*sporfle*

[jedibuttercup]

"I suddenly realized that I had never once noticed what he was wearing-- not just tonight, but ever. I just couldn't seem to look away from his face."
--Twilight, p. 169

Okay, now she's lost me. *stifling a giggle* Have you ever read any of those older Harlequin-type novels? The ones where they start out hating each other but quickly shift into mutual obsession, and there are all these nebulous reasons the couple should never be together; and while they may not get around to sex before The End they of course have a Passion For The Ages, and so on? That's what this is; that's why the dissonance between the internal voice and outer actions (straight-up "romance" is the only genre I can think of where the main characters are supposed to be Mary Sues to better enable a reader to fantasize herself in their shoes) and the distinctly unimaginative way the supernatural element is treated. Substitute "vampire" for any unusual ethnicity you care to name, et voila.

I read boxes and boxes of horribly clichéd romances out of my grandmother's closet as a child, most of them from a Harlequin subscription but with a few Regency and Grace Livingston Hill for leavening; and as a direct consequence, I used up my tolerance for such themes before I was old enough to drink. I mean, I knew this was a "supernatural teen romance", but the movie had led me to believe that the "supernatural" part was more than exotic window dressing. It's really, really not. I mean, for what it's turning out to be, it's a well-written example of the genre; but for what it's pretending to be, gag me. Can anyone tell me whether that ever changes? *hopeful look*

I think I'm going to try reading the rest of the book mentally editing out the word "vampire" and replacing it with random other sci-fi races, and see if it makes any real difference. Should at least keep my attention on the text!
~

Comments

[sulien.livejournal.com]

As far as I'm concerned, the Twilight series is good only for mocking. I'm afraid I was only able to finish book one, and that was while trying to keep my eyebrows from climbing into my hairline due to my incredulity that so many people I know who have otherwise good taste in reading material recommended it so highly. I happened across this review (http://psa.blastmagazine.com/2008/08/16/twilight-sucks-and-not-in-a-good-way/) after I finished book one and it thoroughly convinced me to not even attempt reading the rest of the "Twilight Saga".

Please forgive the edit to fix fumble fingered coding. :-p

[jedibuttercup]

Mmmm. The review doesn't surprise me, at all.

The thing that gets me is that Meyer does have plenty of moments of excellent writing quality; they're just nearly drowned out by the *facepalm* of what passes for plot, and the lapses into thesaurus-raiding whenever Edward's qualities are mentioned.

I'd love to see what she's writing ten years from now.

[sulien.livejournal.com]

"The thing that gets me is that Meyer does have plenty of moments of excellent writing quality; they're just nearly drowned out by the *facepalm* of what passes for plot, and the lapses into thesaurus-raiding whenever Edward's qualities are mentioned."

That's exactly my problem with "Twilight" and Stephenie Meyers. I expect that sort of writing from someone starting out writing fan fiction, not from a published author. Frankly, I think Meyer's editor needs to go back to school and take a few more Editing for Publication courses. As for Meyer herself, a few more creative writing courses covering plot and character development and world building would definitely not be amiss.

Every time I feel inclined to cut Meyer some slack, I read some of your stories, or Polgara's, or Synecdochic's or those by the myriad other excellent fan fiction authors out there. I'm afraid there really is no excuse for a work published by a major publishing house to be as bad as "Twilight" is.

And, yeesh, I really need to step off of this soap box! :-p Sorry.