Gah, talk about the ultimate of guilty pleasures. I wish I could deny my pull to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, a series that, so far as generalizations go, is in so many ways a story that I would either refuse to read, get sick of and throw away (more like donate... who throws away BOOKS?), or at the very least hide under my bed and never admit to reading.
Why, you ask? Well... do you know what these books are about? Of course you do. Everyone does. But humor me.
- Basically, this is a series about a teenage girl falling in love with a vampire. I do not read books about vampires. Ever. Ever, ever, ever. I don't know how I could be clearer about this.
- Besides that, it's easily one of the most dysfunctional relationships ever imagined. The characters are so co-dependent that several people (including me) are worried about the message the books are sending to their pre-teen/young teen audiences, because honestly, in real life this would be the most unhealthy relationship ever, and generally ultimate co-dependence is a turn-off for me. Because once you get to co-dependence, the choice in the relationship is gone, and I've always believed that love is and should be a choice. What can I say? I'm a Switchfoot fan, and Love is a Movement, baby.
- Also... any character who sets the human experience at naught (as Bella does, in favor of more... permanent options) tends to lose my respect a little bit, because... well, I'm a writer. The human experience is what I do, yes?
THAT SAID.
These books are like crack. Not that I have any experience to back that statement up, but really, I'd much rather have a book addiction than a drug addition. I have to admit that Stephenie herself strikes me as a bit of an odd duck, but there is something to these books, to her minute-to-minute descriptions and her refreshingly old-fashioned love story (surprisingly not an oxymoron) that just captivates... And not just me, obviously, as the power of this series is undeniable. Almost irritatingly so. There is just a hair more than a month's wait until the last and final book in the saga (minus an alternate POV of the original—how often do you get THAT outside of fanfic?), Breaking Dawn, is released, and... it's ridiculous. I'm dying for this book.
It's still not to par with Harry Potter for me... maybe because it's so easy in comparison. Reading Twilight is like drinking water. Before you've realized it, you've swallowed the whole pitcher. Harry Potter in contrast was a seven-course (literally) meal served slowly, European-style, where everything complemented everything and the feast is almost too much to take in. But in a post-Deahthly Hallows world, it's nice to find a new subject of obsession.
The REAL question, though... is what will we all be doing on August THIRD*, when we're all done with Breaking Dawn?
My point, in all of this? If you by some chance haven't read these books, perhaps for one of the reasons I mentioned above, get out from under your rock! And hurry! You have three novels to finish before August 2nd!
*This is such a lie, by the way. No matter how obsessed I can find myself, there's no way I can finish an 800, 900, 1600, whatever page book. The woman really can write tomes. But I'm sure some of you will be done with it by then. I know Isabelle Santiago will be. hahaha
1 comments:
HA HA! Wow. Way to call me out on it. ;)
But you're absolutely right. I will most certainly be done with it by then. I'll be reading it all through the midnight release party!
But honestly, I completely agree with you. It's one of those books that I may never have picked up otherwise. That I didn't for most of the reasons you mentioned. Until you suggested it. And then... well, the rest is what we call history.
The thing about Meyer is her narration is so fresh, so very true to teenage love/obsession, that I think we can all sort of fall into it.
I'm so excited. The hardest part will be not telling you what happens. :-P
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