to be with Edward, I do...but I wish there was a way for Edward to become human again.
I posed this question to some readers, if both choices were possible, would you rather Bella become a vampire or Edward become human again? Can you believe that they all said vampire? It's like...they just see the surface, or maybe I read too deep. They want Bella to give up her humanity, and they don't want her to love Jacob. Maybe it's cause they are young, I can tell that they were cause of their grammar and spelling. lol. Maybe it's because I'm older, not neccesarily in age, but in wisdom, that I have this view. Love triangles are real and they hurt, because it's supposed to hurt someone or everyone. Not everyone can win in a love triangle, usually no one does. What would the victory be if your choice caused someone else pain? No, love triangles have sharp corners and they pierce.
But...I've never had a book affect me the way this one did. When I read a book that I'm really into, I associate with the heroine. I feel her anguish, her joy, her anger, and her sadness. Sometimes so much that it might make tears gather in my eyes. But this book...Bella, Edward, and Jacob....I felt them all. By the end of the book I was bawling, and I'm still affected. But somehow at the end, all the pain I feel is for Jacob. I grieve for him. Bella and Edward have it all figured out, they are closed off. But Jacob...I do believe he loved her from the start. And most of all, I'm extremely uncertain about what is going to happen in Breaking Dawn. With New Moon and Eclipse....we had an idea. But Breaking Dawn, there isn't even a blurb written for it yet. Why, I don't even know if Stephenie Meyer has started writing it yet, last I checked it was still in outline stage. It won't be out until fall of next year...that is a long time. More than a year. Will I even care by then? Of course I will. I'm affected now and I have to know how it ends. And most of all, I want Jacob to have a happy ending, but without Edward losing his.
But I'm still amazed how this book affected me, how I still want to cry for Jacob even though I'm done reading it. All authors dream of their readers getting moved like this. Because it means that they got in your heart somehow and that it was no longer reading as a hobby or as pleasure, but an addiction. I have to know how the story ends. And even if it ends in a way I don't like or don't expect, that doesn't matter, because the story will still be over. No more.
That book moved me in a way no book ever has. Do you dream of having that power? That gift to give? I do.
