Stick Games, Caffeine, and Eclipse: A Weekend Recap
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We had a great weekend. Eve, Ryan, and Lindsey came down on Saturday for a sleepover. There was hiking to the river, Candyland, pizza, hot chocolate, stories in bed, and also a late-night romp in the yard. Ryan and Lindsey were in their pajamas, and we put on their crocs and played sticks with Rocky out in the warm night air. Rocky was in puppy heaven. I'd creep up to one of them and say, "Look---isn't that a giraffe?" and when they'd turn to where I was pointing, I'd scoop them up and swirl them. We did this for about a half hour, and I myself was in aunt-heaven. There's something magical about a suburban yard on a warm night.
On Sunday we took another hike, went out for lunch, and then they dropped me off around 2:00. I immediately took a four-and-a-half-hour nap. When I got up I was groggy and drank perhaps just a teensy tiny bit too much coffee. This led to me reading the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, ALL NIGHT long. I literally read it until I finished it, at about 7:30 Monday morning.
I really loved Eclipse. I was once again thinking about Stephenie Meyer's writing, how the dialogue sometimes has too much hyperbole ("'That can't be!', I shrieked") and too much repetition ("Edward, you can't blame yourself!" "Bella, you can't blame yourself!" "Edward, I'd never forgive myself if you blame yourself!" "Bella, I'd never forgive myself if you never forgive yourself!"). And yet there's this:
1. As one of the characters in The Jane Austen Book Club says of our beloved Jane: "She plots like a m*****f****r." Stephenie Meyer is a serious, master plotter.
2. The books are really thematically rich. They deal with---with subtlety and at length---tons of interesting questions. Like what does it mean to love someone, what do you owe your family, what compromises are acceptable and which not. I'm glad that I read Meyer's stand-alone sci-fi novel, The Host, right after the first book in the Twilight series. It made me see more clearly another of Meyer's themes, which is the possibility of building bridges between people (and peoples . . . that is, cultures) who seem to be irreversibly opposed and hostile. It's not a black-and-white, question-and-answer treatment either. It's a careful, close examination of how bridges might be built, brick by brick, by individual acts, common interests, little moments of trust, and little moments of doubt. I love this aspect of her work.
3. I can't remember the last time I was so compelled to keep reading a novel. As I finished Eclipse early this morning, I vowed to spend this afternoon reading the final installment, Breaking Dawn. And that kind of reaction to a novel is so rare . . . I was trying to think of other books and authors I've felt that with. I'm pretty sure I don't even feel it with Jane Austen. It might be that Tolkien is the only other author who provides that ineffable lure . . . it's magic.
Time for some laundry now. Then it's back to work tomorrow for an intense week of work before the furlough next week. Keep your fingers crossed for my company.
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We had a great weekend. Eve, Ryan, and Lindsey came down on Saturday for a sleepover. There was hiking to the river, Candyland, pizza, hot chocolate, stories in bed, and also a late-night romp in the yard. Ryan and Lindsey were in their pajamas, and we put on their crocs and played sticks with Rocky out in the warm night air. Rocky was in puppy heaven. I'd creep up to one of them and say, "Look---isn't that a giraffe?" and when they'd turn to where I was pointing, I'd scoop them up and swirl them. We did this for about a half hour, and I myself was in aunt-heaven. There's something magical about a suburban yard on a warm night.
On Sunday we took another hike, went out for lunch, and then they dropped me off around 2:00. I immediately took a four-and-a-half-hour nap. When I got up I was groggy and drank perhaps just a teensy tiny bit too much coffee. This led to me reading the third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, ALL NIGHT long. I literally read it until I finished it, at about 7:30 Monday morning.
I really loved Eclipse. I was once again thinking about Stephenie Meyer's writing, how the dialogue sometimes has too much hyperbole ("'That can't be!', I shrieked") and too much repetition ("Edward, you can't blame yourself!" "Bella, you can't blame yourself!" "Edward, I'd never forgive myself if you blame yourself!" "Bella, I'd never forgive myself if you never forgive yourself!"). And yet there's this:
1. As one of the characters in The Jane Austen Book Club says of our beloved Jane: "She plots like a m*****f****r." Stephenie Meyer is a serious, master plotter.
2. The books are really thematically rich. They deal with---with subtlety and at length---tons of interesting questions. Like what does it mean to love someone, what do you owe your family, what compromises are acceptable and which not. I'm glad that I read Meyer's stand-alone sci-fi novel, The Host, right after the first book in the Twilight series. It made me see more clearly another of Meyer's themes, which is the possibility of building bridges between people (and peoples . . . that is, cultures) who seem to be irreversibly opposed and hostile. It's not a black-and-white, question-and-answer treatment either. It's a careful, close examination of how bridges might be built, brick by brick, by individual acts, common interests, little moments of trust, and little moments of doubt. I love this aspect of her work.
3. I can't remember the last time I was so compelled to keep reading a novel. As I finished Eclipse early this morning, I vowed to spend this afternoon reading the final installment, Breaking Dawn. And that kind of reaction to a novel is so rare . . . I was trying to think of other books and authors I've felt that with. I'm pretty sure I don't even feel it with Jane Austen. It might be that Tolkien is the only other author who provides that ineffable lure . . . it's magic.
Time for some laundry now. Then it's back to work tomorrow for an intense week of work before the furlough next week. Keep your fingers crossed for my company.
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posted by Anonymous at
4:24 PM
1 Comments:
i won't be reading eclipse or breaking dawn until they are available in paperback. but i've already totally spoiled myself on both, in most specifics, so keep spilling what you think! particularly i'm interested to hear what you think so far of BD.
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