172 replies to this topic

[Center Field]

Twilight has appeal in America because the average American student has poor grammar. The lower level writing exhibited in the novels has the essence of colloquialism in a very low, elementary level- it's ****e. It may have been planned ****e, however. Female students feel stimulated by it, and the fact that it's written inadequately amplifies the stimulation in a very peculiar way. Simply, many Americans identify with it, so it sells well.

I haven't a clue why people in other countries enjoy the series.


Verdict:

Good literature? **** NO

Good sales strategy? Veritably.


Disclaimer: I don't mean this as a bash on Americans in general-there are multitudes of us who are educated...but there are multitudes of us who are not!

Edited by Center Field, Feb 21, 2011 - 06:28.

[snarker]

Er.  Stephenie Meyer was coming to my town for a book signing, YEARS ago, I didn't even know who she was but my friend had two tickets, so she gave me her extra copy of Twilight and off we went.  I thought it was cool to get a signed copy, then I read the book, and... eehh.  Then her popularity exploded, and I didn't really understand why.  Her writing ability was rather mediocre (then again, I'm a language snob, I read LotR over and over again because I love his writing style), the plot was kind of dull, and the characters were annoying.  Plus her definition of vampire was rather unsatisfactory for me.  I like Anne Rice better when it comes to vampire literature, both for her writing ability and for her characters (probably a good thing that I like her, since I wrote my extended essay on Interview With the Vampire and Dracula).  

I did reread Twilight a couple of times with about a year's span in between, and my opinion is the same.  Don't like her writing, I just use her signature in my book to tease my rabid Twilighter friends, harharhar.  I started New Moon, gave up after the first chapter, just could not muster the interest.  I *did* read The Host (which I also got signed, at a later signing, dragged there by same friend) which I liked more.  Writing still not that great, sappy love triangles still irksome, but it was an interesting portrayal of aliens, and I just liked the entire plot much better.

I suppose I can just use my younger sister to sum things up.  She was 13 when she read it, and just the sort of category that would obsess over the book.  I asked her what she thought of it when she was done.  "Well, I don't know... I mean, it was interesting when he hated her.  Then they fell in love and it got boring.  Then the other guy tried to kill her and it was interesting again.  Then it was a bunch of love crap again."

I used to be far more outspoken concerning Twilight, I thought it was an atrocity, and still do; but now I can't be bothered.  People will read what they want to read, if I don't like it then big deal, I don't have to read it.  It's a sad thing to admit, but after seeing the first two movies, I feel that the movies were better than the books.  And I've never said that about any movie before.

Whew, that did get to be quite long-winded...

Edited by snarker, May 03, 2011 - 13:49.

[Dumbledore]

Twilight is like the pollution of the mind for teenage girls.
The books are terrible... The movies are terrible.
My favorite is when people say that the movies completely ruined it because the books are SOOOOO great!
When really, it's all just really inexplicably bad...
Robert was a lovely Cedric though...

[d3athlig3r]

I've read all of them out of curiosity, to see what the fuss is all about. I kept hoping it would get better as I approach the end, that I'm missing out on something. But no, terrible series.

However, excellent business strategy. Quenching the thirst of millions of teenagers (girls) dreaming for unrealistic guys like Edward and Jacob.

Plot also gets UGLY at the end. Wolfman falls in love with her baby, wtf?

Stuff that, give me some LOTR.

I don't know, that's just my opinion.

[ShootingStars]

First, I'm going to go all TOK and ask, what is good literature?
Second, personally, I don't think the series counts as good literature. Guilty pleasure, maybe. But if you think about it, Twilight did inspire an awful lot of other  vampire/werewolves fiction. One of my english teachers even said it was actually good writing. But I did have problems with the plot (Breaking Dawn), the slow pace (New Moon!), and even Bella's whiney character (Eclipse). Aahh...not the best as a series. But Twilight itself was not a bad book, and if it ended at Eclipse, not a completely bad series either.

EDIT: Anyone still reading this, search for "Alex Reads Twilight" on Youtube. Completely settles this discussion and is HILARIOUS. And makes you think of Twilight completely differently if you actually read the books and liked them.

Edited by ShootingStars, Sep 03, 2011 - 12:53.

[Linayra Huntington]

Twilight was an awesome book my favorite book by far. but i would agree that it isn't very good literature, it is very superficial, and very fairy-tale-ish. but that's what i love about it its a very easy read, it makes you swoon, it makes you cry, and makes you wish every boy was a little more like Edward Cullen (not EXACTLY like Edward Cullen because we all know he had his flaws), twilight made me wish i was a sparkly vampire at one point but yea, its not in depth literature. still really good though

[Hexa]

I've read all the books. Was a 3 year gap between the third and 4th book. I was OK with the first 3 when I was 12, but the 4th book was horrible and basing my opinion on that, it's at the level of tweens at best. Not good literature at all.

[Rainbow Dash]

It's a babble, not literature. Srsly, if you want to loose some gray matter painlessly, you should probably read some of S. Meyer books. Personally, I just don't like them - the language, the plot, the characters' creation. And movies were horrible as well...

Edited by Rainbow Dash, Sep 20, 2011 - 17:23.

[Hexa]

So at my library in the new arrivals section there was a book called "Unlocking Twilight: A Dictionary" so I was like "Wut? Why would you need a dictionary for Twilight?". So I opened it up and flipped through a couple pages. The most complicated word in it was probably abhorrence. /facepalm

[alexis0123]

Twilight is not really great literature. Its more of just a great story.

[spereira14]

I read it about two years ago but I think you can find a lot of symbolism to a book if you know how to look for it and have a creative mind I might try that on Twilight later, though I hate how mainstream the series has become

[PurpleVixen]

not good literature when comparing it to other romance novels, but perhaps a good escapism novel

[Steven Su]

I would say definitely NOT good writing and NOT IB level, but the books aren't as gad as it's made out to be (although the movies are ridiculous). It sucked that there was no epic battle.