Twilight

This is a review of the first book in the Twilight series. It does not contain any spoilers unless you've been living in a hole in the ground for the last 4 years.




I loved the Twilight series. It's original, the characters are interesting, the story is incredibly fascinating, and more than anything else, I greatly enjoyed spending time with Bella, the first person narrator.

Saying that any book or film is "original" in our culture is probably untrue, but for me, reading a book that juxtaposed vampire characters, romance and a coming-of-age story in a modern setting was definitely a first.

I have always been fascinated by stories beyond the mundane realm of normal human life. I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, and since I was a teenager, 80% of the books I've read for pleasure have been sci-fi or fantasy. To me, reading is about escaping reality. I've never cared much one way or the other about vampires: they're just one of many mythical creatures. I'm still not a "vampire person" by any stretch, but the fact that many of the characters in Twilight are vampires opens the door to supernatural, and therefore potentially unique and original characters, settings and events.

The closest I've ever come to reading a romance novel is probably Anne of Green Gables. I enjoyed it, but have never felt any motivation to read Jane Austen or Danielle Steel. So it was a new experience, and a pleasant one, to get away from my usual sword-fighting, spaceship-flying, and spell-casting and delve into feelings and relationships and love.

In the last few years I've been experiencing a sort of high school nostalgia. Not that I would want to go back and actually relive that awkward social nightmare, but how much better it could be if I could go back now, as a wiser, bolder, more mature person and actually have a clue about relationships, romantic and otherwise, and have the courage to reach out and make connections to people I was too scared to go near when I was actually in high school. Since actually going back is impossible without a time machine, (and increasingly, some cosmetic surgery), the next best thing is experiencing it vicariously through fictional books and tv shows. Joan of Arcadia was great, as was Roswell, Mean Girls, and The Breakfast Club. A good portion of Twilight takes place at Bella's new high school, from her point of view. Reading it, I could laugh and cry with her, but also safely step back any time I wanted to. The best of both worlds :-)

You might think that I would find the modern setting of Twilight mundane, but it's actually not, for two important reasons. One, it takes place on the west coast of the US, a beautiful, exotic place where I've only been for a few days in my entire life. Two, many of the characters have very different lifestyles than I've ever had. I won't say any more.

Bella is obviously my favorite character. I like her because she is brave, passionate, self-aware, and dedicated. As a first person narrator, we see almost everything through her eyes. We know what she thinks, and feel what she feels, and her delicious personality flavors everything that happens. I was only half joking when I told my wife that reading Twilight made me feel like a teenage girl; my identification with Bella was that strong as I lived her life vicariously. At the same time, she is different enough from me that I can still be surprised by the way she reacts to things, and learn new ways of experiencing the world.

Other characters are significantly less developed, and serve mostly as a social setting for Bella's life. But they are extremely diverse, and each of their relationships with Bella is unique. After reading the series, you might want to explore the author's website: stepheniemeyer.com. There are some "outtakes" (ie: additional scenes) as well as other information that furthur develops some characters.

Obviously I can't tell you the story. That would ruin your experience of discovering it for yourself. Just trust me: it's cool. The first thing I did after finishing the series was write a private blog entry outlining the whole plot--just to cement it in my mind. Many of the plot twists are easily guessable, but taken as a whole, it blows my mind how Stephenie Meyer came up with this particular combination of stuff.

My wife says I'm totally obsessed. I don't really deny that, except to point out that it's not my fault I'm obsessed. I didn't choose to love the books, and I'm not choosing to keep thinking about them. It may be my fault that I keep writing about them, but for the most part, all I did was choose to see what all the fuss was about this series. The obsession happened as a logical result of reading it.

Edit: I forgot that I was also going to comment on some common critiques of Twilight. 1) That it is badly written, and 2) That it is poorly edited.

I agree that it isn't Charles Dickens by any stretch. But to most readers, that's a good thing. The important thing is that it clearly paints the characters, and makes you fall in love with them. How bad can it be if it accomplishes this so spectacularly?

As the series progresses, it seem that each book was rushed to press more quickly than the last. The most common error editorial error is repeated words, like in this sentence. I read slowly and carefully, and I remember noticing this about 3 or 4 times per book. The only other thing I found was that occasionally I had to double take to figure out who was saying a piece of dialogue.

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