Some notes on Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

[cpxbrex]

As I continue to toy around with the Revolutionary Boy Martin concept, I decided to become more educated on YA literature front. (What is it about me? I only seem to do research on things I hate? The Bible, Twilight . . . someday I'm going to research something I love and I'll be confused.) Since a movie is being made about it, I decided to

Comments

[kabal42]

As I kind of expected when I read the subject of this post of yours, you struck right on the reason I'll never buy this book: The sheer creepy, stalkerific nature of the, well, let's call him "love interest". The messages inherent here are just so wrong it physically hurts me. I feel like duplicating an infamous Sundance stunt ("Stop Oliver Stone before he films again") and raise a large banner somewhere saying "Stop Stephanie Meyer before she writes again". (I know it's kind of too late, but you get my drift. She can still spout more drivel.)

You did, however, also touch on why they still sell. Or at least, I think that's why.
It's a wish list for a magical princess.
And the tween girls want everyone to acknowledge that they, too, are magical princesses, all of them. So what's so awful here is that Meyer tells them that the way to get that is to let a man rule you, body, mind and soul.

I should stop now. I'm making myself foam at the mouth, heh. But I love that you always manage to pin-point issues.

[cpxbrex]

Oh, you don't have to shut up on my account. ;)

And I get it that all tween girls want to be told they're a special unique snowflake, and that the utter incompetence of the protagonist is a *bonus* because it means that the target audience doesn't have to stretch to empathize with the character. Bella Swan isn't who girls wish they were, its who they actually are. And if it could happen to her, dreamy sigh, it could happen to them.

I just think that all tween girls are special unique snowflakes because they're actually special unique snowflakes. They are, each of them, fully formed human beings with minds, dreams, hopes, fears - and Bella Swan is just a magical princess. She's not only not real, I think it's awful to present her in a positive light whatsoever.

Oh, well, at least it's done for me, now. ;)

[kabal42]

Of course I agree. But you knew that ;-)

As for the state of YA fiction, I think the existence of the likes of Philip Pullman proves that it's not all sunk to the level of Meyer. (Which reminds me I need to re-read the first two volumes of that so I can read the third. Never got around to it because I read the first two before the third was out.)

[athelind]

Try Cory Doctorow's Little Brother. You'll may not like it; you'll probably find some things to snark about -- but it's about a series of issues that are important to you, set in a near-future milieu, and written by someone who writes "grown-up" SF, too.

There are a lot of other YA books out there that are getting GREAT reviews that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. I've heard some reviewers say that the YA market is where some of the strongest, most thoughtful SF is coming from these days. Don't tar the whole field with the brush dipped in the most inexplicably-popular series of this fifteen minutes: remember Sturgeon's Law.

Oh, and while I haven't read Twilight, I did get dragged to the movie -- my wife and stepdaughters devoured the series, all the while acknowledging that it was utter tripe.

In all my years, I have never before been to a movie that made me wish I'd brought a book.

[cpxbrex]

I will. And I'm not actually looking for books to like - tho' it's nice to find them, of course - but to learn the state of the art.

I also like YA. One of my favorite books is, after all, about bunnies, a veritable BUNNY AENEAD. Which means it's like the Aenead but better because it has bunnies.

LOL. I'm glad that my boring hypothesis holds true for the movie, too. ;)

[cpxbrex]

The cover blurb on Little Brother makes me think that, y'know, nothing is original, hehe. A seventeen year old uses his hacking skills to fight a police state! That's very nearly the plot of Revolutionary Boy Martin, except it's anarcho-capitalism instead of a police state! Well, the library here has it so I'm gonna go down and get it. :)

[droog64]

I'd like to hear what you think of John Marsden, an Australan writer.

[cpxbrex]

Monday I'll hop on down to the library to check out Tomorrow When the War Began. I'll be done with Little Brother by then, or at least shortly afterward. ;)

Thanks for the suggestion!