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I am certainly not the first person who says this: I am completely, and utterly addicted to the Twilight series. A vampire love story written by Stephenie Mayer. How could I not? I myself am a hopeless romantic, and I am always intrigued, if not, close to believing in supernaturals. The Twilight series hit the jackpot.
Not to mention that I only recently bought the book for no absolute reason but to have some type of reading on the train home (this is Sunday.) Little did I know that I would be so absorbed. The series includes four books, only three has been released. I finished the last three just Wednesday. That’s three days of almost no eating, showering and getting out of bed of reading. I’m still starving for more.
I can go on and on with reasons of why I love the Twilight series. I might as well just make myself one of the 1 million ++ fans worldwide. Although I didn’t expect or realize that this book is so popular. Again, I found the book by accident. Wow. Also, this is the first book, EVER, that I would actually open and read again. Meyer really know how to write and attract the readers to non-stop reading. She writes so beautifully that I am always captivated no matter how many times I re-read her books.
Well, I knew that Hollywood isn’t going to stay still about this, I knew the movie must’ve come out soon! Well, lo-behold, I went online and look it up, and the movie Twilight will be released December 12th, 2008. I checked out the actors. Wow, perfect. I had always guessed that the male actor would be Robert Pattinson as Edward (the leading vampire character), but it was surprising to find Kristen Stewart to play Bella? Wow, I did not expect that. But she’s a great actress nonetheless! Her performance in some horror movie I watched a couple of years ago, she’s a great actress. Plus she’s really gorgeous and she could really pass for both human and vampire 
Point is, I AM SO EXCITED.
After reading the many books by Alice Hoffman, Here on Earth is definitely the one that touched me the most. I would say, the best one so far. In this book, Hoffman is able to portray love as how it is in real life, cheating, real love, reality and somehow still able to collaborate her usual magical writing style.
*Some spoiler are present. But not to the extreme
This is one book that I HIGHLY recommend to anyone out there who loves reading about fiction that portrays love, life, romance, family, and different individuals. Perhaps Hoffman has been able to cover quite a numerous amount of different types of individuals within this one book. One which interests me in examining individually: their motives, characteristics, behaviors and personality.
There are some dark sides to this book, though. It hurts me whenever Hoffman writes a sexual intercourse scene in a really rough and dirty way. I feel as if when she writes this, it makes me really dislike to whole situation. Maybe that’s what’s she’s trying to make the readers feel, and that’s exactly the results. There are scenes where Hollis, the “Mr.Death” as one would say, were having sex (note: not making love) with March Murray who’s been in love with him since they were young. I am glad that Hoffman separates Hollis as a young and Hollis when he grew up because they are two completely different individuals.
I’ve learned quite a bit by just reading this novel. That love could drive a person blind, so blind that they would let themselves be abused, beaten up and even stranded to die. Yes, there are a lot of abusive actions going on the books. Hoffman portrays Belinda (Hollis’ first wife) as to one that is too kind and so kind that she won’t admit that she’s being abused. And that’s exactly what abused women do, they are so kind, so in love, so distorted that they are unable to make choices for themselves. They believe in a surreal reality, lost in dreams, unable to make out the reality any longer. Friends and family tried to help, but they can only do so much because the only person who could stop the abuse is the woman herself. Yes. The woman herself is the one who has the full power to leave the relationship and get legal help. Thankfully that’s exactly what March Murray did. She finally awakens at the end of the story. She finally open her eyes to reality.
Another lesson is how a wife could love her husband so much that even when her husband is in love with another woman, she stayed by his side so lovingly. Until they grew old and died together. This type of love makes me cry, because the man has never meant to hurt the woman’s feeling. But he can’t help but falling in love with the other woman. Until the other woman (who’s loved by everyone in town) died. The man still loves the dead woman, but his wife is still by his side. As his best friend, he would feel, but she loves him much much more than that.
As soon as I closed the book (which only took me about 4-5 hours to read by the way), I was trembling. Abusive men are scary. Just reading Hoffman’s story makes me scared and tremble. The way they could make a woman feel like they’re the only one in the world, the way he could make them stay, shut up and the way they could control them anyway he wants. Such manipulation, it’s scary. Oh I can only wish that my man won’t turn into such beast. Such beast who deserves a new perspective in life – which is almost impossible to do.
The abusive man, Hollis, is one who has nothing and received everything at one. All just to proof to the world that he’s worth a lot more than what used to. But his ways are evil, he used trickery, and nothing legal. All to proof that he’s powerful. So powerful that he could have any women in town feel like their the only one he loves. So powerful that he could let his wife die in his own house of acute pneumonia. Scary. Real scary.
Hoffman even mentions how a judge thinks of domestic violence cases. How impossible it is to help the victim, when the victim her/himself does not speak out. How easy it is to tell a lie out of a victim, all to get themselves away from safety. What can a judge do? No proof. No charges.
Basically, this book is one worth reading and examining. It makes you rethink about what real love is all about. How your perception of love could change when you’re 15, 20, 40 and 60. Or if that “love” have anything to do with it all, maybe it’s something else entirely but we simply have no word for it? Maybe that feeling of possessiveness, of ownership, of wanting each other so much is not love? Interesting, right? They said that one could love a man/woman that they would do anything for them, even if it includes being beaten up and abused? What kind of love would that be? Is that really love at all?
Maybe we should rethink the word “love” by itself…
