Bella awakens, remembering the prior day. She realizes Edward is still there in her rocking chair. She hugs him enthusiastically, then excuses herself to freshen up. She returns noticing his hair is combed and he changed clothes. She realizes he left at some point and returned. He teases her that she started talking in her sleep later. p314 "You said you loved me" (b) "You knew that already" then she reaffirms it to which he says p314"You are my life now."
They retreat to the kitchen where she queries his plans for the day. He wants to take her to meet his family. She is afraid and he says he will protect her. She clarifies that she is not afraid of them, just that they may not like her. He reassures her they know everything because there are no secrets in his family. He quips back that Bella should introduce him to Charlie. She maintains that Charlie already knows him and he retorts p317 "As your boyfriend, I mean." "He will need some explanation why I'm around here so much." (b) "Will you be?"(e) "As long as you want me." (b) "I'll always want you."
Bella goes to dress and upon her return he kisses her and she collapses. p319 "What am I going to do with you? Yesterday I kiss you and you attack me! Today you pass out on me!" As they head out , Bella tries not to think of what she is doing. He says p320 "And you're worried, not because you're headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won't approve of you, correct?"
Waiting to greet them are Edwards parents, Carlisle and Esme. Bella recalls Dr. Cullen but is still astonished at his youthfulness. Esme reminds her of an olden time film star. Alice runs down the stairs to meet Bella. She kisses her cheek and says p323 "You do smell nice, I never noticed before." Jasper comes in and keeping his distance, greets Bella. Realizing Emmett and Rosalie are absent, Bella thinks they don't like her.
Bella notices a piano and queries Esme about it. She tells that Edward is the musical one and requests that he play. Bella realizes after he is done playing that she is again alone with Edward. She asks after Rosalie and Emmett and he explains Emmett does not have a problem with Bella, but Rosalie needs to come around. She is jealous of Bella because she is human and wishes she was too. Bella absorbs this and asks what the glance between Carlisle and him meant earlier. Edward tells her he is going to stick close to her because p328 "Alice just sees some visitors coming soon." She realizes he means other vampires and shivers.
Edward takes her on a tour of the rest of the house. At the end of the hallway she stops to admire a very large wooden cross hanging. p330 (e) "You can laugh. It is sort of ironic." Edward tells her it is old and belonged to Carlisle's father in the 1630's. She wonders why they keep it and he explains it used to hang in the church where the senior Cullen preached. She is stunned, asks how old Carlisle is and Edward tells her he is 362 years old.
She has a lot of questions and Edward begins Carlisle's story. Originally from London, the only son of an Anglican pastor who persecuted Roman Catholics and other religions, he also believed in the existence of evil such as vampires. The elder pastor led raids to destroy these creatures and when unable to do so , handed the reins to Carlisle. One night in a mob scene Carlisle was attacked by a vampire but not killed. He knew he could not go home again so he hid and underwent the transformation alone. Bella has many other questions and he says p333 "Come on then, I'll show you."
This chapter was extremely detailed and gave you a lot of insight into who each of the Cullens are, where they came from, how they were changed and how they came to be together as a familial unit. It definitely does leave you wanting more in the case of Alice as she remains somewhat of a mystery throughout. As well, you do not know the whole of Edwards story. I am hoping that there is some sort of explanation coming up that gives you more insight into him as a person. You can feel the attachment between Bella and Edward getting ever stronger as the 'meet the family' scenes occur. He and she have a bond now that is tightening better than Crazy Glue. This is crucial to the typical boy/girl relationship we all associate with in real life.
There was some raw humor here as well when Bella passed out from the kiss, and the idea of a cross in a vampire house. I know we all believe what the movies say about garlic and crosses and sunlight and coffins to sleep in when it comes to vampires but as reading this clearly shows, the imagination of the author has made these vampires a kinder and gentler version of the monsters we all assume them to be. Yes I have seen Dracula and Lestat and many other vampire movies through the years. As I said this was never my 'thing' so I avoided it like the plague when I could, however maybe this book (or whole saga) will make me rethink my opinion of writers who write about evil vampires and witches and such. I mean look at Harry Potter... that series is about wizards and witches and has all kinds of mythical creatures good and bad referenced.
I can appreciate now that the romance is the primary focus of what is happening in this book, however looking beneath the surface there is also a lot of myth debunking going on again as told by the author. As a 30-something woman, I say that I really need to move on to the next chapter because I hate to be kept hanging!
They retreat to the kitchen where she queries his plans for the day. He wants to take her to meet his family. She is afraid and he says he will protect her. She clarifies that she is not afraid of them, just that they may not like her. He reassures her they know everything because there are no secrets in his family. He quips back that Bella should introduce him to Charlie. She maintains that Charlie already knows him and he retorts p317 "As your boyfriend, I mean." "He will need some explanation why I'm around here so much." (b) "Will you be?"(e) "As long as you want me." (b) "I'll always want you."
Bella goes to dress and upon her return he kisses her and she collapses. p319 "What am I going to do with you? Yesterday I kiss you and you attack me! Today you pass out on me!" As they head out , Bella tries not to think of what she is doing. He says p320 "And you're worried, not because you're headed to meet a houseful of vampires, but because you think those vampires won't approve of you, correct?"
Waiting to greet them are Edwards parents, Carlisle and Esme. Bella recalls Dr. Cullen but is still astonished at his youthfulness. Esme reminds her of an olden time film star. Alice runs down the stairs to meet Bella. She kisses her cheek and says p323 "You do smell nice, I never noticed before." Jasper comes in and keeping his distance, greets Bella. Realizing Emmett and Rosalie are absent, Bella thinks they don't like her.
Bella notices a piano and queries Esme about it. She tells that Edward is the musical one and requests that he play. Bella realizes after he is done playing that she is again alone with Edward. She asks after Rosalie and Emmett and he explains Emmett does not have a problem with Bella, but Rosalie needs to come around. She is jealous of Bella because she is human and wishes she was too. Bella absorbs this and asks what the glance between Carlisle and him meant earlier. Edward tells her he is going to stick close to her because p328 "Alice just sees some visitors coming soon." She realizes he means other vampires and shivers.
Edward takes her on a tour of the rest of the house. At the end of the hallway she stops to admire a very large wooden cross hanging. p330 (e) "You can laugh. It is sort of ironic." Edward tells her it is old and belonged to Carlisle's father in the 1630's. She wonders why they keep it and he explains it used to hang in the church where the senior Cullen preached. She is stunned, asks how old Carlisle is and Edward tells her he is 362 years old.
She has a lot of questions and Edward begins Carlisle's story. Originally from London, the only son of an Anglican pastor who persecuted Roman Catholics and other religions, he also believed in the existence of evil such as vampires. The elder pastor led raids to destroy these creatures and when unable to do so , handed the reins to Carlisle. One night in a mob scene Carlisle was attacked by a vampire but not killed. He knew he could not go home again so he hid and underwent the transformation alone. Bella has many other questions and he says p333 "Come on then, I'll show you."
This chapter was extremely detailed and gave you a lot of insight into who each of the Cullens are, where they came from, how they were changed and how they came to be together as a familial unit. It definitely does leave you wanting more in the case of Alice as she remains somewhat of a mystery throughout. As well, you do not know the whole of Edwards story. I am hoping that there is some sort of explanation coming up that gives you more insight into him as a person. You can feel the attachment between Bella and Edward getting ever stronger as the 'meet the family' scenes occur. He and she have a bond now that is tightening better than Crazy Glue. This is crucial to the typical boy/girl relationship we all associate with in real life.
There was some raw humor here as well when Bella passed out from the kiss, and the idea of a cross in a vampire house. I know we all believe what the movies say about garlic and crosses and sunlight and coffins to sleep in when it comes to vampires but as reading this clearly shows, the imagination of the author has made these vampires a kinder and gentler version of the monsters we all assume them to be. Yes I have seen Dracula and Lestat and many other vampire movies through the years. As I said this was never my 'thing' so I avoided it like the plague when I could, however maybe this book (or whole saga) will make me rethink my opinion of writers who write about evil vampires and witches and such. I mean look at Harry Potter... that series is about wizards and witches and has all kinds of mythical creatures good and bad referenced.
I can appreciate now that the romance is the primary focus of what is happening in this book, however looking beneath the surface there is also a lot of myth debunking going on again as told by the author. As a 30-something woman, I say that I really need to move on to the next chapter because I hate to be kept hanging!
0 comments:
Post a Comment