Comments on: I Finally Read a Stephanie Meyer. Thoughts on New Moon.

By: Marie

Marie — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:28:35 +0000

oh, so very right, so glad someone agrees… I loved Jacob, he was the only one with character. I often told my co-workers (who read the books before me) what the hell do they see in each other(bella and ed)? No hobbies, interest, friends… just annoyingly they have each other. Jacob is the realest character in the book. I definitely was more interested in the wolf storyline as well. Have to say I totally agree with being repulsed by the repetition in the book… by chapter 3 I was like ” I get it, your depressed, now move on” and often wondered about stephanie meyers lack of adjective variety. I must admit the books were addicting though, I ravished all four in less than two weeks.

By: Ned

Ned — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:58:38 +0000

Yeah, I hate Bella, especially in New Moon. I also listened to the audiobook and had to skip some CDs because I couldn’t stand it anymore. The entire concept has totally drawn me in so that I do kind of like Twilight. But Bella is BLAH and Meyer’s writing leaves MUCH to be desired.

By: janicu

janicu — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:41:03 +0000

I read and liked Twilight. Then I read New Moon – ug, I HATE angst and was ready to strangle Bella by the end of it. But you should keep reading this series just to get to the WTFery that is Eclipse!

By: FD

FD — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:05:48 +0000

Ahh, Twilight. I read the first one when it first came out on the basis of a rec from a friend. I went back to her and went, “Dude, wtf?” (or words to that effect) and she, she completely lost the plot at me. So I’ve been observing the Twilight phenomenon from the beginning. Some time later, somewhat roundabout, and embarrassed, she told me that it had taken her back to that time of being 12-14ish, single-minded and selfish, where the idea of the desired object was all. She suggested it tugged on her strongly because it reminded her of that stage, and my criticism of it felt like criticism of her, because the story validates the idea that it’s ok for the sole focus of a girl’s life to be the love interest.
I’d add to that that maybe one of the reasons it’s so successful is because Bella is such a blank slate. She has the identifying characteristics of socially acceptable heroine, (pretty, popular, meek, self-abnegating) but otherwise allows the reader to impose her ideas and experiences upon her.

Incidentally, the absence of sex, drugs, profanity and the emphasis upon the Male as the be all and end all – Stephanie Meyer is a Mormon, and I think that is painfully evident from her writing.

L.J Smith – heh, I use her Nightworld books as an example of an author who does this type of teenage paranormal romantic fantasy lite well. I still reread them from time to time, usually when recovering from flu.

By: katiebabs

katiebabs — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:32:19 +0000

Heidenkind: Ah be still my tender heart! It has been so long since I read The Vampire Diaries. Oh yes, they are the books to read.

By: heidenkind

heidenkind — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:38:22 +0000

@ katiebabs:
KB, what is this heresy you speak? The Vampire Diaries is, like, 100x better than Twilight! And aside from the fact that they’re both about teenage girls who fall in love with vampires, there is nothing similar about the two books (that I can remember at the moment, anyway).

By: Carolyn Crane

Carolyn Crane — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:57:49 +0000

I haven’t read these books, but I applaud your invoking of that Walken scene, which I love, and it comforts me that you are a person who seriously contemplated throwing her kindle.

The ereader has robbed us of the ability to toss a book away with disdain! Grr!

By: willaful

willaful — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:05:06 +0000

Aoife wrote:

I’d say Janine summed it up pretty well. Twilight is compelling because of all the things that don’t happen.

That stopped working for me though. By the end of the second book, I was mentally going, “Okay Meyer, either shit or get off the pot.” I never did get through the 3rd and 4th books.

Of course, I am not a teenage girl.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:08:21 +0000

@ Sherry Thomas:
It’s not a phrase you easily forget

By: CEmerson

CEmerson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:06:56 +0000

I have teenage daughters (heretical teenage daughters who turn their noses up at this series, but still), so the whole Twilight phenomenon fascinates me. As others have said, I think the books’ appeal boils down to 1) how very much Bella matters to Edward, and 2) the fact that Bella sets the pace of their physical relationship and in fact must work to convince Edward to do more than he’s ready to do. These are, I think, a pleasant change from what most teenage girls encounter in their real-world relationships.

But as romance, I found the books disappointing. There was none of the intricate getting-to-know-you dance; the scenes in which the h/h discover they have something unexpected in common, or observe, say, a gesture of unsuspected kindness or grace in the other, that compels them to keep revising the opinions they’d originally formed. It was just: he’s gorgeous. She smells really good. And done. As though Meyer wanted to skip over all the developing feelings and get to the good stuff – only, for me, the developing feelings ARE the good stuff.

Oh, and Jessica, I agree that the movie Bella seemed like a more dimensional character than the book Bella. It helped a lot that they fleshed out her girl-friend characters a bit and suggested she had actual relationships with them, as opposed to in the book, where apparently the only girls worth befriending are vampire girls.