Speaking Volumes

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JULY 17, 2009

Twilight…eh

Much to my shame, it took me until a few weeks ago to take home Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. You know, the series that has turned into a pop culture phenomenon with teen girls across the country swooning. I just never really wanted to read it…and it was long…and it’s a series, with three other big thick books in it. BUT, I had to be one of the only librarians in the country who hadn’t read it, and at every book group I had this year the conversation would inevitably turn from the book we were discussing to Edward vs. Jacob. I was starting to feel out of the loop.

So, as I said, a few weeks ago I took out Twilight on audio – technically I listened to it, I didn’t ‘read’ it. And I’m actually a little nervous to put my opinion out there on this blog, but…. I didn’t like it. Sorry. Let me defend myself a little. Remember I listened, so reading it may have been a different experience, but here were my thoughts:

Bella seemed whiny and depressing, not special.
Not the books fault, but I could only picture Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson from the movie, meaning I couldn’t make up my own images in my head, one of the best reasons to read a good book.
Out of 11 discs it took until about disc 8 to get anywhere…I knew the Cullen’s were vampires, so 8 discs of listening to long passages about Edwards eyes really bored me.
All the looking at each other and smiling and grimacing and eye talk made me think that the writing was like a bad episode of MTV’s The Hills.
I think Stephen King got it right when he said, “Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn.” She used an adverb at the end of almost EVERY sentence…in ways that I didn’t even know you could use them. This is what is started to sound like to me:

“She looked at him icily. He looked at her measuringly. She said blah blah blah astonishedly. He glared back beauteously…”

Now, maybe I wouldn’t have noticed on paper, but by the 5^th disc I was cringing every time I heard one.

I’m sorry if I’m being harsh. I can see the teen girl appeal, and I actually WANT to see the movie now. I’m guessing (and hoping!) that this post will get a lot of comments. If you think I’m way off – tell me! If you think I need to read the book and the rest of the series – convince me! If you agree – let me know!

Until then, it’s just me and Stephen King against the world.

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Comments

Karen Olson said, on Jul. 17 at 1:19PM
I completely agree with your assessment of the book. I found Bella insipid and whiny, with no ambition, even before she meets Edward. A senior in high school should have some sort of goal: college or otherwise. But she doesn't. And once she meets Edward, it's just mooning over him all the time. Not exactly the kind of female character I want my daughter to admire. And when Edward watches her sleep, it's just downright creepy. She also has no faults at the beginning, until Edward tells her she's clumsy, then she's clumsy. She's the new girl in school and all the girls want to be her friend and all the boys want to go out with her. Not reality. There isn't much to like about this book.

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bas bleu said, on Jul. 17 at 3:43PM
I'm with you, Megan. I tried to read Twilight a while back because so many of my (female) students were excited about the series. I had to stop reading it, and I hardly ever do that to a book. I am very happy that the series is "hooking" teens on reading, just as the Harry Potter series excited younger readers when it first came on the scene... In terms of female protagonists, I much prefer the self-reliant Katniss in The Hunger Games to Bella in the Twilight series. To each his...or her...own. Have you ever featured Twilight for a teen/adult book discussion group? It might be fun!

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Megan Q. said, on Jul. 20 at 12:00PM
I guess it’s not just me and Stephen King against the world! Karen I agree with you - the love story is more than a bit shallow...Bella loves Edward because he's gorgeous; Edward loves Bella because she smells delicious. And bas bleu I agree with you too - I absolutely prefer Katniss! To answer your question bas bleu, I have not done a book group on Twilight, but I am trying to get a new teen book club started this year so it's definitely something to consider!

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bas bleu said, on Jul. 21 at 9:16AM
Will adults be welcome as drop-by guests at the teen book discussion group, or do you think they might be more comfortable without our presence? If it is possible, I would love to be part of certain book discussions, as I read and enjoy so much YA literature!

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Megan Q. said, on Jul. 21 at 9:52AM
Right now I'm not sure how much of a response I will have to a teen book club seeing as this will be my first year trying it. If I do have an interested group I would want to ask them how they felt about having other adults drop in. I'll keep you updated!

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bas bleu said, on Jul. 21 at 11:02AM
Perhaps once in a while we could schedule an adult book discussion on a YA book!

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Mercedes said, on Jul. 22 at 1:29PM
I'm so glad you finally "read" and posted on Twilight, Megan! I know we've discussed some of this before, but I'll put it out here for the record... I resisted reading Twilight for a long time too. I had flipped through it once while working and could only think "silly teeny-bopper book" but a really good friend who doesn't ordinarily read fantasy loved it and convinced me to read it. There are a lot of elements to the plot that make the story intriguing and I did read the entire series, but after book two I was just reading to find out what happened and just be done with it. And the further the series went on the more outrageous the story became...but back to Twilight. I cannot stand Bella. From page one, I did not like her and grimaced my way through her ridiculous behavior. I'm in agreement with everyone else that Katniss is so much to be preferred. Megan, the writing style didn't get any better in reading instead of listening and its a shame too because I believe Meyers has a degree in English. In originality it had much to recommend it and there were other characters that I did enjoy. But I doubt you would enjoy the rest of the series so I wouldn't recommend it and I don't think I will ever reread the books, something I will do with books I love (like Hunger Games). And finally, I would also love to participate in a discussion group for adults (or all ages) that read YA, since I also read so much of it too.

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Su said, on Jul. 24 at 6:14PM
I know this will shock some - not only am I reading our blog, but posting on it. (I should go on vaccation more often.) I was just reading and thinking...we should ask the teen group if they would be willing to do a ya/adult group. Meaning we read YA but adults are welcome OR if they would want 2 groups. Because... yes, you will have read it here first... I would be willing to do a YA read, teens and adult group.

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bas bleu said, on Jul. 27 at 8:42AM
Just let me know when, Su. I'll be there! =)