My Opinion on Twilight and Related Subject Matter
This came up in conversation with a friend earlier this evening, and I thought I'd get these facts all straightened out for the world to see.
I like Twilight. There, I said it. I am joining the ranks of idiotic prepubescent little girls everywhere to say that I like Twilight. No. I really like Twilight. It is not without flaws, I will certainly grant you. I am not here to champion it as the greatest work of American literature or to blindly hold it infallible in the face of all criticism. But it is a good series -- and yes, we are talking about the books here. I haven't seen the movie, and I have no desire to. The remainder of this post will not even consider the movie to be related subject matter.
Anyway, Twilight is a good series, its largest flaw being its fanbase. It's hard to like something that is blindly--and noisily--revered by squeaky-voiced empty-headed tweens, and even harder to admit to enjoying it. The friend with whom I was previously discussing it fully acknowledged that one of her greatest reasons for taking offense to the series was because a rabid fangirl overreacted with enormous hostility to any slight against the books or movie. And, honestly, we can all admit that the concept sounds a bit silly. Anne Rice pretty much reduced the vampire romance genre to a collective eyeroll, and, really, "sparkly vampires"?
But here's the thing: I went into Twilight with no prejudices whatsoever. A friend recommended it and sent me a copy, and had not the faintest idea what it was about. I didn't even read the back cover. And I really enjoyed it. Stephanie Meyer is a captivating writer. Perhaps not consistently well-written ("Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted. "No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full - full of butterflies.), but captivating. She has a very smooth, quick-paced style that she pulls off with enough talent to make such flaws forgivable on the occasions they arrive.
Understand that I'm very much a reader. I love books, and I think they're an excellent way to spend the time, and I mean all kinds of fiction, not just pop lit. One of my absolute favorite series is Otherland by Tadd Williams. You could probably render some pretty effective brain damage by using just one of the books as a melee weapon, and the plot is a very deep, intricate examination of human nature at its very most basic level, and the lengths to which it will go. With nearly every good book I read, I can pick it up, be totally immersed in its world, and then, when I have to go back to the real world, put it down until the next time I read. With Twilight, escape was not nearly so simple. Something about the way it was written yanks you into the narrative and makes it unnaturally hard to put it down and go back to real life. I was honestly racing along the page, frantic to find out what happened next. I hate to use a phrase as trite as 'devouring the text,' but it applies. Something about the way it was written--and yes, I realize that that's extraordinarily vague praise--but something about the way it was written just had that effect, and it takes a very good author to pull that off.
And Stephanie Meyer is a fantastic author. Hands up all of you who have criticized her writing based off of Twilight. Now those of you with your hands up, keep it up if you've read Twilight--at the very least the entirety of the first book, if not the whole series. Just having read excerpts doesn't count. Mmhm. Now keep them up if you've read anything she's written that's not teen vampire chick lit with sparkles and butterflies. Yeah, I thought so. (Those of you who kept your hands up the entire time can disregard the following.) Do yourself a favor: Head on over to Amazon or your local bookstore, and get yourself a copy of The Host. Here! I'll even make your trip quick and easy: Link! Now be good here and don't read the editor reviews and such, got that? Read the user reviews, sure, but not the editor reviews or summaries. They're marketing The Host off of Meyer's name, and trying to appeal to the Twilight crowd, which is obviously less than constructive in this case. Just trust me on this. You can even go download a pirate copy or get it from the library or whatever if my word's not good enough for you to spend your hard-earned money. Better yet, get the audio version recorded by Kate Reading. Now read it. Or listen, whatever. It's weird, yes, but keep going. And if you sincerely dislike it, I give you full permission to send a mafia man to my doorstep and take a baseball bat to my kneecaps.
So anyway, I didn't intend to rant this long, but there you have it. Paint me into a middle school and call me Mary Sue, but I am a Stephanie Meyer fan, and ever shall be.
I like Twilight. There, I said it. I am joining the ranks of idiotic prepubescent little girls everywhere to say that I like Twilight. No. I really like Twilight. It is not without flaws, I will certainly grant you. I am not here to champion it as the greatest work of American literature or to blindly hold it infallible in the face of all criticism. But it is a good series -- and yes, we are talking about the books here. I haven't seen the movie, and I have no desire to. The remainder of this post will not even consider the movie to be related subject matter.
Anyway, Twilight is a good series, its largest flaw being its fanbase. It's hard to like something that is blindly--and noisily--revered by squeaky-voiced empty-headed tweens, and even harder to admit to enjoying it. The friend with whom I was previously discussing it fully acknowledged that one of her greatest reasons for taking offense to the series was because a rabid fangirl overreacted with enormous hostility to any slight against the books or movie. And, honestly, we can all admit that the concept sounds a bit silly. Anne Rice pretty much reduced the vampire romance genre to a collective eyeroll, and, really, "sparkly vampires"?
But here's the thing: I went into Twilight with no prejudices whatsoever. A friend recommended it and sent me a copy, and had not the faintest idea what it was about. I didn't even read the back cover. And I really enjoyed it. Stephanie Meyer is a captivating writer. Perhaps not consistently well-written ("Aren't you hungry?" he asked, distracted. "No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full - full of butterflies.), but captivating. She has a very smooth, quick-paced style that she pulls off with enough talent to make such flaws forgivable on the occasions they arrive.
Understand that I'm very much a reader. I love books, and I think they're an excellent way to spend the time, and I mean all kinds of fiction, not just pop lit. One of my absolute favorite series is Otherland by Tadd Williams. You could probably render some pretty effective brain damage by using just one of the books as a melee weapon, and the plot is a very deep, intricate examination of human nature at its very most basic level, and the lengths to which it will go. With nearly every good book I read, I can pick it up, be totally immersed in its world, and then, when I have to go back to the real world, put it down until the next time I read. With Twilight, escape was not nearly so simple. Something about the way it was written yanks you into the narrative and makes it unnaturally hard to put it down and go back to real life. I was honestly racing along the page, frantic to find out what happened next. I hate to use a phrase as trite as 'devouring the text,' but it applies. Something about the way it was written--and yes, I realize that that's extraordinarily vague praise--but something about the way it was written just had that effect, and it takes a very good author to pull that off.
And Stephanie Meyer is a fantastic author. Hands up all of you who have criticized her writing based off of Twilight. Now those of you with your hands up, keep it up if you've read Twilight--at the very least the entirety of the first book, if not the whole series. Just having read excerpts doesn't count. Mmhm. Now keep them up if you've read anything she's written that's not teen vampire chick lit with sparkles and butterflies. Yeah, I thought so. (Those of you who kept your hands up the entire time can disregard the following.) Do yourself a favor: Head on over to Amazon or your local bookstore, and get yourself a copy of The Host. Here! I'll even make your trip quick and easy: Link! Now be good here and don't read the editor reviews and such, got that? Read the user reviews, sure, but not the editor reviews or summaries. They're marketing The Host off of Meyer's name, and trying to appeal to the Twilight crowd, which is obviously less than constructive in this case. Just trust me on this. You can even go download a pirate copy or get it from the library or whatever if my word's not good enough for you to spend your hard-earned money. Better yet, get the audio version recorded by Kate Reading. Now read it. Or listen, whatever. It's weird, yes, but keep going. And if you sincerely dislike it, I give you full permission to send a mafia man to my doorstep and take a baseball bat to my kneecaps.
So anyway, I didn't intend to rant this long, but there you have it. Paint me into a middle school and call me Mary Sue, but I am a Stephanie Meyer fan, and ever shall be.