Twilight: Does it really deserve the Hype?

[clair_de_lalune]

I have to admit to having been very curious about the Twilight series of books by Stephanie Meyers. She's been compared to JK Rowling and the phenomenon of her books has been compared to Harry Potter with a large online fan base and people dressing up as characters from the stories for book release parties. Here is a representative article about

Comments

[wimble_mimble]

Well, I can't judge the books too much as I've not really read them. (I tried too, but couldn't get into it and had to put it down) But, from what I've heard, the books don't get better in terms of charicterization or sentence fluency, and in fact get worse-- or so I've been told

[clair_de_lalune]

--To put it bluntly, my friends that read and enjoyed these books are also fanatically obsessed with High School Musical and the Jonas Brothers, if that gives you a good idea of their taste in entertainment. :P--

Er...unfortunately, it doesn't really... *showing her advanced age*

But, I still get the idea. *lol* It's too bad it doesn't sound like they get any better because there really were a few interesting ideas in Twilight.

[wimble_mimble]

I think the charicterization really starts to die in the fourth book, where Meyer actually seems to forget, or outright reject, previously built up character traits in favor of her plotline. >.> And the fact that half the stuff that happens in the fourth book is beyond weird/surreal, I don't think I'd be able to read without breaking down laughing

[clair_de_lalune]

Hmm...I have to say that hearing the 4th book is "beyond weird/surreal" intrigues me, even if it's not very good...

I'll definitely post on them, if I read the others.

--I just think Meyer gets too much credit for too little talent because 'the plot is interesting and Edward is hot' so forget about the fact that the writing can be sloppy, wordy, and repetetive... just enjoy the idea of a stalker-Vampire boyfriend.--

Liking the book because Edward is "hot" seems very strange - there are any number of books, movies, and TV shows that feature hot guys and are very well done.

[ms_arithmancer]

I've not tried it out, but probably won't, because several online friends said the ending was lame.

Of course, there is a segment of HP fandom that thinks the same of DH, which I thought was a home run...

[alwaysholly]

I have heard bad things about twilight. I don't think I could read them. Mainly what I have heard is that it reads like a bad fan fiction,lol.

[cynodd]

I'll have to come back and read this, as I forgot to pack it on my trips and am only on p. 10 or so.

[rattlesnakeroot]

I enjoyed reading Twilight, and I would actually enjoy reading Midnight Sun just for the novelty of it. I like things from two different points of view

[clair_de_lalune]

--And while both Bella and Buffy follow their hearts and not their heads sometimes, Bella doesn't seem to care about anything else after meeting Edward. Her life merges with his, and his "family" becomes more important than hers. That's the opposite with Buffy - the vampires have to become more like her and gain a soul before she can really love them.--

That's a good point. Bella wanting to become a vampire also struck me as strange. An adequate reason for this isn't really given, except that she's afraid Edward will leave her.

It's a bit similar to the reporter in Interview with the Vampire who asks Louis to make him into a vampire after hearing Louis's life story. In that case, though, I think the reporter (sorry, I forgot his name) was drawn to that life because Louis was so introspective that he was able to make his story very enticing - Louis seemed to experience everything more passionately than a human, so he seemed more alive, even though much of what he experienced was painful to him. I think it was that sense of