GRADUATION!! (Grad School)

Sunday, December 2

36 hours later.....

I have finished The Twilight Collection; all 1, 690 pages. I can now say that I understand the obsession. Pardon the spoilers, if you don’t want to hear it then you are done reading for now. Lol! At least you know what I did for my weekend. Lol!

Everyone I have spoken to is in love with Edward. I can understand the pull and by the end of book one I was in complete agreement with my cousin’s statement of wanting her own Edward. But as I progressed through book two and book three I came to disagree. I think I would prefer my own Jacob. Lol! I am probably the only one that finds this extremely ironic. Let me explain.

I noticed while reading these books that the author liked to incorporate the classic works of fiction; Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights (which I now want to read) etc. As I read New Moon and Eclipse I kept seeing the role of Colonel Brandon being played by the young Jacob. At first this frustrated me. Anyone who knows the story of Sense and Sensibility realizes that Maryanne ends up with good Colonel Brandon. He is the man that is best for her, the one who loves her the most. I have always hated that story for just that reason. I never cared what Brandon felt. I thought that Maryanne settled for less then she deserved. She deserved a Willoughby that was a good man but she settled for the lackluster relationship to be had with Brandon instead of waiting for something better. Not that Willoughby would have gotten any better, but maybe, just maybe, there would have been something like that available with someone else at another time. I thought she was a coward and took the safe option.

But time and again, as I read these books, my sympathies went to Jacob. Edward was the handsome Willoughby. He swooped in with his looks and talents and advantages and there love blossomed. This time though, Willoughby was deserving of the fair Maryanne; he was a good man. He deserved her affection and the sacrifices he made were for her. So this time she didn’t have to settle. But would it really have been settling? The love was there, just as strong, if not more powerful. Jacob was the steady comfort that would never leave. He watched over Bella as she struggled to come back from the edge of despair; helping as much as he was able. Of course there were the mistakes of the young and foolish, but nothing that was unforgivable. He would have been perfect for Bella, fulfilling all of her mortal dreams. But her dreams were no longer of the mortal kind. While, her choice is not one I would have made (I think I prefer Fire to Ice), I can understand and realize that Jacob deserves more then second place. I am aching to read book 4 when it comes out, in hopes that he finds first place with another.

Back to my original thought, somehow I have come 180 degrees from my original view of dear Colonel Brandon. I seem to be sympathizing with the Colonel. *GASP* Maybe my perspective has changed over the years. Maybe I realized that I no longer dream of a Willoughby to come in and sweep me off my feet. I can stand on my own two feet just fine. Maybe I now hope for days when I can enjoy the constant steady love that is borne of trust and friendship. The consistent kind of love that will keep me from the edge of insanity that seems to permeate my life.

5 comments:

tara said...

I am most definitely a Jacob fan. Edward is a bit too controlling...or something.

Joy said...

I liked Jacob the best. But then I pretty much hated these books by the time I finished the third one.

Rae said...

Hate is such a strong word. Lol! Why did you hate them?

Joy said...

Hate is such a strong word, and is the perfect word in this case, as the last book was brutal to finish, but I persevered. Dan Brown was my least favorite popular writer, but he's been passed after I finished Eclipse.

The writing, the plotting, the character development, the plot, the plot devices, the speed of the book... She fails at all of the above. I have no problem with books that are just fluff--However, this is very poorly written fluff.

But that's just my opinion. I know I'm a minority, and I'm totally cool with that. I did like the character of Jacob.

Gwen Lafleur said...

lol, I love these books. And I adore Edward. I like how he realizes that he can't control Bella and learns to trust her. Jake pisses me off. He ignores everything she tells him, ignores her wishes and continues to push because she's what HE wants, never mind what she wants. He thinks he knows what's best for her and pushes on. They both made mistakes, but he annoyed me. I skip several hundred pages of New Moon when I re-read it. lol. And I liked Colonel Brandon better. I didn't like Willoughby. :D