Eclipse

Ladies,

There are so many things I like about Eclipse. One is the title. How cool is it that Edward, the vampire, the cold creature of the night, eclipses Jacob who was Bella's sun! (see pages 599-600--Jacob, "He's like a drug for you. . . I would have been the air, the sun." Bella, "I used to think of you [as my personal sun]. You balanced out the clouds. . . ." Jacob, "The clouds I can handle. But I can't fight with an eclipse.") No sun can. The literary technique is just cool.

Second, as much as Bella's indecision about Jacob and Edward drove me crazy (she really acts like a self-centered teeny-bopper at times), I think I would have been madder if her decision to become a vampire had been made easily. This book really makes her LOOK: She is going to give up the ability to have children (Rosalie's story). That is HUGE. She is going to have to learn to control incredibly strong desires to do horrible things (Jasper's story and the new vampire, Bree). She really has to look at this. I know she dismisses it, but Edward is concerned about her SOUL. Her indecision finally makes me believe that she really understands that she is going to have to SACRIFICE something to be with Edward (page 589). If she hadn't valued Jacob, it would have been no sacrifice.

Third, Bella finally grows up and begins to think of others. Her decision to have a wedding for her parents and for Alice, her decision to be clear and honest with Jacob even if it hurts her, and most important, HER decision to wait to have sex until she and Edward are married (she finally cares about HIS soul page 620) demonstrates some maturity. She is going to need it to become a Cullen. (I know that the descriptions of her physical attraction to Edward are breath-taking and that is not so good for the target audience. I was grateful that Bella finally made the right choice. I can only hope that the teen-age target audience got the point that she was really making the BETTER choice no matter how strong her desires were.)

So, even though it drove me crazy, I think the conflict of Bella trying to figure out who she really is and who she really wants to become was important. (The two magnets she was trying to force together were two parts of herself, p. 608)

For those of you who don’t know, my husband, Rod, read the book as well (as did two sons and two daughters-in-law). We now have a family blog about this book—great conversations. I wanted to include Rod’s idea that the best way for this story to end would be for Edward to become mortal. Meyer hints at this on page 273 when Edward says, "If there were any way for me to become human for you--no matter what the price was, I would pay it." Interesting thought. (At that point in the book, he was the one making the sacrifices.)

Finally, KT . . . I really appreciated your sarcasm. You are right. Bella really doesn't appreciate what she has. Edward's willingness to sacrifice everything to see that she is truly happy is so intense. I can't wait to read the book from his perspective (if Meyer still plans to write it). I also look forward (I think) to the sequal, New Horizons (?) I look forward to reading more of your thoughts.