My Thoughts on The Twilight Saga
Written by ina on Sunday, 14 of December , 2008 at 11:14 pm
Tags: Twilight
Earlier tonight, I officially finished reading Book 4 (Breaking Dawn) of the Twilight Saga!
While some I know are horrified that I’ve immersed myself in this (derivative/juvenile/fleeting/genre/pulp fiction/romance) series, I think I have to admit I side with the masses on this–I love Twilight!
Shallow in mythos, yes. (Pathological to all “light vamp” novels after Anne Rice {and, perhaps, all vamp novels after A.R.}, practically all mythos is Anne-Rice derivative. From mythos of the first shapeshifters [recall Body Thief] to “Renesmee,” [recall Witching Hour]) Deja vu-ish in your stereotypical vampire male lover being Victorian-esque and speaking with that sort of cordiality, yes. (It is a romance.) Vampires who don’t have sharp vampire teeth, per se, but just really strong jaws (Almost as strange as Joss Whedon vampires with their dramatized stage faces.) Stereotypical rift between vampires and werewolves (not quite like Underworld, though, as these werewolves are actually Native American shapeshifters who gain the trait genetically and can’t infect others.) Glowy eyes! (And they don’t usually wear contacts even though they try to blend in among humans.)
But, as I mentioned earlier, Book 1’s magic is that it’s totally soft-core, and yet you become immersed in the world and totally get to understand Bella Swan as you connect to her by reminiscing your similar (and-yet-so-different) high school experience; you can tell so much love went into writing it for the author to keep both the soft-core piousness in with a perfect but not-nauseating amount of suspense. Book 2’s fault is that it doesn’t tailor to the target audience; you simply can’t give someone who wants to read a vamp novel (and who’s already in love with the lead vamp) 350 pages of werewolf-esque lore. I suppose the devout fan (me?) would trudge through all that just to see what would happen (the official way it’s supposed to happen!), but the development amounts to a very painful sort of can’t-stop-reading (nauseating) suspense–in a way, something of a cheap trick equivalent to forcing the reader to keep reading on behalf of a certain vampiric hostage. Book 3 was ok, but the writing seems very rushed; much of it just doesn’t seem smooth. Book 4 relies on an existing fanhood; you have to be in love with Bella and/or Edward to read through the first half, and while the plotting of the second half is more coherent, the ending is actually happy and just (to an extent).
Basically, you love the characters and you can’t resist falling in love with the saga and smiling giddily through even its myriad outrageous scenes. Not to mention, there is always a very pious air that, to your delighted surprise, actually holds out (What you don’t come to expect of a vampire novel - literally no sex for Bella and Edward until they’re formally and big-grand-wedding wed… in Book 4, which is 750 pages long — longest of the volumes, and perhaps originally intended to be something other than a young adult book(?)! Mad props! Skill?
Although you notice that Meyer almost never has more than two people to a dialogue, the usage of the special gifts of certain supernatural characters as literary tools is definitely exploited–most evidently, Edward’s ability to read anyone’s mind (but Bella’s) effectively allows his dialogue to serve as that of an omnipotent narrator’s. The Cullen family vampires have talents that make them nearly stereotypical: Jasper like a Carebear (he can quite seriously emote!); Alice like a Cassandra of sort (or Go Ask Alice!); Edward like the vampire of the Rococo-type romances who can see through everyone’s thoughts but the one person’s. The blending of talents into the characters isn’t always seamless, but I think they were well introduced - found it pretty easy to associate each member with his or her talent after just a casual introduction to each in Book 1 (but I’m told that’s a girl thing).
I have to admit I love the denoument to Book 4’s finale (the buildup is interseting-esque; Aro’s deliberations is tainted [agreed]). I really wish RL political antagonism that’s on the breaking dawn of war could end so passively–that victory could be without a fight. (Then again, how would you make a true-to-book ending for a movie based on Book 4’s actual ending? What would the fans–especially the ones who haven’t read the book–think, after getting all spiffed up for a fight, when they all just leave, and the seemingly-winning side cheers despite missing the fight?)
Then again, did Meyer really mean “The End” at the end of Book 4 - the Volturi are sure to do something in the near future about this unexpected threat, perhaps send a spy or something (or maybe the priceless antique necklace Aro gave Bella has some curse that makes it the magical equivalent of a tape recorder — ok, stretch, interesting the actual mythos isn’t that crazy yet)? Suffice it to say, lots of fun fan fiction possibilities ahead…
Category: Reflections
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