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Twilight is the first installment in the series of the same name that has generated an upcoming motion picture, as well as borderline hysteria in the hearts of mostly female teens and adults alike. After watching two or three friends get sucked into the madness (and only one of them a fan of teen fiction), an investigation seemed called for. The movie trailer looked decent; the fantasy of hot-vampire-falls-for-ordinary-girl was not totally unappealing.
And no, Twilight is certainly not. Meyer's writing is nothing literary fans will deign to read, but, much like Harry Potter, the story and characters, and certainly her uncanny abilities with suspense, will suck your average reader right in. From the very first page of narrator Bella's dismal, klutzy existence, the book is intriguing, thankfully, since this means the only attraction is not the hot vampire himself. Bella is a lead character who is, yes, unrealistically self-sacrificing, but also inadvertently funny, hopelessly uncoordinated and disaster-prone, stubborn, quick-tempered and often the only real adult in either of her separated parents' homes. She moves from her sunny home in Phoenix to the tiny (now quite touristy, thanks to Twilight) town of Forks, WA, to stay with her dull police chief dad, in a characteristically selfless move to give her mother more time to travel with her minor league athlete husband. Her comical doom-and-gloom in the face of constant cold and rain, and as an embarrassing source of curiosity as the big city girl in a tiny high school, are entertaining enough, but the story does get a sharp kick forward when she discovers the Cullens, a group of mysterious, adopted teens who keep to themselves.
Naturally, the Cullens are vampires, trained by their adoptive father, the ultimate good vampire, to hunt only animals, and live among humans in peace. And the one who falls for Bella is Edward, impossibly attractive (all vampire legends make it so), impossibly strong, fast, intelligent, and he can even read minds. Except not Bella's, which leads to some adorable conversations where he is frustrated by her silence and bombards her with questions. The issue, of course, is that Bella is attractive to Edward on two levels - one as a fascinating, intense love, and the other as, well, an actual snack, with an irresistible scent he can smell from across the school.
Sound perverse? It is. But it's also sexy, and we as readers get to enjoy Edward's excruciating attempts to control his animal side, just to be able to stand near Bella, while the latter stubbornly resists any natural fear or sense of self-preservation, because, well, he's perfect. (And not perfect in a sappy way either - Edward Cullen may be willing to die for love, but he's also a bit of a show-off, patronizing, impatient and easily frustrated.) He starts popping up everywhere, with his inhuman speed, fascinated by Bella but unable to touch her until he is absolutely positive he can control himself.
In short, as things progress, this becomes the only book in the world where, die-hard romantic or no, the reader will find themselves thinking wildly, "Oh my god...he touched her cheek!!"
(Which is perhaps due to the fact that author Stephenie Meyer is Mormon, and probably why parents and teachers are more than cool with Twilight as a teen hit.) But seriously, that is quite an accomplishment. And apparently, she keeps it up for two more books. (There is obviously a fourth now but I've heard the story changes quite a bit.)
The story builds up the timid romance for the first half, and then of course, the real world breaks into their pretty little bubble. A small group of non-friendly vampires arrive in Forks, bringing with them a vengeful hunter who bridles at Bella's peaceful existence with the Cullens. Then the action begins, and it's non-stop till the end, which it appears the movie will play up a whole lot more. The trailer reveals quite a few plot points that aren't even in the book, but that may be beneficial in translating the story to the screen. Twilight fans will have to wait until December 12th to see whether it stands on its own or not.
My only complaint with the story was Bella's pathetic parents, who probably have to be so lame in order for much of the plot to take place, but are still occasionally outside the suspension of disbelief. That, and Meyer's tendency to describe every single twitch of her characters' facial expressions. I guess the latter is forgivable, however, when it comes to the face each of us girls mentally assigns Edward. (*Teenagers sigh everywhere*) The movie's Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter) is certainly easy on the eyes, and Kristin Stewart (Into The Wild) is exactly my vision of Bella, so here's hoping they do the book justice.
Image via Stephenie Meyer's website
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I haven't read the books, but this much I can tell you.... Forks, WA is a most unlikely place to set a romantic vampire story. It's small and dreary, with lots of mobile homes and huge satellite dishes and dirty four wheel drive trucks. Plenty of meth and high school dropouts too. If Stephanie Meyer can turn it into a tourist destination, I commend her, while at the same time I marvel at the desperate need for romance that dwells in the hearts of her readers. This is even better than when all the "Twin Peaks"fans started showing up at Snoqualmie Falls. At least it's a pretty location.
I finished the second book this morning. I'm not really sure why I read either of them (or continued rather) because it's ridiculous.
It's a ridiculously cheesy and over-romanced to the point of unbelievable - even if they weren't vampires.
Dumb. Very dumb.
I will eventually read this, once I finished my summer readings.
I'd advise everyone to stay far, far away from the 4th book. It's absolutely horrible, devoid of a plot, riddled with canonical contradictions (not to mention grammar flubs and typos), and pedophilia. Just to name a few things.
To be on the safe side, I'd recommend not reading any of the books. Those are precious hours Stephenie Meyer and Little, Brown will not give back.
The series and author in no way, shape, or form compare to the Harry Potter series and J.K. Rowling. To compare them is to commit a grievous sin. JKR may have killed some of our favorite characters and made us sit through a lot of camping, but at least she didn't completely ignore canon and characterization in Deathly Hallows.
The idea of using a playlist with each book is interesting. Just wish the playlists showed a little more innovation -- like, using "My Heart with You" (by the LA band The Rescues) instead of, say, a Billy Joel song.
Are you joking? I would recommend that everyone stay away from all of the series, they are a cheap ass attempt at love and they are a waste of 11 dollars. I am ashamed to have them in my house. The extremely superficial and fake "love" between Bella and Edward is outright ridiculous and in some places made me say out loud "are they freaking serious?" Bella is so freaking clumsy it seems to me like she may have a neurological problem. She seems irritating, the book is plotless and Edward is like a creepy stalker. I can't believe that Stephenie Meyers actually had Bella get pregnant at the young age of 18 or 19 knowing that teenage girls would look up to Bella. There are a group of trees that are extremely pissed off because their tree friend was wasted being printed on it. Being a teenage girl I am ashamed that so many people idolize the characters in this book when I look back realizing it was one of THE stupidest books I've ever read.
The Movie was so good. :)