Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

It's only what four, five books? What else do you think we're reading? Espcially people like myself who are on a waiting list of over 1200 people at the library. Just because it's the book that everybody is reading doesn't mean it's the only book being read. I haven't read it yet, so I don't know what makes it popular, but when a book reaches this level of success, there is something good about it. The writing style may not be worthy of a Nobel prize, but it's probably very aproachable to people who don't read very much. As for the story, I'm sure that's just your personal preference, Arshad. I think vampires are cool.

 

Frozen...actually.

 

I have to agree - the writing style is weak, but it is a young adult book, which tends to be a bit less....literary. I do love the books, because I love the story, and the way she creates such a pure affection between the two main characters. That being said, it is WAY over dramatic, and the relationship, when brought into reality, is very unhealthy. I still love it, flaws and all. And you gotta give the woman credit - she wrote something that has become cult. Like it or not, for a first time author, she made it.

 

Yeah, she did make it. That would be kinda sweet. Writing your first book and having a lot of people like it.

 

I disagree. I can think of several young adult series that were written much much better. Harry Potter. His Dark Materials. Sisterhood of the freaking Traveling Pants, for crying out loud.

 

Why should young adult be less literary? Very few teenagers can't read at an adult level, so the only real difference between YA and general adult should be subject matter. I know dozens of books that publishers would and do consider to be literary and are shelved as books for teens (because the books are under 80k words and the main character is a teenager)

 

I read about 1/3 into Twilight but didn't get to finish it because the book wasn't mine lol. It was okay as far as I read, although the romance was becoming a bit too much for me by the time I stopped reading. Don't get me wrong, though, I like good romance stories ^^ I might end up reading the whole series someday (that may mean anything from a few months to years heh).

It's good to see that Meyer is doing so well in her writing, although I heard about how her chapter of Midnight Sun got onto the internet when it wasn't supposed to. That's why she decided to put it up on her site.

 

I'm a young adult and i have read adult books that were far worst written than the Twilight Series...I don't think Stephanie Meyers writing style is weak! The book is told in a young girls perspective, it is suppose to capture young girls heart and make girls fall in love with Edward (or Jacob haha )...if it was very adultish written it wouldn't be young adult anymore... people my age don't read anymore...but if it is written in a way that we can relate to it, we want to read it... I think her writing style is really nice, she made me fallin love with Edward and the whole story...the possibility that true love exists, that a boy cares so much ( who cares that he's a vampir ) it just gives that book something... personally I just love it for me it is one of the best love stories I have ever read

 

That's the problem. What she describes is not true love; it's crazed stalker/obsession material.

Love does not look like someone taking the engine out of your car "for your protection." If someone is doing that, or any kind of similarly controlling behavior, then you need to get the heck out of that relationship and potentially seek help.

 

hahaha...he's a vampire and if you read the book you knew that he is always why Bella chose him and he just doesn't want to loose the only person who would love a "monster". Edward really loves Bella, he would kill himself and give up his families safety just for her.

 

Look harder if you want to find YA novels that are written at an adult level but are just as relatable. I'd suggest Nancy Springer.

 

Again, that's NOT love. That is psychosis. Risking your life to save your love, say by rushing into a burning building? That's altruism. Killing yourself because your love left you/is impossible/is doomed? That's mental illness.

Edward is not a mentally sound person. It's not ever easy or accurate to "diagnose" fictional people, but he frankly has the hallmark signs of serious depression and more than a little bit of a self-esteem issue, which he works out by attempting to "control" everything around him. He's fixated on this girl, and she's too naive to understand why.

The books make me upset, because people read them and think, "Oh, how romantic!" simply because they haven't had enough experience to know better. If you go into a relationship using Twilight as a model for how it "should" be, then you are going to be either disappointed, or fall under the influence of a dangerously unstable personality type who should be seeking counseling.

 

My understanding of Twilight is that it is supposed to be a tale about star crossed lovers (along the lines of Romeo and Juliet). I agree its not a healthy (I think jacob mentions that somewhere the series ironically) or realistic relationship. It's a novel though se it can be as unrealistic as it wants and as a novel its ok. Sure the series becomes increasingly worse after Twilight and is down right horrible by Breaking Dawn (imo of course) but overall there have been worse series' that have gained names for themselves (Eragon *cough*!).

Overall Twilight is an interesting novel idea I enjoyed enough to finish the series even though most of the series consists of beating around the bush nonsense and overplayed melodrama. Its good enough to entertain someone to a degree to the end.

 

Well, I find the writing insipid, so I disagree that it's even worthwhile as a work of art in itself, but that I'm fine with chalking up to individual taste.

And yes, it's allowed to be unrealistic. I don't particularly care how realistic a given novel is, either. I do prefer mine to at least make some sense, but people are allowed to enjoy silliness if they wish to. It is unrealistic, though; I think that pointing that out is a fair criticism, and worth noting so that people who have tastes similar to my own will know to avoid it.

However, I do object to the message of the books, and I think that they present an invalid and potentially harmful point of view. And that I will say is worth pointing out and criticizing. She might have meant to write about star-crossed lovers, but what she produced is an unhealthy relationship dressed up in sparkles and glitter and presented as the Ultimate Swoonworthy Moment.

I'm not even touching how sexist I find the books' treatment of women.

(Ugh. And please don't ever mention Eragon again. I may have to be violently ill. I don't have any philosophical objections to that series, but it is some of the most godawful writing I have ever encountered.)

 

Of course this book is very unrealistic and the relationship might be unhealthy, but I still think that it is romantic in some twisted way... and no I don't go into a relationship and using Twilight as my "how it should be"...Twilight is not real, vampires are not real and I'm not one of those people who are obsessed with Twilight and call it my bible...I just think that this book has something special about it...and I don't take everything in the book extremely serious, I just enjoyed reading it...I didn't criticize the whole unhealthy relationship right away...

 

Oh yay! Someone who doesn't hate Twilight! It's been hard trying to find that on this forum lately. I think that some of you are taking it too seriously...it's a book. They are words on paper meant to entertain. Of course it's going to be unrealistic...it's categorized as fantasy. But you don't have to dissect it and make a list of everything wrong with it. I don't mind it you didn't like it. That's fine. But thousands upon thousands love it.

 

"Unrealistic" can mean several things. In this case, "unrealistic" doesn't mean "I find the notion of magic and vampires unacceptable!" It means, "These people are not acting and reacting as I understand human beings, making their story ring false." Defending it as "fantasy" doesn't really help when the characters are badly written.

I don't mind if you like it, but I have as much right to dislike it and describe my dislike as you do to like it and describe the joy it gives you. I have reasons for my dislike, as you presumably have reasons for enjoying it.

As for "thousands and thousands" liking it, well... Frankly, thousands upon thousands of people love American Idol, which I find absolutely worthless. Thousands of people think that "Dodgeball" is funny. Heck, thousands and thousands of people enjoy looking at violent pornography. I disagree with these people, and I disagree with the many, many fans of Twilight. Defending something by pointing out how popular it is isn't much of a defense.

As for "it's only entertainment," well, I think that's a delicate line to walk. On the one hand, books/movies/games do not control people. On the other hand, this book is expressly marketed to young, impressionable girls. I think that the messages it contains are harmful, and the view of the world it presents is skewed and distorted. On those grounds, I think it's quite reasonable to voice my unhappiness with the book and advise that people avoid it.

You can read it and not be affected. Great! Go forth and enjoy! I will continue to recommend to those who ask me that they avoid the book, and I will give my reasons for doing so.

 

I liked the Twilight series.

My brother actually picked it up first - I asked him what he was reading and he told me it was fairly interesting. He's a slower reader than I (he savors the book a few chapters a day and I devour the whole novel in a few hours), so I was able to loan the loaned book and give it a read for myself.

Bella was...not a very good narrator. There are intriguing characters in Twilight, interesting stories, and lots of potential...I think Bella's skew on that ruined it, a little. I don't like the inside of her head - give me third person any day! At least then we could have gotten a little of Edward's side on this, too.

Aside from that small kink, I can like the books for what they are - not fantasy, I think, so much as romance. And let's face it, all romance has the potential to be a little melodramatic. I mean, that's what we buy it for, right? I can't be the only one with this kind of guilty pleasure. Maybe I like all the ridiculous sap between the main characters - I'm sure I can't be the only one. However, I can't take it for what it is - ridiculous sap - and enjoy it. And that's completely okay with me.

However, this I do agree with whole-heartedly:

If you happen to be an impressionable young girl, then you probably should not be reading this book. The same goes for young children and horror movies, or kids and R-rated films. Some stuff just isn't appropriate for some readers. Yes, the books can be seen as incredibly sexist - there are a lot of places where I see it too. However, in the end, it is only fiction. A story based off of a dream, even, wasn't it? I hope that most people aren't going to take fiction so seriously - if they are, they need to be reading different things. Or just...not reading. Yuck. As much as that hurts to say.

In the end, I think that if you really don't like the books, then no one's forcing you to read them - I certainly won't obsess over Twilight to anyone who just isn't interested, provided they don't constantly hit me up with how god-awful they think the books are. If you don't like them, that's cool! But they really are just books. They're melodramatic, they're sexist, but if the reader can enjoy it without changing their own lifestyle then there's no harm done. I don't think there's anything wrong with taking the books at face value as they are and enjoying them as that.

 

I love the romantic part. That’s why I read it.

Yeah, but this is what Stephenie Meyer said:

 

Actually, what I found sexist was not Bella's choices, but the way she was presented and treated in the book.

- She is constantly injuring herself and being saved and comforted by the men around her.
- She never does anything proactive.
- She is portrayed as being overcome by romance and practically begging Edward to make love to her, while strong, noble Edward refrains.

Basically, despite the book's insistence that Bella is a "strong, independent" woman, she is consistently portrayed as weak in will and spirit and unable to accomplish anything without a male standing beside her.

The marriage/child thing, I don't care about. It's quite possible to be a married mother whose primary role is housekeeper and caretaker and still be a strong, independent woman. Anyone who points to that as "anti-feminist" is missing the point. (Which is probably why Ms. Meyers chose to address that point of view in that little comment. I love how she defines my opinions and beliefs for me! So charming. Straw man much?)

 

There are so many people like that.

Spoiler

Do you think she would've gotten pregnant if your 'strong, noble Edward' refrained?

 

Okay look people. I do not know how to make a 'spoiler box' so here's how I'm gonna word this. If you think that she is just one of those lay back, let everyone else do everything and 'save me all the time girl' then read again! Bella is hanging out with and is in love with a VAMPIRE! I dont know about you but if 5 vamps were going to my school, then I'd be freaking out and screaming! Also in the first book, yes she gets hurt and Edward has to save her from the big scary James, but the fact that she went to the studio in the first place shows immense courage. She went thinking she was going to die and did it selflessly to save her mother! I was impressed with that. I love my mom, but that would scare the crap out of me! Then in the second book she hangs out with freakin were-wolves and later rushes to Italy to stop, murdering, mercilous, and rip your throat out vampires from killing her love! WOW! Then yes in the third she is whinny, so what? That's her, if you don't like her flaws, well guess what--no one is perfect!!!! Okay then just read the entire fourth book and she is awesome and brave and most of all caring + loving. Basically Bella! Yes Jacob kind of saved Breaking Dawn, Bella's P.O.V. got a little tired, but still. And I AM A GIRL. I don not find Bella's character offensive to women. Steph. wrote all of her female characters differently and with their own personalities. Yes some like Rose are a little extreme in their personality but the sad thing is--I know people almost exactly like her! Also P.S. Edward though he is amazing is not perfect either! He has flaws! If you do not believe me read Midnight Sun on Stephenie's website. Oh last thing to Scattercat's comment-"...unable to accomplish anything without a male standing beside her." All I can say is read the fourth book!
Sorry if it seemed like I was yelling, but I am a huge Twilight and Bella fan. I didnt mean to sound mean, but these are my thoughts and opinions on the books!

 

Yeah! What she said!

 

Sexist, raceist, prejudiced. It's all the same. None of those terms mean anything anymore because they have been hijacked for frivolous uses like this thread. All that they are now is ammo to throw at ideas that are unpopular. Honestly, can you bring up even one instance where her books have harmed the quality of life of any woman? If you're concerned about sexism fight in an arena that actually makes a difference.

 

This forum used to be pretty sweet. We got to talk about how much we love Stephenie Meyer and how Edward is a sexy beast, but then everyone who hated Twilight came on. It's not as fun anymore.