Entranced....again!

I as stated before, I'm re-reading Stephanie Meyers' Twilight series in preparation for the release of Eclipse in the theaters. I love reading favorites over and over because I pick up on something different every time. Subsequently, different feelings tend to surface. For instance, the first time I read Twilight all I wanted was for Bella to be able to be with Edward fully by becoming a vampire. At the end of the book, when Edward asks "You're ready now, then?" I really wanted him to bite her and make her a vampire. I understood her love for him and how becoming a vampire was the only way to make her his equal. On this read, I found myself siding with Edward a little bit. I saw, through his love, that he wanted her to experience life, human life, even if that meant that he had to be careful in physically expressing his love for her. This train of thought/change of heart, began as I noticed Genesis 2:17, printed at the beginning of the book; "But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surly die." Keeping that passage in mind throughout my reading, I was less convinced that Bella was right. How can eternal death with Edward be better than eternal life with God? I may be going too deep here, but Edward continuously refers to himself as a monster, evil, hideous. I admire that Bella is able to look past that and see him for the loving, kind, beautiful creature that he is. When I first read the book, I thought that she was seeing his exquisite good looks, his intoxicating breath, his mesmerizing eyes. Now I understand that she sees past the monster to the humanness he struggles to hold on to. That's what she falls in love with and that is what Edward wants her to hold on to. He wants her to live human, not die to be with him. Even though she wouldn't cease to exist, her conversion to a vampire would take away her most human characteristic: her ability to die in this world to experience eternal life in the next. So is it better for Bella to be with the one she loves forever by "eating of the tree of knowledge"? Or, is she giving into the same temptation presented to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Up Next

I've read the Twilight series before, but will be re-reading them in preparation for the release of New Moon next week. I love, love, love this series and am excited to begin reading them again.

For the love of money

I have now read 2 Candace Bushnell books and am not impressed. One Fifth was much better than Lipstick Jungle, but that's not saying much. I just can't take the shallow characters and predictable endings as serious literature. Especially when she's asking me to get "involved" in a world in which I have no desire to live. As some of my friends will tell you, I resist a great deal of pop culture. Spending time with the rich and famous is not necessarily my cup of tea. However, One Fifth does ask the reader to ponder the age old question: Is the love of money the root of all evil? In this case, as in most cases, the answer is a resounding yes. Lola is your typical spoiled brat gold digger who whores herself out for her "place" in high society. The more she does this, the unhappier she is. She then convinces herself that all she needs is to be famous and have money and the vicious cycle continues. The richer Paul Rice gets on Wall Street, the more he feels as if he can do whatever he wants to whomever he wants and get away with it. He does get away with it until finally his monetary force field breaks down leaving him without even the ability to get up every morning. Even his wife, Annalisa, whom I liked at first, ends up compromising her backbone, morals and friendships because she's afraid to lose Paul's money and therefore her place in society. Finally, Billy Litchfield, who doesn't even have money (he made the statement: "who needs money when you have rich friends?") allows his love for the rich to take his life. Is money really that important? In their search for monetary greatness, each person loses a piece of himself or herself along the way, making each less of a person than when the book began. None of the characters have true happiness while they have money, or in Billy's case, friends with money. As a small town southern lady, I haven't spent much time on Fifth Avenue or in New York for that matter. Are there really people out there who let their love for making money destroy themselves, their loved ones, and the world around them? Look around you at the oil spill or the golden parachutes of Wall Street, the economy, or Washington and unfortunately, the answer is obvious.

Purpose

Thanks for visiting. I decided to start this blog as an outlet for my need to write about, engage others in, and generally appreciate literature of all kinds. Most of the time, it will be a commentary on what I'm reading at the moment. However, I would like to engage you, the reader, in conversation about whatever it is that is in front of me. I'll also include lists of favorite books, comments on movies based on various books, and questions for all of us to consider. My goal is to grow in my understanding and interpretation of the written word and help you, if you'd like, do the same. A quick disclosure: I will be honest, brutally and otherwise. I am not seeking approval, rather I am just documenting the thoughts in my head. I hope you enjoy and please comment at any time.