Eclipse

I can't believe I've read 1500 or so pages in the last 3 weeks. Thanks, Stephanie Meyer. I'm currently on Breaking Dawn, so it'll be around 2000 pages when I'm done! Time off after a layoff can be a good thing, see. Reading, my first love in life, has filled my time and has inspired me.

My original complaint about this series was that the central love story just didn't seem real enough. As the story continues, I'm glad to say, it does start to fall into place. Thankfully, Edward evolves from the insanely obsessed I-have-to-be-with-you-every-second smothering boyfriend to something..much more. Of course, his biggest concern is for Bella's safety, which, as she's set up as a clumsy, accident-prone, unlucky damsel in distress, makes sense. I've seen too many real-life obsessions went wrong to have any sympathy for that type of plotline. But, as the books continue, Meyer's storytelling gets better and better.

I was up until 2 am last night finishing Eclipse; you really can't put it down. And I started immediately on Breaking Dawn, because by this point, I have to know what happens to these characters.

They're all evolving in ways that I like: Werewolves and Vampires are actually being civil (the whole Edward vs. Jacob rivalry needed to resolve itself), Bella and Edward are becoming more like a couple and not just obsessed teens. I still wish Bella had any sense of female empowerment; she seems to always need someone to rescue her. I'd like to see her rescue herself.

I'm hoping she does get her wish, to join Edward in Vampire Land, because with her ability to dispel vampire mind tricks, she should have some interesting powers of her own. And, here's hoping she bails other people out for once, instead of them always bailing her out.

I can't wait to see these on the big screen. The F/X alone should be tremendous. Werewolves, vampires, huge battles, dark meetings...sounds like my kind of movies.

Check it out, if you're one of the few like me that had not. Guaranteed not to disappoint.

New Moon

Finally! Some angst, heartbreak, panic, and fear. Meyer's second entry in the Twilight series is much better than the first. She finally gets around to things that interest me as a reader:

1) Dark, disturbing events (I actually felt horror this time)
2) A more angst-filled heroine (I like shiny happy, but not in a vampire story)
3) One word: Werewolves. :)
4) Some nice commentary on life, death, and what it all means

She also does things I like as an author myself:

1) Begins with a quote (The Bible, Shakespeare, Frost)
2) Includes a teaser Preface (Note to self: Steal this tactic! It really draws you in)
3) Thanks musical groups in her acknowledgment section (I do that too)

New Moon is primarily about Bella and Jacob, her new best friend-turned werewolf. Sorry, Edward fans, he doesn't show up for about 500 pages. Seriously. I felt for Jacob, knowing that his friendship with Bella would always be only that; it's not a spoiler to note that she feels life is pointless without Edward, and she'll never love another.

I loved the werewolf lore, the exciting vampire coven visit near the end, and the pure agony Bella is in throughout.

Unfortunately, (fans will hang me for saying this) the pivitol storyline, this incredible I-will-die-without-you love that Bella and Edward have for each other, just isn't believable to me. I try and try, but hollow phrases like "I won't live without you," after he's gone for 8 months, just don't gel.

I guess this type of Romeo and Juliet love story (nice tie-in in the novel) seems unrealistic to me because, it is. Romeo and Juliet were more believable because they had Shakespeare for an author. But even their "love at first sight" idea always seemed like a nice fantasy, rather than anything real.

I'd like to note here that I'm not a bitter singleton; I believe 100% in soulmates and in romance. I just think real romance is lifelong. Let's see how Edward and Bella do if they get married. Or if she becomes a vampire and they have to live together..forever.

It reminds me of when Bean said once, "Why can't we just die and be done with it? Do we really have to spend eternity with people? It's enough already." haha She was kidding. Maybe.

I recommend New Moon, as it was a better entry in the series. We'll see how Eclipse measures up. Personally, I hope more mythical creatures show up. They're more believable to me. haha

Twilight

So, I finally got around to reading Twilight. We saw the movie last week, and liked it, and, after hearing that this was "The next Harry Potter," I decided to finally give the book a chance. I'll admit, I thought comparisons to Harry Potter were slightly blasphemous. I was right, sort of. While I really liked the story, and the ideas (vampires are always an interesting myth), the novel itself was clearly written for teenagers, its style a bit too dumbed-down for my taste. Harry Potter, on the other hand, was so perfectly crafted, so that adults as well as teens, as well as children, could enjoy it. I still don't know how JK did that.

But "Twilight" was a very enjoyable read. I'm used to more complicated writing, I suppose, since I like to read mainly classic lit and don't consider contemporary lit to be very overwhelming in general. The story is a timeless one: Average Girl falls for The Bad Guy, The Romeo, The Prince, The Rebel. Of course he's gorgeous. Of course he's mysterious. And, as an added twist....he's a good vampire, torn by his need to drink her blood and his love of her as a human.

I love romance, so that part was nice. I didn't quite feel the "obsessive" love she has for him, and he for her. They seemed very much like the teens they were supposed to be, rather than people ahead of everyone else.

The dark mood was there, sort of, but I'd have made it a much darker story, and him a much darker character. I guess I prefer the "monster" idea of a vampire.

I saw a History Channel special on Vlad The Impaler, the original basis for the Dracula legend, and let me say, it bothers me to this day. He was such a cruel and inhuman person, based on what history tells us. He actually was reported to have drunk the blood of people he had impaled to death. Hence, the stake through the heart for killing vampires. Possibly more disturbing, was that (I saw this in another special about the Vampire Legend. History Channel rocks.) during the hysteria over vampires several centuries ago, many innocents were killed and abused because of superstition and ignorance. Many of the "signs" of vampirism were nothing more than the natural decay process and signs of illnesses.

So, given its dark history, and the fact that my ideas about all of the mythical monsters come from older books or The X Files, I thought "Twilight," while enjoyable, was a little too....light.

But I'll have to admit, picturing Robert Patinson the whole time was nice. :)
Who knew Cedric Diggory would turn out to be so hot? haha

I recommend the book and the movie, but for vampire nerds, maybe, stick to the classics.

RIP, Circuit City

After 8 1/2 years of service, my employment with Circuit City will end (around March 16-21st). I learned a tremendous amount about customer support, electronics, technology, and writing during my tenure. I never thought what was once the #1 electronics retailer in the United States would one day close its doors for good. I had hoped for a career until retirement with CC.

But, with the economy as it is, and retail as well as other major job markets struggling, we all have to move on. So, remaining employees have 60 days left of employment. I don't question my skills or marketability; I question the fact that 2 million or so others just like me, many more skilled, are also out there looking.

Here's hoping for that miracle, for us all.
Good Luck Obama; you have the hardest job in the world right now.

To the truly heartless customers who wrote in (there were many) and said, "I hope you go out of business," I hope God forgives you for your attitude, because I don't.

Good Luck to everyone at CC! Some of my favorite people in the world, I met there.
Here's hoping we all end up in better opportunities.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Over the holidays a friend of mine, whose taste is very similar to mine, loaned me this novel to read. My first thought was, Do I really want to read a 700 page book about The Tudors? I love history, but for some reason, I pictured this novel being dry and dull.

I couldn't have been more wrong! This novel was fantastic, through and through. Once I started, I could NOT put it down. Historically speaking, the author takes several liberties, and fictionalizes based on some of the more sensational rumors about these characters: Henry VIII is portrayed as a constant sexual conquerer of women, Anne Boleyn is portrayed as hateful, murderous, and ambitious beyond reason, and Mary Boleyn (the narrator and title character), is our hapless heroine, very naive and very likable.

Going in, I remembered that in real life, Anne Boleyn was beheaded, and that Henry VIII was seen as a tyrant, but otherwise, I knew nothing about Mary Boleyn or the possible goings-on at court. Court was vividly described, and I got a good idea of how these people lived their lives. Some of the more controversial plot points (i.e. reasons Anne was put to death, the sexuality of her brother George) were disturbing to imagine as true, and in reality, may not have been, but Damn! It made for great reading.

Another friend of mine, who is a historian, will not read books by this author, due to the historical innacurracies. And, being a Lit Nerd, myself, I can understand; I'm not keen on people reinventing authors, much like my friend is not keen on people reinventing historical figures.

But if you read it for the pure FUN of it, you'll love this book. Just plead ignorance like I did, and read up on the history later. ;)

A+, a MUST READ in my opinion. Maybe more for female readers, as there's a lot of romance and romantic ideas in there.

And the movie version...was completely different than the book, and nowhere near as good. They removed Anne's evil side for the movie (which, they kind of had to, with Natalie Portman in the role), made her mother sympathetic (in the book, one of the horrifying elements is the complete lack of sympathy the Boleyn girls get from their own mother), and about 1/3 of the story is glossed over. The movie was entertaining, and with actors I really like. So I'd still recommend it. But if you want the extended, in-depth, much more intense version, read the book.