The existence of Edward

I suppose the Twilight Saga is the latest cult phenomenon. For that reason alone (well, coupled with my stubborn nonconformity), I resisted for quite some time. It wasn’t until Bryan innocently rented the movie for us to watch one evening that my obsession began. There is just something about Edward. And it’s not Rob Pattinson. It is truly the character that Stephenie Meyer has created. The idea of Edward grabs a hold of your senses and doesn’t let go, even at the bitter end. After watching the movie and vowing to own it as quickly as my hands could grasp a copy, I pondered reading the book. I haven’t had a series to yearn after since Deathly Hallows ended my beloved Harry Potter nearly 2 years ago. I picked up a copy of Twilight, thinking surely I wouldn’t be as intrigued as I was with the movie. Hmph! Shows what I know. The love affair began…

Twilight, the book, is much more in-depth than the movie, but isn’t that usually the case?? Meyer sometimes over-describes, if that’s possible, meaning that sometimes she sets the scene too much or has the character explain too much. Perhaps it was just that I felt so in-tune to what she was describing that I was ready to move on to the next picture. I was never annoyed or bored with her descriptions; rather, I felt as though I were there, my heart quickening along with Bella’s. Needless to say, I couldn’t put it down and went well out of my way to claim a copy of New Moon.

As I delved into New Moon, I noticed that I wasn’t enjoying it as much as the first, finally realizing that the reason was because of Edward’s almost complete absence from the first half of the book. Don’t get me wrong, the story is exquisite, but I just couldn’t bear to be away from Edward. Once Alice reappears and the race begins, however, New Moon leaves Twilight in the dust, or is it dusk?

The intense thrill that begins with the trip to Italy in New Moon does not subside in Eclipse. This book has, by far the best fight/action sequence of the three so far. So well described, the tension fills the room around you as you read. The internal struggle Bella feels regarding Edward and Jacob is paralleled by the struggle I felt, thoroughly disgusted by Jacob’s existence (not because he is a werewolf but because he takes the story and Bella away from Edward for short moments here and there) and absolutely certain that his presence in the story is both an emotional practicality and a literary necessity. One other thing is certain, too, and that is, just as Jacob said Edward is to Bella, this saga is like a drug to readers. I was immediately on the hunt for my next fix, though silently despairing that nothing could surpass Eclipse.

I was not adequately prepared for a litany of emotional responses to Breaking Dawn. I laughed and cried, sometimes at the same time. Meyer quite effortlessly wove everything together in the end, making sense of things from volumes past while still offering the new and surprising. Meyer’s way of creating a “happily ever after” without killing the edge that surrounds her characters and unwittingly casting them into the land of fairy tales forgotten is absolutely superb. While I wouldn’t say it is my favorite of the saga, reserving that honor (at the time) for Eclipse I believe, I cannot deny a sense of immense satisfaction with the ending, despite knowing how I will truly miss Edward.

Tonight I finished reading the draft of Midnight Sun that Meyer has posted on her website. A sting of remorse hit me as I neared the final pages of this draft. Just as Bella is Edward’s sun in the hollow blackness of his night, this draft is the light guiding the pack. The character of Edward is so compelling and undeniable, I’m not sure my heart could have taken it had all the books been from his perspective: “Her existence alone was excuse enough to justify the creation of the entire world.” Despite its draft form, Midnight Sun exposes Edward’s thoughts and emotions to the diamond-like glitter of the sunlight and by far outshines all the rest. And that is truly saying something …