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August 28, 2008
Quotable Thursday: The Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't Edition
"Normal humans run away from monsters, Bella. And I never claimed to be normal. Just human."
-Jacob in Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
"You know, Jacob, if it weren't for the fact that we're natural enemies and that you're also trying to steal away the reason for my existence, I might actually like you."
-Edward in Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
This is the kind of dialog I missed in Breaking Dawn. Sigh.
Incidentally, my new favorite thing to show the right sort of people is how the summary for Eclipse in the MCLS catalog reads:
"Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob and her relationship with Edward, both vampires, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city."
Which is really quite stunningly wrong.
What is interesting is that in the Library of Congress catalog (if you aren't an insider, I should tell you that most catalog records are generated by the LOC and then copied into the local catalogs you all search on a daily basis because you are such devoted library users), the summary reads:
"Bella must choose between her friendship with Jacob, a werewolf, and her relationship with Edward, a vampire, but when Seattle is ravaged by a mysterious string of killings, the three of them need to decide whether their personal lives are more important than the well-being of an entire city."
Which is more right, although still not so much with the "mysterious" and the part about "the well-being of an entire city." I tried to figure out where the errors started and how the one got fixed, but my Google searches are failing me. I can't be the only person wondering about this, can I?
Books mentioned:
Meyer, Stephenie. Breaking Dawn. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2008. (HC: 9780316067928)
-Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2007. (HC: 9780316160209)
Posted by adrienne at August 28, 2008 10:21 PM
Comments
I noticed a similar error in our catalog a while ago, but it seems to have been fixed now. Since you posted this, I thought it would be interesting to read the descriptions for all the editions of Eclipse that my library system owns.
The hardcover edition is described as your second example, but an e-book is described: " As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob --- knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?" I think, the last sentence aside, that this is a pretty good description.
The last one, a description of Overdrive's downloadable audiobook, is servicable, if oddly enthusiastic and overly dramatic (the rest of them seem to be more intent on plot than on the quality or interest level of the series): "Listeners captivated by Twilight and New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much anticipated third audiobook in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga. As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her ever-growing friendship with Jacob. And her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: eternal fear or eternal life."
Posted by: Anne at August 29, 2008 09:33 AM
I like the way you think, Anne.
The ebook description is my favorite of our four choices. It seems that whoever wrote it may have read the book instead of skimming it. Meyer's books aren't very skim-friendly.
Posted by: adrienne at August 29, 2008 10:35 AM