Read Twilight, can't find anything better!

[Dave]

Why does everybody hate the books that much? They're just books.

I come from the totally opposite perspective. I can't hate the books because I haven't read them and have no inclination to do so, but I'd ask why is everybody obsessed with these books that much? They're just books.

 

[jessie~mai]

OMG DAVE! :O
XD
i think its because people who like them go on about them because of the movies and people who didnt like them get annoyed and so have a grudge against them or something like that

 

[blacknorth]

I'd worry about the mental development and critical faculties of anyone reading these books beyond the age of 14. A little earlier someone referred to the Narnia novels as 'kiddie' books. Well, you can read them as just that, and then you can re-read them, as an adult, for their allegorical qualities.

At 16 one should really be reading Orwell and Dostoyevsky etc, and experiencing all the pretentious self-satisfied nonsense that goes with being 16 and reading them.

Those were the days... brain like a sponge, instead of the tired old dried out rag it is now.

 

[j d worthington]

Those were the days... brain like a sponge, instead of the tired old dried out rag it is now.

Add "moth-eaten" just before rag, and I'm with you....

 

[Diggler]

"Stephanie Meyer can't write worth a darn." -Stephen King

People who live in glass houses...

Personally I have no interest in the Twilight novels. I somehow watched the first film when it came out on DVD and it was crap. It seems to be a case of what is commercially popular has a tendency to also be garbage.

 

[Diggler]

I'd worry about the mental development and critical faculties of anyone reading these books beyond the age of 14. A little earlier someone referred to the Narnia novels as 'kiddie' books. Well, you can read them as just that, and then you can re-read them, as an adult, for their allegorical qualities.

The Narnia books have also survived the test of time, seeing that they were written over 50 years ago. I find it doubtful that the Twilight series will be as revered, or as widely read within schools, and homes as the Narnia series of books 50 years from now. Matter of fact, I kind of find it doubtful that anyone will actually remember the Twilight series 25 years from now.

 

[Runya]

I'm out of this.

No need to give me indirect comments, blacknorth.

 

[j d worthington]

Runya, I'm not so sure that anyone was doing so (if you are referring to the "At 16" comment). That is a wonderful age for discovering such things, and the comment about the brain (I would say mind, in this context) is spot on... hence my addition. It is an age when the mind is like a sponge, soaking up information of all kinds, discovering exciting new worlds, and making rapid strides in intellectual growth and maturity (though not always of judgment -- that comes with time). However....

On the Twilight series, I tend to agree with the view that they really are ephemera which will soon be forgotten; but they may be remembered fondly by those who read and enjoyed them at such an age. (Whether they would be able to return to them later and enjoy them is another thing entirely; but then, most of us have things we really loved during our teen years which we rather blanch at returning to in later life.)

So I wouldn't take such comments personally; the way I read them, they aren't intended that way, but rather as honest comments on the poster's assessments of the series, with perhaps (as in the above case) a little personal reminiscence of their own....

 

[Runya]

I actually wrote like a 400 word response, but then I felt like you'd later reply and make me feel mistaken once again. After all, you are the wise people and know better when it comes to judging. I suck at most things So, for real, I'm out of it.

Thank you very much JD for explaining things to me, though. I liked your response and agree with it.

 

[RcGrant]

Whatever you think of the books, I think it's safe to say all of us here who are writers would love to be in Meyer's shoes right now.

Live and let live.

 

[jessie~mai]

i personally wouldn't
she's fugly no matter how rich she is
yeah im not a writer, but like everyone says how bad a writer she actually is, even if her ideas are alright and appeal to huge amounts of hormonal girls -_-

 

[Lioness]

That exactly what makes them popular amongst teenage girls - the emotional appeal. To a lot of them, it's a fantasy. It's romantic (if you ignore the creepier aspects of it). I mean, sure, he watches you through your window, but that's to 'keep you safe'
It's not particularly well written, but the themes and moods are what makes it enjoyable. I enjoyed it on the first reading, though I go back and read them objectively, looking at the writing style AND everything else, I can't enjoy it so much.

Having said that, I enjoyed it much more on a second read than I did Fahrenheit 451, mostly because his writing style irked me more than Meyer's

 

[jessie~mai]

aha yeah exactly :] i couldnt actually re read the series, but i did like them the first time i read them being a teenage girl myself, but really when i read them i was just skimming to get the story

 

[Rosemary]

I read all the books Stephenie meyer (except breaking dawn) and I think they are fantastic, especially Twilight.

Would the Stephenie Meyer books - 'Eclipse' and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner be suitable for a 14 year old?

 

[RcGrant]

i personally wouldn't
she's fugly no matter how rich she is

]

Well there goes the discussion.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I have my own opinions about the Twilight saga.


They do not agree with the original poster.




I will kindly leave it at that.

 

[soulsinging]

Why does everbody hate the books that much? They're just books.

I hate them because I think they present a disturbing model to young girls about what a desirable relationship looks like... basically, being codependent with a controlling and borderline abusive bf is good, girls should feel unworthy of their men and do anything he asks to please them, etc. I know it's fantasy and really no worse than the mainstream popular crap on tv, but for some reason I'm more offended by books being so crassly exploitative and agenda-driven than tv. The outdated glorification of virginity and abstinence also bothers me, esp when it's hard enough in this country to deal with the sexual politics of people like Meyer (she's a mormon) that want to turn back the clock to some imagined 1950's utopia.

 

[RcGrant]

I hate them because I think they present a disturbing model to young girls about what a desirable relationship looks like... basically, being codependent with a controlling and borderline abusive bf is good, girls should feel unworthy of their men and do anything he asks to please them, etc. I know it's fantasy and really no worse than the mainstream popular crap on tv, but for some reason I'm more offended by books being so crassly exploitative and agenda-driven than tv. The outdated glorification of virginity and abstinence also bothers me, esp when it's hard enough in this country to deal with the sexual politics of people like Meyer (she's a mormon) that want to turn back the clock to some imagined 1950's utopia.

Jumping in on this...not because I like Twilight (though I do), but because I feel strongly about this particular issue, as a writer.

In short, I don't think a writer has any sort of moral obligation to their readers. Last I looked, Meyer was writing a fictional love story, she wasn't writing "Moral Code for Young Girls".

I'm not convinced she had a particular agenda towards promoting abstinence, but rather because SHE has views and opinions that lean that way, her writing was coloured by it. It's kinda how it goes.

I think when you get into the realm of writer accountability (in relation to being expected to uphold so-called moral messages; though of course any moral is society-specific, and not exactly universal, so even morals change) you start veering towards the area of controlling freedom of speech.

I always think of "Lolita" when I think about this topic. It's my favourite book in the world. The narrator is a child molestor. Is Nabokov promoting child abuse because he chose to write from this perspective? Of course not. He's telling a story. That's all it is in the end.

 

[HareBrain]

I think when you get into the realm of writer accountability (in relation to being expected to uphold so-called moral messages; though of course any moral is society-specific, and not exactly universal, so even morals change) you start veering towards the area of controlling freedom of speech.

True, but no one (I think) was saying that the books should be banned or "controlled", only that they dislike them, which is a perfectly valid response.

He's telling a story. That's all it is in the end.

Some stories have changed the direction of civilisations. A story that's eagerly devoured by millions is never "that's all it is". (That's not to say I disagree with the rest of your argument.)

 

[RcGrant]

True, but no one (I think) was saying that the books should be banned or "controlled", only that they dislike them, which is a perfectly valid response.

Really? I think 'presents a disturbing model to young girls' takes it out of the 'like/dislike' realm and firmly into the notion of a writer presenting a frame work to live by. And that is when it gets into the arena of whether or not a writer should be allowed to write something that doesn't conform to some sort of societal standard.