A guy reads Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (2009-2011)

Reading New Moon: Chapter 22 (Flight)

The song for this chapter is Unbeautiful by Lesley Roy

[audio:https://twilightguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/unbeautiful.mp3]

As many may have noticed, I only posted one chapter last week. My excuse for this could be one of the following:

A) The Lasagna Burglar returned, held me hostage, stole the contents of my freezer, and then left me foodless. Hunger ensued.

B) I had three college exams and lack the convenience of having eight arms. Exhaustion ensued.

C) This. My demise ensued.

Whichever of those you choose to believe, I am back and in full swing this week, as I near the inevitable end of New Moon, and the great and glorious book Eclipse, for which I have strangely enough been totally unspoilered!

It is so wonderful to see that things appear to be slowly going back to normal. The most obvious effect of this remarkable turn of events is that Bella and Edward are together again: just as before, except that Bella is still dangerously worried that once they arrive back in Forks, Edward will be gone again.

As I had expected, seeing him again has grave consequences upon her, mentally as well as physically. I attribute this to an Edward-style dehydration: she’s been without her vampire for so long, when she finally has him back, it takes a while for the effects to wear off. Though Edward told Bella that she was his exactly brand of heroin, I have come to the conclusion that it goes both ways for them. I saw an obvious struggle for Bella each day she was away from Edward — he is something that is keeping her alive, so that by finally having him back and so near, the effects are drastic as she begins to feel so many emotions at once.

Why is it that I see some distorted reflection of Bella in Gianna? To me, Gianna must have some reason to stay with the vampires, as opposed to her own race of humans. Does she love a vampire like Bella does? Why would she want to be a vampire so badly that she will openly, and often, betray a group of her own people to become vampire snacks?

It is my guess, perhaps misguided due to not knowing much about her, that Gianna finds everlasting life and unparalleled powers appealing enough to do her job, in the hopes of becoming a vampire as well. I wonder if there will be more with her later on…

——Notes——

– As with Twilight, I will be doing a Pick The Song for New Moon contest! You will be able to send in your suggestions for the entire book starting TOMORROW MORNING, so be sure to check back!

– I have been doing some unscheduled shows on BlogTV, so keep an eye out on my page because I’ll be back on this week again.

– This week, there will be a NEW Twilight Trailer, debuting online Thursday, October 9! You can see it online before anyone else with the Twilight widget at TwilightTheMovie.com.

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50 Responses

  1. I think it was “A) The Lasagna Burglar returned, held me hostage, stole the contents of my freezer, and then left me foodless. Hunger ensued.”

    That dang lasagna burglar.

  2. Hey Kaleb,

    You have a great sense of humor. I found it ironic that Bella was horrified by Gianna, since they both want the same thing. Of course, the Cullens are much more civilized than the Volturi, but it was an interesting reaction by Bella none-the-less. The idea never occured to me that Gianna might be in love with a vampire. I just thought she wanted power. Unfortunately, we don’t ever hear about Gianna again. Oh, and you should get a freezer alarm in case that lasagna burglar comes around again.

  3. I forget which interview Stephenie cleared up Gianna’s fate. “She did not make the cut.”

    By this I assume that she became a between tour snack.

    I don’t recall her being even mentioned in either Eclipse or Breaking Dawn.

  4. Stephenie confirmed at the Breaking Dawn release party in Los Angeles that Gianna is no more. I know as I was one of the lucky ones in the audience and even got her sig on my copy of The Host!

  5. I thought it was horrible of Bella to say (I’m not certain about the exact quote), “Why would anyone want to be a part of that?”
    I mean, (again, not certain about this, since I don’t own New Moon – I know, I’m terrible) I seem to remember Edward having some reaction to her words. They were pretty harsh really. Obviously she didn’t mean vampires in general, just the Volturi, but still. Edward can’t read her mind.

    Anyway, your post was way too short! Are you becoming tired of Twilight so quickly? πŸ˜›

    Update soon! The next chapter is awesome! (Though, I would call most chapters awesome.)

  6. I will forgive you your short, non-analytical posts as of late as a side-effect of the business and exhaustion. But I have noticed as well that there is just less to read! I am very sad about that – coming here to read your reactions always gets me excited as if I, too, were reading the series for the first time. And not, you know, the third. Like seeing Christmas through a kid’s eyes again.

    I expect more in-depth analyses from you on future chapters. That’s an order, Nation.

  7. Yeah Gianna is a distorted Bella.
    I also thought that Bella’s words were very harsh. She was being really hypocritical.

    Hahaha, Have you taken your Edward today?
    πŸ™‚

    I can’t wait for the trailer!

  8. Love the dose of Edward…you know, I think deep down you may want to be a doctor, that’s not the first photo-shop of you being a doc, lol…anyways, yeah, I see Gianna as a distorted Bella too. I think the next few chapters should be good for you, I liked them. Of course at this point, because I liked Jacob from the beginning even though I didn’t like him trying to be with Bella, I was wondering what he would think and feel like when Edward showed back up. Well, happy reading, can’t wait for you to get to Eclipse.

  9. CAN’T. WAIT. FOR TRAILER!

    Yeah, same here with the Gianna thing. What a freak. Ew.

    Aaaaaaand… I vote on 1 AND 3. 2 is way too improbable.

  10. I’m with Elfie. I love your in depth chapter analysis. They help with understanding the writing process. I don’t think Gianna is in love with a vampire, I think she’s in love with the beauty/power idea. Remember, this is the first time Bella’s been exposed to normal vampire feeding, so of course she’s horrified. Even in Forks, the nomads were only taking out a few hikers here and there, not a huge group all at once. Plus, Bella was empathizing with the one little woman who had obviously figured it out, but couldn’t communicate. Bella only wants to be a vampire because of Edward, not because of the power or the beauty. As for Gianna, my guess is that Felix called “Dibs”.

  11. I’m with dsolo… Bella is still human, after all, whether she wants to be a vampire herself or not–she still can identify with every human walking down the hallway to their death. And not just death, but a horrifying, screaming, terrible death–and not by their choice. Bella’s been given a choice–and she’s not giving herself over to Edward to die, but to live forever in love with him.

    If you saw a herd of your species being led down a corridor to die, couldn’t do anything about it, and subsequently had to hear their screams of terror before death, wouldn’t you be horrified and potentially say something “harsh”? What would Bella know of how the majority of vampires kill their prey–he Cullens try their damndest to be nothing of sort.

    …I do miss the longer entries, too, but I know you’ve got a life outside this blog–so I’ll just say I miss the longer, more in-depth entries–but don’t expect anything of you. I’m just glad you post every so often so I have new things to read at work to help keep me sane. Thanks for sharing your Twilight experience with us! ^_^

  12. Yeah, I know this post was shorter. But the reason wasn’t so much because I was busy, but because not an extreme amount of new stuff happened in this chapter for me to comment on that I haven’t already said. I’m sure the next chapter will have more though πŸ˜€

    –K

  13. I agree Kaleb – there’s not a whole lot to comment about in this chapter. Keep going. I love the rest of this book.

    In Midnight Sun, Edward talks a little about people who look in dark places, desiring the vampire life – I think Gianna was one of those people. She wanted immortality and didn’t care about all of the people that were dying – her own desires mattered more to her. That’s why Bella doesn’t relate. She doesn’t want power and immortality like that – she wants to be with Edward forever – and she wouldn’t be part of mass murders to get it. She doesn’t see the similarities – Edward does.

  14. I agree with Tina. Gianna didn’t care about the people dying and Bella does. There’s the difference. It’s not hypocritical of Bella.

  15. I would disagree about the comparison between Bella and Gianna. While yes, both want to be vampires. Bella isn’t concerned with immortality and power, she just doesn’t want to leave Edward’s side. And frankly, if Edward and the rest of the Cullens weren’t just all around good people, she wouldn’t want to be with them either. Mind you, if Edward hadn’t been a good person, she wouldn’t be alive.

  16. Thanks Kaleb, I always enjoy your posts. Today, i truly enjoyed the intelligent conversation that i read in the comments. Very insightful, and thought provoking. I never viewed Gianna and Bella like this before.

  17. I, too, agree with Tina. Bella wants to be a vampire so she can be with Edward forever. Gianna wants to be a vampire but for other reasons that are probably more selfish considering she’s letting people die.

    P.S. Kaleb I think the song “Listen To Your Heart” by Heart would be a good choice for the next chapter.

  18. This chapter was emotional, well the whole book really but chapters 21-23 are really so. I have to agree with everyone, that bella’s words are a little on the harsh side, however she didn’t mean to imply that to Edward and the Cullens, but to the savage vamps in the other room.

    Oh and by the by, a song for New Moon as a whole would be “Crawling” by Linkin Park Hybrid Theory Album

  19. I never really compared Grianna and Bella, but I guess they basically want the same thing. Just for different reasons. Unless Grianna is in love with one of the Volturi… but that seems unlikely. I’m guessing she either had some potential of having an extra ability or one of the Volturi just decided to keep her around for some reason.

    Anyways, I wish the post was longer but I know you’re busy and there really wasn’t much action in this chapter so I won’t complain. I suppose you might have a life not on the internet… lol.

    I’d suggest some Mitch Hansen Band music as the New Moon theme song but I suppose that doesn’t really count since it’s written specifically about the books…

  20. I think it was the first two excuses…
    Wow… you haven’t heard spoilers for Eclipse yet? Strange. I’ve certainly seen a few in the comments lately…
    Which reminds me… you are approaching Eclipse… so have you bought a copy of it yet?
    Anyway… the next chapter is my favorite in the whole book. So enjoy yourself!

    P.S. Good guess about Gianna…

  21. Gianna is unfortunately never mentioned again, although Stephenie Meyer did say at some point that Gianna “didn’t make the cut”. I would’ve liked to hear more about her motivations behind the risk she was taking also, but oh well I suppose.

  22. Yay – I’ve finally caught up on reading all the blogs from Twilight and New Moon (I’m a late starter) – I had to post a comment! Kaleb – Love your insightful thoughts on all the chapters – its almost like reading the books again!! So looking forward to your Eclipse blogs. Can’t wait for the trailer – or the movie (not sure exactly of the Oz release date though).

  23. Gianna is in love with Felix, although I’m not really sure how close their relationship was. Obviously not anywhere near as close as Edward and Bella’s, but if you reread the Volturi chapters, she and Felix exchange a few nondescript winks.

  24. Thanx again, Kaleb. It’s a tough call: A, B, and C are all great possibilities…… I wish you luck on your exams, lion issues, and lack of lasagna…… And doctor pic = halarious.

  25. Your a seriously funny guy Kaleb! And your right about the whole Gianna thing. Very very true. I can’t wait until you get to the Vote chapter.I dont think i spoiled anything by saying that….lolol..sorry if i did..cant wait to submit my song for the book!i love putting music and twilight books together;its very amusing, especially when your bored.and when you have to right band πŸ˜‰

  26. So, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t C. Lions don’t like to cough up their lunch. XD
    Anywhos, I agree with some of them up there ^. I kinda miss your longer posts… but I guess you said something on that, eh? O hwell. So, the next chapter is interesting… but the chapter after that is my favorite. And then, if I remember right, after that is Vote. Which kicks butt. I love Emmett… Yeah, now you’re excited. What did Emmett do now? Oh my… πŸ™‚
    So, happy reading!

  27. Bella’s comment about Gianna is, I think, a very normal reaction to the whole Volturi experience. She doesn’t see Edward and the Cullens as anything the same as the Volturi. Edward misreads it because he still feels that he too is a monster who doesn’t really deserve Bella and doesn’t want to ruin her life by being part of it.

    Great comments, can’t wait for more…

  28. huh ive never given much thought to Gainna- I wonder what her story is, and if she’ll end up as a vamp or a snak

  29. I’m eagerly awaiting your post on the next chapter. I want to know what you think of what Edward says on page 514. It’s one of my favorite parts in the series.

    Actually, you have received Eclipse spoilers. They’ve just been pretty mild.

  30. Hi! Believe it or not my name is Rosalie Isabella Cale….Cale as in “Hale” and “Cullen” combined….yeah you think I’m lying….but seriously…I’m not…lol!
    anyways, i love your posts kaleb, you are an amazing writer with great insight, and my main goal is to please, please, have you comment back on this!! Lol, you are a pure comedian, and genius! Looking forward to the next post!!!

  31. I have always felt that Gianna was meant to be a contrast to Bella? Bella looks past Edward’s vampirism and loves him for him. Gianna seems to love the immortality and beauty of being a vampire. She WANTS to become a monster. That’s why, even though I thought it was rather insensitive of Bella to ask who would want to become a monster in front of Edward, I understand why she would say that. To her, the Volturi and the Cullens are very different.

  32. “Bella, have you taken your Edward today?”

    I love that line. πŸ˜€

    I can feel Bella’s distress on the plane ride back to Forks. It was really torturous to her, but it was good for her to be near him again…

  33. I love that you brought up Gianna… Bella loves Edward for who he is… while Gianna seems to be attracted to the superficial stuff– the immortal beauty and strength.

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