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Twilight
- Feb 18, 2009 at 12:06 PM
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Oh my. How do I write this without seeming, I don't know, snobby? I didn't like it. Before anyone sends me hate mail, or tries to argue that Twilight is a great book, hear me out, and let me just say, I can understand how others might like it, but it's not for me. Here are my reasons.
While I understand some people's need for mindless entertainment, there are some of us who are very discerning when it comes to what we read. Everyone has so little precious free time, and there are some who, if they take the time to read a book, want it to be beautifully written and a challenge to some part of our mind, whether it be technically or artistically or what have you. Twilight is not that kind of book. It's for the other group, who want to sit back and enjoy their free time, who want to be entertained and not necessarily be challenged. And that is perfectly reasonable and fine. If you're one of those, stop reading this here.
While Twilight has some interesting plot points and does some interesting things with the vampire myth, Meyer's writing is not very interesting as far as technique. There are no complicated, thought-provoking sentences that beg the question "How did she think of that structure?" and not once did I say to myself "What an interesting metaphor!" There are no beautifully turned phrases. This is written on a fourth grade level, but not to a fourth grade audience (that means a fourth grader could read and understand, but the content is not appropriate for them, much like a newspaper these days). I was not challenged by the philosophical problems Meyer poses for her heroine or her vampire. He's in love with his dinner, and she's in love with the predator at the top of the food chain. So, done and done. From here on out, my critique gets personal.
Personally (I warned you), I like my vampires to be vampires. I like Dracula (Legosi or Lee, even Oldman), and Lestat, and David from The Lost Boys (and many more). Those guys are at least scary. There was only one scary vampire in Twilight, James, and he wasn't around long enough to give any help to the plotline. I mean, come on! You're not a vampire, Edward! You're not a monster! And the teenage romance left me rolling my eyes. There was little else to the plot. I was kind of bored. Not to say Anne Rice is a great technical writer, but at least she grappled with the greater issues (of being a vampire) with a liitle more aplumb. Meyer's characters do not go in depth. Oh, sure, there's a lot of "I love you," "I shouldn't love you," "You shouldn't love me," etc., but it was more sickening than stirring. My heart was not broken anywhere in this novel. And boy does Bella ever fall for Edward fast, even knowing he's a vampire (and she sure stays in denial longer than is necessary). We're given very scant psychological background as to why this could happen! In my mind, Edward isn't a deep enough character for anyone to fall in love with him. He only seems to exhibit the more petulant emotions of a teenager on a regular basis. Another reason I didn't like the book. I am so far removed from being a teenager, and don't remember it being that great of an experience, to want to deal with the boring details of a teenage romance. As complicated as it seems, it's not that complicated!
Vampires started out being monsters, transgressors of the human norm. The Others who must be ostrasized and condemned because they do not conform to humanitarian standards. That's what made them fun! They're not supposed to be like us. They are supposed to frighten us, or at least challenge us, with their differences from us, and maybe even attact us at the same time! There's something to be said for taboos. Edward and his clan are dysfunctional vampires. They are not serving any purpose. To me this reflects the PC direction our society has taken. We are so hasty to assimilate everyone! Everyone must be included. No one must be ostrasized! Everyone must be equal! Everyone must get and be the same! No one must stand out. And Edward and his family blend right in. Okay, so they're so much more beautiful than your average mortal (gag gag gag), but our society is okay with that, too. If you're going to stand out, being beautiful is a pleasant and accepted way of doing that. Most modern vampires are more beautiful than average or at least cooler than average (I'm thinking of the 80s and how cool we all thought The Lost Boys were), but hey, that's one way of getting the reader (or viewer) to identify with them. The monster/scapegoat/other construct doesn't work unless we can somehow identify with it, right? But we're supposed to be a little repulsed at the same time. Oh, and I like a little more blood and guts to contrast with the human elements of a vampire story. Reminds us to consider our own mortality, and keeps our fragility at the front of our brains!
So, all in all, I found Twilight to be lacking. But Meyer, bless her, has filled the purpose of creating passive entertainment for those who seek it so well, that it's hard to be mad at her for not trying harder with her writing technique. She's got a corner in a lucrative market! More power to her! : )
Comments:
I love the series due to the mythology I liked the change. Especially the Vampire baby and the Shapeshifters. Book three and four were two of the best. Where as Twilight focus's on vegetarian vampires they also have the Volturri who have vampires working for them. They bring in large groups of people and you can hear the screams are they are being ripped to shreds by the vampires. That is how they feed since they don't have fangs. It does get a bit gory when you get past book two.
But it isn't for everyone and I understand that. I read it for reasons that teenagers are reading it and I wanted to see why moms were freaking out about the series. I am also a fan of Lj Smith who has two vampiric brothers fighting over the same girl. One is all for slaughtering humans and the other rufuses to drink human blood and is strictly an animal eater. So it wasn't too far fetched for me to get into this book.
I do agree her writing styles are not the best but I had a break and read over 30 books within two weeks. But the mythology was interesting. I have a book on Vampire mythology and not all vampires had fangs and would rip their victims apart to feed. You should read up on Australian vampires... freaky.
Thanks for pointing that out! I was so unimpressed, that I can't keep her straight from the other bunk I've read lately! For honesty's sake, I changed it to Meyer.
Thank you, I felt the same way!!!
I agree with you that the books are definitely what I call "easy reading"... Not very thought provoking, and just plain, easy, mindless fun. Having said that, I really enjoyed them. I enjoy reading, period. And I'll read anything I can get my hands on, pretty much. Hell, I even have a stack of Archies in my bathroom!
On the other hand, Anne Rice is my all time favorite author, and I do like her Vampire Chronicles better. Actually, my favorites are her OTHER stuff, outside of the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches. Cry to Heaven and The Feast of All Saints are amazing books!
To each his/her own. I can see why people enjoy the Twilight books, and I can see why people would like something a little more thought provoking...
I'm really pretty up on the vampires of the world. There's so much that nothing can truly be original. Even the essence-sucking vampires, and yes, the Australians. And every aboriginal culture has something to say about this classic archetypal monster. I kind of put it aside when I read Our Vampires, Ourselves and Monster Theory, two very good looks at what our "others" say about our culture and society. But there's so much that I want to read that, honestly, I'm not going to read the rest of the series. Twilight was enough for me...
I have read the first 2 books, and did enjoy them. I want to read the rest.
However, I didn't care much for the movie at all. I thought it was badly acted and just not done well at all.
I had a hard time getting into the first book. I read it and kept going "Gawd..I am sick of the back and forth love hate banter going on."...I borrowed all the books, and I was sick. So I was in the mindless entertainment mood. Sometimes I read so many books that are thought provoking, I need a mindless one. So I kept going..the second one was slightly better. But to me the third and fourth one were the best. They had more darkness to them, more interesting plots. I got sucked into those two and read both in one day. My two all time favorite vampires though will always be David and Dracula (Oldman)..they personified coolness and sexiness. I did like the series more after reading the 3rd and 4th. I am glad I stuck through it. The same thing happened to me with the Dark Tower series from Stephen King. I had to read the first one 4 different times before getting into it. Loved the rest of the books.
I have not read the books. I'm a HUGE Anne Rice fan, and can't seem to want to read something that seems so....trype.... I mean, it's basically romance novels for teenagers.
at the request of a friend, I went and saw the movie.....YAWN!! Now I am slightly curious to read the book to see what was left out, or if it is truly better than the movie. But I trust your opinion when it comes to these things and it's not on the top of my list! Perhaps I'll just re-read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice!
<--- feel free to snag these & use them for a siggy! I did!
LOVE the siggies! They need to go back and remake the Anne Rice movies, start over and make them into huge blockbusters, get a good director, and, for god's sake, NOT let Tom Cruise slaughter our lovely Lestat! Stuart Townsend was a little closer to the mark, but still, something's missing! I don't think I'm going to read the rest of the Twilight books, at least not for a long time. Too many other books out there that I want to read that require all of my brain cells! I've wasted enough for right now! : )
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I'm not going to agree or bash (too scared for either!!!), but the author is Stephanie Meyer, not Seymore---just to prevent you from getting bashed on that one point!
- evwsquared
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