Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

Yeah, but Edward is gorgeous. If I kissed Edward, my heart would stop too.

And I love that youtube clip...to satisfy the people who want more action, it's in the movie.

 

After watching the trailers for Twilight, I am really looking forward to watching it.

OH, NEWS! I was inspired enough by Edward to paint a picture of him. I painted the vampire that is my avatar. If anyone is interesting in seeing Edward when I am finished, let me know.

I don't like the actor they chose, so I am going to paint him, as I saw him while reading the novel.

 

Oh wow. You painted that? That is intense! I can't do anything artistic that doesn't involve words.

I would like to see your Edward. Pattinson isn't the first person I'd choose either, but maybe he'll do okay....he better.

 

Wow--very cool that you painted your avatar. It's got a hint of elfin in it. Me like.

And about Edward, yes, we shall commission you to paint him.

 

Woot I finished the Edward Cullen painting. I might have made his chest a tad too buff.

Click here it links to my deviant art.

 

Holy crap. It's Edward!

That is so amazing, I wish I could do that....Wow.

 

Wow! Architectus that's awesome!! Btw I have to say that I sympathise with your frustration.

I read the partial draft of midnightsun (so much hype I couldn't help myself) and that was really good - so off I went to buy twilight. But urgh! Nothing happens and Bella is so bland, and the time dedicated to describing her culinary mishaps. grr! I don't care if they're having enchiladas for dinner - really I don't.

And I can't believe she blacks out and we miss all the action! Just once when she could have been useful and stayed awake...
That said I'm toying with the idea of buying the next one but... is it worth the effort? Esp. as Edward leaves and we get stuck with Jacob (and yes I know the thrilling plot twist) and...

[SPOILER!!!] as for her getting knocked up (later on, third book is it?)... I am not impressed. [SPOILER!!]

 

Edi, I tried reading the second one. I got to the point (spoiler) where Edward and family took off, and I kept reading thinking what the hell? I read for a while, going where is Edward. I skipped ahead to see how long I had to wait for them to come back, and it is not until the end. Most of the damn book Edward and family is gone, so I stopped reading.

 

Wow, architectus, that is great! The hair in particular is incredible.

And New Moon can be summarized easily:



SPOILER BELOW (How do you do those tag things?)
(Highlight below to read message)


Edward goes away for some strange reason that I don't fully understand, Bella moans for 200+ pages, then she finds him, she forgives everything, they meet some nasty vampires, escape, and then go home.

 

Honestly! You'd think Meyer would have realised the only reason everyone was so hooked on these books was the tortured, brooding and ridiculously handsome vampire!? Why would she send him packing for a whole book.

200+ pages of Bella moaning is more then I think I can take! Maybe I'll just wait for the movies

Btw Architectus - how long did that painting take you? Really great paint textures.

 

Edi around 2-3 hours.

 

2-3 hours!?! Damn, that's quick! All the times I've dabbled with digital art it takes me ages (and my stuff never looked as good as that). awesome

 

Edi, basically you have to set the brush to 100 opacity and set the opacity to be controlled by pen pressure. Make single strokes that count. Then refine. It takes practice but once you get used to making most of the form with few strokes, it really saves time.

 

Cool. I take it you've got a waccom? (sorry if I've spelt that wrong) I think my big mistake thus far was the opacity thing. I usually set it quite faint so that I can build up layers. Something about solids scares me. I Guess that's where the practice comes into it.

I'm a bit new to the digital art scene, reluctant to leave my traditional mediums behind.

 

Yeah, I was pretty pissed when Edward left. I cried. I don't really get the point of New Moon, besides Bella being BFF's w/ Jacob. But for some reason that was the one book (besides Breaking Dawn) that made me forget to go to bed...on a school night!

 

Okay, serious question. I'm really, honestly asking here.

Why? Why would you read a sub-par book just because the main romantic lead is described as attractive? And so repetitively? I mean, if I write:

"He was so handsome; he was the handsomest man to ever grin roguishly at a blushing woman. His eyes were perfect, his lips were soft and kissable, his chin had just a hint of manly stubble, and he was as brave as he was dependable."

Does that really entertain? How interesting can it possibly be to read something in which the primary draw is the attractiveness of the characters? It's not even a movie, where one can sit and simply watch the pretty people and appreciate them. There's mental effort involved in reading.

Moreover, the characters are completely imaginary; they can literally be as dreamy as someone can imagine. All you have to do is give them a hair color and an eye color and constantly mention their attractiveness in different ways, and bam, everyone pictures what's attractive to them individually.

I really, seriously do not understand how "The MC is soooo hot!" can be a justification for liking a book.

 

Cat I know your question was to Edi, but I also got guilty pleasure from Twilight. Yes I have a harsh critique of it, but at the same time, I did enjoy reading it. There were times I thought dang it Bella, just shuddap with your gaganess.

I tried to figure out why I enjoyed Twilight. One it's not written all that well. Way too many adverbs. Bella can get annoying with her constant woowooness. There is never really any action. The ending was a total let down. So why in the hell did I enjoy it?

For me it cannot be the fact Edward is a hottie, because I'm a straight male. Here is what I think it was. Bella is an average girl that wants to fit in. She is conservative, fragile, and vulnerable. Prone to accidents. I am sure this made me sympathize for her, even though I don't totally relate to that situation.

So basically she is torn from her mother. has to live with her father who she doesn't really know. She has to adjust to a new place, and she is a weakling. I think my compassion for her kicks in.

I think I wanted her to fit in because of my compassion. So once Edward accepts her, it fed that compassionate side. He becomes the hero to me because of this. Next is what I think kept me enjoying the novel. Gosh this is long winded.

Edward wants to love her, but at the same time it is so hard. He must fight his inner desires. His inner demons so to speak. He can't stay away from her, but he cannot get rid of his thirst for her blood. The only place she really feels wanted and special is with him, so my compassion wants it to work for her. Also he cannot read her mind, which strengthens her being special and fitting in with Edward.

I think the reason so many enjoy Twilight is because Stephenie Meyer, accidentally or purposely, wrote a book that heavily pokes at peoples psyche. It draws you in by working on your natural human weaknesses. Although I don't consider compassion a weakness, I guess it can be used against us. Like get us to enjoy a book that is not very well written, has a rather dull plot for the most part, and a crap ending.

There is my evaluation in a nut shell.

 

Very interesting to get to hear a male perspective on Twilight, arch. Thanks for that.

I don't love Twilight like I did when I first read it 3 years ago, and of course I was a different kind of reader back then, with less appreciation and understanding of quality prose. So I'm trying to think back to exactly what made me love it so much then, and also make a guess at why so many readers, even those older than I, love it now.

I don't think it's because the hero is so perfect and so handsome that caused Meyer's book to sell in the millions. There are a lot of other books out there with similar heros. What I think made this book so irresistible is that the theme of the book is one that readers could appreciate, and then the plot and conflicts worked so well at driving home that theme--the theme being that of an impossible love. We not only have a supremely intelligent, physically gorgeous, and very rich teenage guy, but his attraction and love for Bella are at odds--i.e., he is drawn to her blood, but must resist her because he loves her. This mixture all works together to ramp up the romanticism and sexual tension. He wants to protect her from others, but at the same time he struggles because he knows that he being with her puts her in danger (because of the blood lust). So now we have a guy who not only has all of the outward elements that are desirable, but his virtue, his values, are desirable as well. He is the quintessential perfect...er...boyfriend? I can't call him a man/human.

And the other thing that I think drew me in, and draws other readers in, to Twilight is the narrator's voice. Leaving aside the virtue, or lack of virtue of Bella, the voice that Meyer gives her is engaging and very easy to follow along. Not sure if I'm making myself clear here...but Bella the narrator is very clear. Her words are exact and objective, and I never get the sense that Meyer is self-conscious as she speaks/writes. It's as if I have a friend in the car with me and she's telling me a story. And I say this while acknowledging Meyer's shortcomings as a writer.

So that's my take on the Twilight phenomen. And what a phenomenon it is. All of the books in the Twilight series sit in the top 10 right now on Amazon, and they've been there for months and months.

 

Hi Scattercat. Sorry but I think I might not have explained myself that well.

I read Midnight Sun's partial draft that was illegally released on the net :redface:. That is the story of twilight retold from Edward's POV. That was a good read (bit repetitive in places and classically torturous but - not bad). I bought and read Twilight because I was curious to see the story from Belle's POV and because I thought the story sounded interesting...

I was sorely disappointed. Twilight is shallow, repetitive and badly written (see earlier posts) - and well, boring by comparison to Midnight Sun. I was remarking on what I thought made the book sell, as I've noticed an awful lot of people giving the whole 'Edward is soooo hot' justification and just thought it was pretty stupid of Meyer to send Edward away in the second book because he's the only reason people were reading it.

I was carried through Twilight by Midnight Sun.
As for the MC being hot -Each to their own. If asked I'd say my type was dark so on and so forth. But I always go for gentle blondes - go figure

 

Cant say i've read this series (and god no, will i ever by yhe sounds of these books)

But my girlfriend recently picked the first two up a week ago (finished them off in a day) then (i) picked the last two up, which she finished in two days... i couldnt believe it. I was like whats so good about it, and for her it wasent to do with edward but bella(sp), apperently shes clumsy.... which if she is explains why my gf read them, as if shes as clumsy as the gf then i could imagine a lot of relating between both.

 

I could not put this book down. I read it in less than a week, then rushed out to buy New Moon and devoured it in less than a week. I would have read them in just two days if I didn't have to go to work! I love the characters and the stories are amazing. There is real depth to the characters, they are real and relatable. I am only saddened by the fact that there are only 4 book in this series.

 

I find that interesting, architectus. I do not ever judge a book by the characters in it; if a book has appalling characters, but they are written well, then I enjoy the book. It's much more about the quality of the writing and the skill shown at weaving an interesting and believable story and characters than it is about whether I like or don't like (or feel compassion for) a given character.

It's strange to me to hear that feeling compassion and empathy for a character was enough to let you enjoy the whole book; if a book is badly written, it doesn't matter to me one whit how nice or empathetic I find the characters. I just can't enjoy that book.

As for the theme, well, my disagreements on that have already been discussed, and they still stand as far as I'm concerned (stalking/abuse != love, damn it!). I would agree that Bella is an excellent protagonist from a purely commercial point of view, since she is bland and vague enough that it is quite easy to put oneself in her place and empathize heavily with her.

 

I just finished Breaking Dawn, and it was pretty damn awesome. Bella was not annoying. She totally kicked butt.

 

I know, I was enthralled the whole time I was reading!

Thing is, when I finished, I had the exact same thought as when I finished the Epilogue to the last Harry Potter novel, "Damn that was predictable"

 

SPOILER - I thought Leah and Jacob were going to get together. I was suprised at who Jacob imprinted. I enjoyed the short part from Jacob's POV as well. The book should have had a part from Edward's POV.