Comments on: ‘Eclipse’: No Cheap Grace, No Easy Love

By: Sapphire

Sapphire — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 23:42:06 +0000

I think that Bella is right to have not married Edward yet…..even though she is completely in love with him. And is Jacob Black really a werewolf? I’ve only read the first book, Twilight…….

By: The Muser

The Muser — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 04:31:20 +0000

You’re right about the complexity involved in this book, especially in regards to the love triangle. I had overlooked that in some of my critiques of the series. However, I think _Breaking Dawn_ really undoes a lot of the complexity set up in this novel and oversimplifies. I also am not sure I agree that Bella matures much in her understanding of the ethical aspects of love and commitment, despite her willingness to have a wedding. She is, at this point (if I remember correctly), seeing the wedding as her goodbye to all of those people she has connections to. It may be momentarily making people feel better about her commitment, but then she plans to let them think she has died so that she can go off and be with Edward forever…Meyers neatly solves that problem in _Breaking Dawn_ by letting her skip the newborn phase so she can still have a relationship with her dad, but I don’t think Bella ever really matures. In this book she’s willing to sacrifice everything for romantic love, even potentially, other humans’ lives if she’s not able to contain her bloodlust…It’s strange because on the one hand she’s a deeply ethical character with astounding self-control and clarity, but on the other she’s driven primarily by her erotic love and never really learn to live ethically or commit except romantically. Meyers really never gives her the chance to truly mature because of all the clever but perhaps cheap plot twists in the 4th book that get her out of having the choose exactly when to become a vampire, having to really find a way to relate lovingly to Jacob, having to truly learn how to master her bloodlust, having to ever struggle with negative feelings toward her husband or child and figure out how to come to terms with all the true complexities of love… (and let me tell you, having a kid seriously complicates romantic love and there’s the constant struggle to understand how to have deep commitments both to a spouse and a child. Though if you never had to sleep, that would certainly give you lots more time with your husband. I hadn’t thought of vampirism as a good potential solution to never having enough time with my husband!).

By: The Dane

The Dane — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:13:42 +0000

Yes, Gilmore Girls is definitely one to stay away from. If the show didn't have Rory or Lorelei, it probably woulda been one of the best shows around. But it did. So it wasn't. I actually got about six episodes through the second season before I gave up bitterly. My wife finished off the season while I played WoW in the same room and so was cognizant of the soapy plot. There was no move on either of our parts to attempt a third season. The Danes last blog post..20080801

By: Carissa Smith

Carissa Smith — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:03:10 +0000

1) I’m afraid I have no idea, because every time I tried to watch “Gilmore Girls,” it annoyed me so much I had to leave the room. I only know enough to recognize the characters’ names, though my general impression is that if there was a bad decision to be made about relationships, Rory made it.

2) Edward is perfectly happy to wait, but Bella has this thing about dreading being older than Edward. Probably gives you a complex when all of your friends are non-aging immortals.

3) “Bells,” yes, but no “Belly” yet. We can hold out hope for Breaking Dawn.

By: The Dane

The Dane — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:16:21 +0000

I have to admit this is an interesting way to consume a story that I have no real intention of ever reading for myself. Not being privy to all the bits of the story as you are, I have a couple questions. 1) Is Bella/Edward/Jacob essentially Rory/Dean/Jess in redux. Because that was bad enough the first time and this really does kinda sound like that. 2) If Bella is uncomfortable with marriage at age eighteen, then why won't Edward wait until she's what? twenty-four? Edwards an old man and if there's one thing he should have, it's patience. Girls are generally better-looking at twenty-four than they are at eighteen anyway, so if Bella's gonna eternalize, what better body to have until forever? 3) Do her friends call her Belly? Because I totally would. The Danes last blog post..20080801