Caution, possible spoilers (I don’t know, I haven’t written the blog yet, Duh!)
Okay, so I’m late jumping on the Twilight bandwagon, whatever! I didn’t read Tolkien until The Two Towers movie was released, I didn’t read Harry Potter until book 5 was released, and I didn’t read the Twilight series until every female (and most male) student in all six of my classes started talking about them like the world was falling…Again, What-E-Ver!
So, I read book 1, Twilight, and thought that unlike Tolkien and Rowling, Meyer wasn’t as concerned that you believe her world existed. You’re in the Pacific Northwest, paint a cloudy bleary picture with lots of green and you’re good to go. Meyer draws you in on emotion. I’ve never felt what every character in a book is feeling like I did in Twilight. It was amazing. Being a guy, let’s just say I’m not always in touch with all of the range of emotions. I’m much more of the Ronald Weasley sort of person, give me the straight dope and I’ll try to keep the subtleties out of sight. But Stephanie won’t have any of that. You can say that she’s writing to a Young Adult (or younger) audience but I’m not buying it. Experiencing that much emotion without drama, pomp and circumstance would never go over in the young adult world of today. So, I think that how I was drawn in. I loved getting into everyone’s emotions (not their minds) and feeling what they felt. I don’t know this but I’d be willing to bet that Stephanie relates best with Jasper from the books. Very in tune with what everyone is feeling and less concerned with what they think or do unless you know the emotion behind it. I was enthralled. It took me two sittings to finish the book but that’s my fault, I’m a slow reader to begin with and I had to go back several times to understand the feelings (my feelings) as I was reading.
Luckily, my daughter brought book 2, New Moon, with her on our cruise. Debbie and Becka were both reading the book but neither of them really seemed interested at the time so I casually picked it up and started reading on about day 4. I finished it in the airport prior to our planes taking off for our separate destinations (me to San Antonio, them to NOVA). We had about 6 hours of wait time and I only needed about 2.5 so I was good to go. Again, very good book and I was so in.
I purchased book 3, Eclipse, at the airport upon arrival in San Antonio. I realize this is weird, I should have bought it in Orlando and read it on the way but the two bookstores in my terminal did not have Eclipse on their shelves so I had to settle for when I got home. Probably my least favorite of the 4 but I don’t mean it any discredit, I just guessed early on what was happening in Seattle and so the plot didn’t surprise me as it unfolded. I’m sure that many of you who are very good at that sort of thing, picked up the plot early as well but like me, you enjoy a good read so you decided to go ahead and stay on Mrs. Meyer’s train anyway.
The day after I finished book 3, I was at a friends house and her daughter had the series sitting on her shelf. I asked if I could borrow book 4, Breaking Dawn and was pleased that she had finished the series and was willing to loan it out. Unlike others who’ve said this book was too long, I loved it all the way through but I was initially disappointed with the last 3 chapters. I was expecting something completely different and was almost mad when I didn’t get it. If I had written this post 3 days ago, you’d have heard a whole lot about that. But after reading a few reviews and thinking through it, I’ve decided that the issue was just with my expectation and not with Stephanie’s writing. She wrote a fairytale ending and I wanted the WWE, ‘Let’s get ready to rumble’ ending. Of course, it’s not MY story, it’s hers and she did a great job with it. I highly recommend this series…Unfortunately for the movies, we’ll never feel what Bella and the rest feel from that medium and that really is a shame because to me, that’s the diamond in these books…
Hi – thanks for the time you took to answer my comment. I can see your point about Decent Films having a fundamental issue with the content, and I personally don’t. There were some points that those reviews made, however, that either confirmed my own opinions or brought to light some points that I couldn’t put into words. I don’t have any children of an age to even consider reading the Twilight series, but if I did, these would be my concerns in allowing them to:
I see your point, and agree with you, that Meyer is very good at expressing emotions. That in itself, though, may or may not be a good thing. What are the emotions based on? What drives them? Augustine says that emotions are based on our loves, and who has perfectly ordered loves? Certainly Bella does not. Now, there are plenty of books that are commendable that show characters with disordered loves, so that in itself is not a problem. However, especially from a woman’s perspective, I can say that Bella’s emotions draw you in, make you feel what she is feeling. I can’t see how the book wouldn’t make a teenage girl feel all the things about Edward that Bella is feeling. This is not a good thing! It creates unrealistic ideas of romantic love. Not to mention some that are either impure or could easily lead to being impure. (Take the scene in the grass of Edward’s sculpted muscles glistening in the sunlight, or of how he laid in bed with her until she fell alseep.) Now, on the one hand, I agree with you that I would want my daugter to learn to think for herself. No question about that. On the other hand, I would feel a responsibility to help guide her and to encourage her to read literature that wouldn’t lead her astray, especially at such a form-able age as the teen years. So it’s not the idea of a vampire that I’m concerned about. (By the way, Dracula is a very good book!) But these ideas of romantic love, purity and her own expectations of what to find in a future spouse, are what I fear would be tainted by my own daughter’s reading these books.
So, my thoughts are that if Twilight were a book that portrayed clearly how disordered loves end in unhappiness, like the Picture of Dorian Gray, then it would be one thing. But Bella’s obsession and the picture-perfect romance between Edward and Bella all too easily rope in the reader, especially if the reader is a teenage girl. And it is not easy for her to see the story clearly, even if she wants to. I think it easily leads to a girls’ developing her own fantasy world that draws her away from reality.
It could be compared to my love for the Sweet Valley High book series in late middle and early high school. (Granted, I would probably put Twilight on a level above these.) The books were shallow, but something in them – the romance or whatever, kept me reading them. On the one hand, I’m doing ok now. They haven’t ruined me or anything. On the other, I believe I’d be better off not having read them.
Finally, I want my children to love those things that are worthy of their love. Twilight does not fall into that category, in my opinion. That being said, would I refuse to let my kids read them if they really wanted to? I’m not sure. But I would definitely be thinking of these things in making that decision.
It would be foolish for me to say that I don’t see their point or even that I agree with them on some level…However, I have never had a problem separating fact from fiction (or fantasy in this case) and though I realize that many people do have that issue; I’ll leave that sort of analysis up to the experts. Certainly, based upon the storyline, Plugged In was going to have an issue with the books. I’ve never read Decent Films before but it appears that they have the same Christian foundation and therefore would also, and rightly so, have a fundamental issue with the content.
My analysis of the book series (which I have now re-read) was based upon my enjoyment of Stephanie Meyer as a writer and the way that she expresses emotions better than anyone I’ve ever read. In the interest of full disclosure, while I was reading the second book, I was going through some pretty traumatic emotional issues myself and there were two nights in particular where I was feeling exactly the way Bella was describing her life without Edward. I felt that my stomach was being squeezed and twisted, my entire upper abdomen was constricted to the point where the muscles in my chest were cramping and I was unable to sleep for two complete nights. Having that type of internal stimulus while reading about someone else who is describing the exact same pain certainly made it easy for me to empathize with Bella. That being said, when I put the book down, I wasn’t watching the doors expecting a vampire to burst through at any moment. I do agree that Bella’s obsession over Edward did start to wear a little thin after a while but I was always interested in why Edward was so fascinated with her so I continued through to the end.
As a Catholic father, do I want my daughter seeing Bella as a role model? Nope, not any more than I want her seeing Danica Patrick, Sue Bird or Gretta Van Sustern as a role model. What I want is for her to learn how to think for herself and take the pieces of those people that she should admire and incorporate them into her life. She can learn morality from the Bible but she can also learn morality from Harry Potter, Wicked, Simon Cowell, and yes Bella Swan as well.
After reading Twilight, I was led to research a couple other perspectives. I found the following articles helpful, and would love to hear your take on them as a Catholic parent, if you have a few extra minutes:
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/read/read/a0004206.cfm
http://decentfilms.com/sections/articles/twilight.html
+JMJ+
This is one of the most generous review of the Twilight series I’ve come across. You’ve managed to put your finger on its emo appeal without even mentioning the word “emo”!
You’re so right that it’s about emotions rather than thoughts or actions. There were times, especially in New Moon that I wanted to launch myself into the story and slap Bella around for letting her feelings rule her head–but that was kind of the point, aye?
Welcome aboard the bandwagon! As long as you’re up for the ride, may I suggest the following:
http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/pdf/midnightsun_partial_draft4.pdf
It’s her incomplete book “Midnight Sun,” which is Twilight told from Edward’s perspective. And frankly, I found him more interesting than Bella.
You can also come by my blog and search “the devil made me do it,” but it’s mostly my goofy reviews of the books. It’s a love-hate kind of thing.
=-)