Name Diary

I love the names in the Twilight series, especially Esme, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper (it's great when they call them Em and Jazz:) And Renesmee is a very clever one as well.

I wonder if they mean anything ...

P.S. I forgot to mention Seth, Leah, Jared and Quil:)

Breaking Dawn

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html

SPOILER WARNING!

I just thought I'd throw in a few things about about Breaking Dawn. It's been a while since I finished it, but I had to chew it over, and now that I finished the series, I turned to the fandom to check what's going on over there. I still have a lot of catching up to do on that front:)

I've read that one almost overnight, literally, it was riveting.

In the first two books I felt very badly for Jacob. His pain was almost heartbreaking. Prior to the book, I wondered how things with him will turn out. It didn't look likely that Bella would choose him over Edward; if she has never met Edward, then maybe, but as it is ...

It was very clever of Stephanie to make Jacob the narrator in the second book. We got a clear view of the extent of his love for Bella and his suffering because of it. We also got some of the pack dynamics firsthand (or firstpaw, should I say). He was more or less a helpless witness through Bella's quick pregnancy and transformation; I don't know what he would have done with himself for the rest of his life if he didn't imprint on Bella's daughter.

Although Edward and Bella didn't like this at first, I find it a perfect solution: it's as if Jacob's Bella and Edward's Bella split in two persons: one remaining Bella (Edward's Bella) and the other, Jacob's Bella -- becoming Renesmee. After the transformation, Bella admits that she no longer longs for Jacob; she dismisses her need for him as some human weakness, but maybe she feels that way because that part of her went into Renesmee.

I must admit that Bella's transformatiion in a vampire worried me a bit because of all the things about newborns that we learnt in Eclipse. Bella herself was worried, too, at one point -- about how she would not be able to think of anything else but her thirst, how that can even obscure her love for Edward, how she would not be able to see her parents or any human friends.

But her trasnformation exceeded anyone's expectations. True, she felt thirst, but it was not anything like blinding obssession. My explanation is that Bella's chief motive for becoming a vampire was her love for Edward. This somehow kept her mind focused, this was the core of her being and so she managed to keep it through the transformation. What's more, her llove and desire for him became even stronger as her mind and abilites expanded when she turned into a vampire. It suited her perfectly, which made me accept it more easily. Her gift is remarkable. Finally, we have an explanation why Edward couldn't read her thoughts or the Voulturi torture her. It turns out that her mind carries a kind of protective shield which does not allow any outer influence, manipulation, illusions, nothing from the outside. Ultimately, it was her gift that saved them, or at least significantly contributed to their saving from the Volturi. At first glance, it doesn't look like a powerful talent: it doesn't sound as cool as reading minds or foreseeing the future. Its power is protection not intrusion or attack.

I liked the ending very much: finally Bella got what she wanted and managed somehow to bring all the people she cares about together. She is with Edward and the Cullens, she has her daughter, she sees Jacob and the other werewolves, the treaty is upheld. She bridges the gap among humans, vampires and werewolves. She even manages to see Charlie, and to keep the secret from him at the same time. No wonder the Volturi wanted her. She's eons away from the average girl she saw herself as at the onset of Twilight.

It's always good to have a big showdown towards the end, but I find that the Volturi overreacted; surely, a single vampire child (as they saw Renesmee) couldn't pose much of a treat for them. OK, the werewolves could be a problem for them as well. They like to show off, but still ... it just a bit patched up to me.

Overall, I enjoyed Breaking Dawn enormously. It's a great end to the series.

Phase in Jacob Black

http://twilightsource.com/tsgallery/?level=album&id=5&plog_page=3

SPOILER WARNING!

When Jacob Black first appeared in Twilight (maybe I'm repeating myself, but anyway), I didn't think he'll pay such a major role in the series. He turns out to be a werewolf, an Alpha, a born leader, though he didn't want that birthright.

From the very begining, he's likable and easy-going and Bella often says that it's so easy to be with him. Thinking about him, I was struck by how much he changes since Twilight. Initially he is carefree and entertaining company, then after he learns that all the werewolf legends are true, he goes through a period of denial and fear of rejection. He becomes a bit more comfortable when Bella doesn't abandon him because he can now transform into a giant wolf, but his struggles have only just began. He's one of the characters (if not the one) that I empathise most with. He knows that he loves Bella and that she loves him back, but that she loves a vampire and is prepared to become one herself in order to always live with Edward. One of the problems is that vampires are mortal enemies to the werewolves and Jacob feels a real aversion for the person (ok, vampire) Bella cannot live without. In the course of the series, he manages to overcome that aversion so as not to lose Bella. He is devasted by the knowledge that she wants to become a vampire, but eventually, when her life is in danger, he would accept even that, so that she can continue to exist. Her personality does not change much after the transformation, so that is a comfort, but still, Jacob is ina pretty bad situation: his love is doomed: even though Bella loves him, she can never choose him over Edward. Jacob is more of a friend or family to her. He saved her from the desperation and depression following Edward's departure. Edward started tolerating him initially because of that.

But what can the future hold for Jacob after Bella's transformation? And then he imprints on Bella's half-human, half-vampire daughter and that drives her crazy.

I'll see how this one will turn out, but I think this is a pretty good outcome for Jacob, at least now he has any chance of being happy with a person closer to Bella than anyone. What's more, this imprinting bridges so many gaps: among the human, the vampire and the werewolf worlds. Bella thought the feud between werewolves and vampires unnecessary and Jacob's falling for a half-vampire girl emphasizes that idea. Maybe there will be a happily ever after for Jacob as well.

Breaking Dawn

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html

SPOILER WARNING!

Did it again. OK, didn't make it quite to dawn, though it was pretty much morning when I put down Breaking Dawn, half-way through. This blog suspiciously look like a Twilight fan blog, but it's not. It just takes time to go through the thousands of pages that make up the series.

This last book is the size of a brick and it's pretty dramatic, I must say. Bella's wedding and pregnancy, and transformation, Jacob's imprinting ... I can't say I'm so surpirised with that: he's a too good character to be left to howling in the distance ...

Eclipse in the night

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/eclipse.html

SPOILER WARNING!

I've got quite a few favourite books, but it is not often the case that they keep me up till 3.a.m.
That was Eclipse's job. Part of it had to do with the fact that I know I'd have very little time for reading today (I was right). The bigger part was that I couldn't just put it down. OK, I pronounce it my favourite from the Twilight series so far (having not read Breaking Dawn yet, though I leafed through it). That has not so much to do with what happens next and how it ends. I know that this isn't the end since there's one more book. It's more to do with why it happens. How it turns out for Bella, for Jacob, for the Cullens.
Thinking about it, I'd have to admit, I'd pick The Half-blood Prince as my favourite from the Harry Potter series and it's the penultimate book, just like Eclipse. Both are not so much action driven, but more like emotion-driven, will-driven. It's more or less clear what will happen towards the end in both: Harry learns he has to find all the Horcruxes, while Bella knows that sooner or later Victoria will lcome for her. In Eclipse it is very interesting to see how the dynamic between Bella, Edward and Jacob turns out, between the Cullens and the werewolves, etc. Bella has to make some really definng decision, she can't be split in two or three, even: between the human, the vampire and the werewolf worlds.

To be continued ...

P.S. I wonder what's with the cover? This one and the New Moon's are the two that I find the most curious ...