Of a book that really surprised me... with its success.
Now, I am a procrastinator by nature. In moments of procrastination I do dumb (or dumbyfying) things, such as watching film's I otherwise never would, cleaning my room, baking, or reading books that I roll my eyes at.
Such as "Twilight". It took me several days to listen to the audio version (cause that's the one I downloaded for one of my students, a fan of the story), and I found it one of the worst books I've ever wasted my time on.
Now I have no love for "Twilight", which is obvious from the words beneath the cut, I also have no apologies for the fans that might come across this text. I'd also like to note that I haven't seen the film, or read the other three books about Bella and Edward.
...seem to be incredibly shallow and tend to be sketched in two adjectives each, e.g. Bella: clumsy, oblivious; Edward: protective, beautiful; Jacob: young, eager, and so on, and so on. I really tried to find something to like about this book, because so many fans can't be wrong, can they? Apparently so. It's incredible how Bella's overanalysing can change a potentially interesting plot into a boring monologue about Edward and the rest of his family.
Also, the book is clearly misogynistic. Hah, Bella even knows how to use that word, but she has absolutely no problem being pushed around by Edward, this way or that way. His comments about her being so clumsy she can't stay on her own would actually be funny if they weren't true (and what does that say about the author? No other convenient plot devices? Oh, well, let's just make the main character an adorable idiot who can't walk five feet without falling down, that will make the story roll real smooth, that will), and if she didn't oh so readily agree to be treated as a baby. Obviously she's got daddy issues, but she projects her need to be protected from Charlie to Edward that it seems to be the only thing (apart from her sweet smelling blood) that keeps them together. Oh, and her oncoming depression, that apparently makes her seem more of an adult and therefore more attractive to Edward, bored with bubbly high school kids. Apart from that, Bella keeps getting into trouble and Edward keeps saving her. That's stretching the stereotype a bit too much, in my book. Sure, I like Disney - but even Disney has girls that save themselves.
I do admit, Ms Meyer has hit a goldmine - so many adjectives and drama as well as such brilliantly beautiful people circling around an ordinary American teenager, that's bound to get fans among teenage girls. Plus, the way Bella's plainness is constantly contrasted with the Cullen family's extraordinary looks, is basically feeding off of teenage fears of being plain in the world of dazzlingly attractive people attacking us from the tv screen.
I found the book quite schematic and predictable. I'm able to face the fact that every teenage girl needs a bit of exaltation in her life (hell, I think I used to read similar crap when I was 15), but for the love of everything that breaths, I can't see the reason why it's so popular.
I blame the marketing. I can't imagine taking Twilight seriously for any other reason than making some money on it.
Well, it felt good to get this out of me :P
I feel much better now :)
Such as "Twilight". It took me several days to listen to the audio version (cause that's the one I downloaded for one of my students, a fan of the story), and I found it one of the worst books I've ever wasted my time on.
Now I have no love for "Twilight", which is obvious from the words beneath the cut, I also have no apologies for the fans that might come across this text. I'd also like to note that I haven't seen the film, or read the other three books about Bella and Edward.
...seem to be incredibly shallow and tend to be sketched in two adjectives each, e.g. Bella: clumsy, oblivious; Edward: protective, beautiful; Jacob: young, eager, and so on, and so on. I really tried to find something to like about this book, because so many fans can't be wrong, can they? Apparently so. It's incredible how Bella's overanalysing can change a potentially interesting plot into a boring monologue about Edward and the rest of his family.
Also, the book is clearly misogynistic. Hah, Bella even knows how to use that word, but she has absolutely no problem being pushed around by Edward, this way or that way. His comments about her being so clumsy she can't stay on her own would actually be funny if they weren't true (and what does that say about the author? No other convenient plot devices? Oh, well, let's just make the main character an adorable idiot who can't walk five feet without falling down, that will make the story roll real smooth, that will), and if she didn't oh so readily agree to be treated as a baby. Obviously she's got daddy issues, but she projects her need to be protected from Charlie to Edward that it seems to be the only thing (apart from her sweet smelling blood) that keeps them together. Oh, and her oncoming depression, that apparently makes her seem more of an adult and therefore more attractive to Edward, bored with bubbly high school kids. Apart from that, Bella keeps getting into trouble and Edward keeps saving her. That's stretching the stereotype a bit too much, in my book. Sure, I like Disney - but even Disney has girls that save themselves.
I do admit, Ms Meyer has hit a goldmine - so many adjectives and drama as well as such brilliantly beautiful people circling around an ordinary American teenager, that's bound to get fans among teenage girls. Plus, the way Bella's plainness is constantly contrasted with the Cullen family's extraordinary looks, is basically feeding off of teenage fears of being plain in the world of dazzlingly attractive people attacking us from the tv screen.
I found the book quite schematic and predictable. I'm able to face the fact that every teenage girl needs a bit of exaltation in her life (hell, I think I used to read similar crap when I was 15), but for the love of everything that breaths, I can't see the reason why it's so popular.
I blame the marketing. I can't imagine taking Twilight seriously for any other reason than making some money on it.
Well, it felt good to get this out of me :P
I feel much better now :)