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jedibuttercup*perplexed expression* So I'm 75 pages into the Twilight novel (which at one time I'd sworn never to read, but-- well, blame ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maevebran for this one) and I think I already understand some of the love/hate, is-she-a-Sue-or-what, fannish relationship going on with this text.
It isn't the writing. Meyer uses a lot of short, declarative type sentences, which can come off a little choppy sometimes; but the descriptions are evocative, and the teenagers behave like teenagers, and the high school feels like a high school, and the technical sentence structure is pretty good, and so on. No-- I think it's the tension between narrative style and substance.
In the first place, Bella is supposed to be shy, clumsy, awkward, etcetera; and her actual behavior so far, in fact, is; but her inner monologue is very much not. She describes herself as acting in a way that her inner thoughts do not at all mirror; her mental voice comes across instead as a more mature, decisive, matter-of-fact person, aka probably more like the author herself than the girl she's writing about.
And in the second place-- there's no wonder, at all, to the handling of the supernatural aspects of what's going on. Yay, beautiful people; huh, Edward's saved her from crushing death in an impossible fashion. But Bella doesn't even bother trying to come up with theories on her own on how he could possibly have done so; despite whinging about having read so much that she'll have to go out of town for a bookstore rather than to Forks' library, she must have read mostly boring non-imaginative stuff, because most normal teenagers would be wondering about aliens or elves or a thousand other improbable ideas already. Not to mention, aside from sniffing her own hair, she doesn't theorize about possible non-teenage-drama-related reasons for Edward's other weird behavior, either; she just asks, and-- waits, frustrated, for answers. This is fairly unusual for fantasy heroines of any stripe.
(I know much of this series-- especially later on, and in later books-- is reportedly heavily influenced by the author's religious faith, but I expect that will come out more in non-Bella characterization and worldbuilding, which aren't directly related to the issues I've mentioned above; others have commented on that aspect in depth, and I won't mention it any further).
Anyway, it's-- kind of off-putting, that dual disconnect. And strangely fascinating; I don't usually come across that sort of dissonance in my regular reading. If I thought it were a deliberate choice on the author's part, I would be pretty amazed, and wondering what surprise she's setting up; as it is, I'm just really curious to see if it stays constant. *turns page to read on*
~
maevebran for this one) and I think I already understand some of the love/hate, is-she-a-Sue-or-what, fannish relationship going on with this text.It isn't the writing. Meyer uses a lot of short, declarative type sentences, which can come off a little choppy sometimes; but the descriptions are evocative, and the teenagers behave like teenagers, and the high school feels like a high school, and the technical sentence structure is pretty good, and so on. No-- I think it's the tension between narrative style and substance.
In the first place, Bella is supposed to be shy, clumsy, awkward, etcetera; and her actual behavior so far, in fact, is; but her inner monologue is very much not. She describes herself as acting in a way that her inner thoughts do not at all mirror; her mental voice comes across instead as a more mature, decisive, matter-of-fact person, aka probably more like the author herself than the girl she's writing about.
And in the second place-- there's no wonder, at all, to the handling of the supernatural aspects of what's going on. Yay, beautiful people; huh, Edward's saved her from crushing death in an impossible fashion. But Bella doesn't even bother trying to come up with theories on her own on how he could possibly have done so; despite whinging about having read so much that she'll have to go out of town for a bookstore rather than to Forks' library, she must have read mostly boring non-imaginative stuff, because most normal teenagers would be wondering about aliens or elves or a thousand other improbable ideas already. Not to mention, aside from sniffing her own hair, she doesn't theorize about possible non-teenage-drama-related reasons for Edward's other weird behavior, either; she just asks, and-- waits, frustrated, for answers. This is fairly unusual for fantasy heroines of any stripe.
(I know much of this series-- especially later on, and in later books-- is reportedly heavily influenced by the author's religious faith, but I expect that will come out more in non-Bella characterization and worldbuilding, which aren't directly related to the issues I've mentioned above; others have commented on that aspect in depth, and I won't mention it any further).
Anyway, it's-- kind of off-putting, that dual disconnect. And strangely fascinating; I don't usually come across that sort of dissonance in my regular reading. If I thought it were a deliberate choice on the author's part, I would be pretty amazed, and wondering what surprise she's setting up; as it is, I'm just really curious to see if it stays constant. *turns page to read on*
~
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no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 12:10 pm (UTC)There is often a disconnect between a characters inner voice and how they actually speak.
It is particulary unnerving when you read books there are heavily dialect based. Zora Neal Hurston's classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God superbly illustrates this with the main character Janie's inner monologue speaking in extended metaphors about her sexual identity being like a blooming pear tree and then the actual character speaking in the worst African American early 20th century patois EVER.
I rationalize the inner monologue and actual dialogue disconnect as -- well, the heroine or hero has to have some mental depth. Folks won't read about an idiot.
Well, I won't.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 03:04 pm (UTC)If you want to read no-sex-PG rated paranormal teen romance you should pick up Maggie S.'s Lament.
http://www.amazon.com/Lament-Faerie-Deception-Maggie-Stiefvater/dp/0738713708
Personally, when I read trashy fiction I make a beeline for the paranormal romance aisle. Not naming any writers but a good deal of them are far more poorly written than Twilight.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 04:06 am (UTC)Yeah, those are usually pretty terrible. Though I have found a few gems in all the rough. The Noah Bishop series by Kay Hooper has a hard science paranormal vibe with a dash, or sometimes sprinkle, of romance.
I tend to gravitate toward the urban fantasy realm which is filled with some crap'tastic books, but I'm all for trying an author once, perhaps twice, but Twilight is just too popular. I'm already sick of it and I haven't even read it yet and I more then likely never will. There's something squicky about a 117 falling in love with a 16 year old no matter how young the 117 looks or acts. (I wasn't the biggest supporter of the Buffy/Angel relationship either.)
no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 08:14 am (UTC)Hear, hear. Something else the two 'ships also have in common is that the romance skips straight from "your attractiveness fascinates me" to "you perfect for me, despite the obstacles between us" without so much as a "the more I get to know you, the more I like what I see" phase. We're supposed to think this is healthy?
no subject
Date: 2008-12-29 06:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 08:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 08:20 am (UTC)Vampires should have some bite to them, or they become just another exotic ethnicity, as they have here.
> it's possible to admire a style without liking its content.
I agree; I've definitely read books before that I would never touch again with even a ten-foot pole due to subject matter or message, but which have left a searing impression on my mind, vividly conveyed by their authors' considerable talents.
no subject
Date: 2008-12-30 06:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-12-31 08:22 am (UTC)> This book is not for me. I don't do vampires
Oddly, this book is not for me despite the fact that I totally dig vampires in general-- because it does vampires so badly. =)