Twilight series: Good literature?

[Gerrit]

Twilight is a marketing scheme. The character of Bella has been perfectly fashioned to be this boring, average girl who isn't really THAT pretty, has no singular talent so every single girl in the world could envision themselves as her. The relationship they share is completely unrealistic, not because of it's intensity, but just the fact that he happens to be SO in love with this person who seems to offer him nothing in return (I know that this happens sometimes, but generally it's unrealistic). This is really the whole appeal of twilight, this "average" girl is able to get the most perfect guy in the world to fall in love with her. In real life, the most perfect guy in the world (well he obviously wouldn't be a vampire) would most likely never fall for an average, boring girl. I used to really enjoy twilight when it came out a few years ago, but then I broadened the spectrum of literature/books I read and I realised how terrible it is. I just find the language in it overly simplistic and boring, I'm sorry but twilight seems to me to just be a book for people who have absolutely no love lives/overly hormonal teenagers/lonely 50 year old women. The movies are also shocking.

yeah the female equivalent of Girl Next Door. Although to be fair Kristen Stewart is pretty damn hot.

The shocking thing about Twilight is that a lot of people are really into that whole vampire-thing. Even people doing IB. And let's face it, the Twilight series is 100% not good literature.

Not even the Girl Next Door, Bella is nothing more than an empty shell. There are few or none characteristics given, which enables insecure teenage girls to place themselves in her place. I wish I came up with that idea though, I wouldn't have to prepare for my final year of IB right now...

[Julia32]

its superficial in its unrealistic

its more of a enjoyment type novel than of a literate

[Danika]

i was totally obsessed with this books and felt in love of jacob (sorry edward) but, yes... i have to admit that the story is very superficial and a little cliché you know... good guy thinking he is the bad guy and thus leaving the girl...

the movies... first one totally sucked, come on! and for real, kristen stewarts acting is awful. have you seen her act in other movies? same facil expression. i mean, for real?

[xXaliceinibwonderlandXx]

Absolutely not my dear, its written on the sixth grade level, the main characters have no character depth at all, the time line is confusing ,and overall its blah. The only reason people like it is because its so simple anyone can read it.

p.s. Edward Cullen is not a vampire he in fact is a pedophilic faerie and clever bot agrees soo.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

I wrote a sort of parody fic of Twilight. http://ruanchunxian.blogspot.com/2010/10/mutant-plot-bunny-and-what-became-of-it.html It's pretty bad but it was fun to write.

[Austin Glau]

I wrote a sort of parody fic of Twilight. http://ruanchunxian....came-of-it.html It's pretty bad but it was fun to write.

hahaha lol very nice ruan one of the best twilight parodies i saw.

What i think about twilight is it doesn't realy deserve all the attention it got, but now that its widely popular just let it be. good things may even come out of it, for example the movie "vampires suck"

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Actually I think the fad kind of died down a little. It'll live again when Breaking Fail the movie comes out but for now I don't hear so much about it anymore. I think.

But in all seriousness, some fanfic are actually better than the original. Not that that's hard to do. The characters are blank slate, it's almost a fanfic writer's heaven. You get to develop them every which way you want because they don't have personality to begin with

[Austin Glau]

lol i think i will stay away from twilight fan fics although i have yet to read the series yet, might read the first one sometime

[pumkinns]

awwwwe how cute. twilighters. you do realize the plot is awful, and the english she uses is far far away from literature? right?

i honestly don't see why most of the girls are obsessed with this story. I'm a book worm, finishing 3 novels per week, and out of curiosity i read all the twilight books. they are awful..!!!

soo why do you like them?

[kiwi.at.heart]

http://community.sparknotes.com/index.php/2009/07/16/blogging-twilight-index-page/

If you haven't read this, you should. I basically just some guys blogging about him reading twilight. It has made me laugh so many times.

[Antiares]

Eh, Twilight isn't that bad. At least it encourages young girls to read, even if Twilight is pretty trashy.

[wombat123]

Most of my close female friends seem to be bashing Twilight all the time and how bad of a piece of literature it is. I do have one male friend who supports it as good literature though. When it comes down to it I've never actually read an entire Twilight novel, but from what I hear it falls victim to the trap of overdescribing - especially when the author is describing the magnificence of Edward Cullen.

[Antiares]

Most of my close female friends seem to be bashing Twilight all the time and how bad of a piece of literature it is. I do have one male friend who supports it as good literature though. When it comes down to it I've never actually read an entire Twilight novel, but from what I hear it falls victim to the trap of overdescribing - especially when the author is describing the magnificence of Edward Cullen.

Meyer's usage of descriptors is quite....creative. I remember one particular part where she describes Edward as 'incandescent.'

[jtsang]

This summer I became completely obsessed with the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, and I completely fell in love with Edward Cullen!! However, in my Spanish class we read " The Unbearable Lightness of the Being" by Milan Kundera and it changed the way I perceive literature. Now I consider Twilight series to be quite superficial.. good, yet superficial...what do you think?

Twilight was always extremely superficial. In more ways than one, it is merely a teenager girl's fantasy with no grounds. Think about it. Edward Cullen is amazingly beautiful and young and yet has the maturity of all those years, something all girls want. He's sensitive and yet tough/masculine, super loyal, basically the perfect dream guy. On the other hand, bella is a person lacking all will power and character/personality of her own. She complains to edward all the time, whining and then not doing anything, basically being the 'damsel in distress', and her thoughts and actions are so generic they can be thought up by any girl, and therin lies the appeal. Bella is basically a shell that any girl can put on, any girl can fantasize about being bella, and having someone like edward.

Actually to tell you the truth I hate the twilight series. I perceive it to be anti-feminist (even though it was written by a woman), seeing as the main 'heroine' of the series does nothing and has no resolve of her own. She lets herself be tossed into a plot, she lets her entire life and existence revolve around something entirely volatile and then refuses to do anything about it except mope and cry. Sorry if this offends anyone, but I believe that bella had a choice with what she wanted to do with her life, and she let it be played around with by a guy who sparkles in the light and hates dogs. If you think about it, twilight appears to be flawless only because it has no substance to begin with.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

Eh, Twilight isn't that bad. At least it encourages young girls to read, even if Twilight is pretty trashy.

I have very very big issues with this argument.

What's the point of reading, if what they're reading is trash, or worst, contain very bad messages? What's the point of encouraging young girls to read, if what they read tells them that they should kill themselves over a hot guy, they should forever be bowing down to their man who is there to protect them and never let them do anything, and that a woman is never happy until she has a husband and a baby?

Normally I would not agree with the idea of book banning, but if there is ever a book that needs to be banned, I really think it should be Twilight. Not only do young girls flock to it, but once you get people declaring that they'd leave their husbands/boyfriends/family if Edward exists or hook up with a guy simply because he is named Edward and afterwards have a baby named Renesmee Bella Stephenie (true story apparently), then the books become incredibly sinister. Young girls do not need to be taught that if you just whine and submit to an abusive boyfriend then you'll get everything you want, or thought that you want. I certainly would not want my little sister to read a book where the main character who is 18 complains about growing old and ugly and then eventually ends up being dead and beautiful.

[pumkinns]

Eh, Twilight isn't that bad. At least it encourages young girls to read, even if Twilight is pretty trashy.

I have very very big issues with this argument.

What's the point of reading, if what they're reading is trash, or worst, contain very bad messages? What's the point of encouraging young girls to read, if what they read tells them that they should kill themselves over a hot guy, they should forever be bowing down to their man who is there to protect them and never let them do anything, and that a woman is never happy until she has a husband and a baby?

Normally I would not agree with the idea of book banning, but if there is ever a book that needs to be banned, I really think it should be Twilight. Not only do young girls flock to it, but once you get people declaring that they'd leave their husbands/boyfriends/family if Edward exists or hook up with a guy simply because he is named Edward and afterwards have a baby named Renesmee Bella Stephenie (true story apparently), then the books become incredibly sinister. Young girls do not need to be taught that if you just whine and submit to an abusive boyfriend then you'll get everything you want, or thought that you want. I certainly would not want my little sister to read a book where the main character who is 18 complains about growing old and ugly and then eventually ends up being dead and beautiful.

did no one else notice that Bella kisses her daughters future love o.O OMG!! really!! i wouldn't want anyone reading those books they r horrible!! harry potter is way better!!!

btw (when i go to the library i make sure to put them in the horror section) :$

Eh, Twilight isn't that bad. At least it encourages young girls to read, even if Twilight is pretty trashy.

I have very very big issues with this argument.

What's the point of reading, if what they're reading is trash, or worst, contain very bad messages? What's the point of encouraging young girls to read, if what they read tells them that they should kill themselves over a hot guy, they should forever be bowing down to their man who is there to protect them and never let them do anything, and that a woman is never happy until she has a husband and a baby?

Normally I would not agree with the idea of book banning, but if there is ever a book that needs to be banned, I really think it should be Twilight. Not only do young girls flock to it, but once you get people declaring that they'd leave their husbands/boyfriends/family if Edward exists or hook up with a guy simply because he is named Edward and afterwards have a baby named Renesmee Bella Stephenie (true story apparently), then the books become incredibly sinister. Young girls do not need to be taught that if you just whine and submit to an abusive boyfriend then you'll get everything you want, or thought that you want. I certainly would not want my little sister to read a book where the main character who is 18 complains about growing old and ugly and then eventually ends up being dead and beautiful.

did no one else notice that Bella kisses her daughters future love o.O OMG!! really!! i wouldn't want anyone reading those books they r horrible!! harry potter is way better!!!

btw (when i go to the library i make sure to put them in the horror section) :$

[Jazmine]

I started reading the series hmmm the summer before 9th grade so 3 years ago. The series is good, it is fun etc. I dont see why everyone is harping on it or Stephanie Meyers. The books are good and yes at parts I did cry and i was drawn into the whole vampire- werewolf thing. Im i the only one who has noticed that all of this series hate sparked after the first movie? And continued after the movies continued to be produced. What would have happened if the books were never turned into movies? Hmmm? There were millions of fans before the movies, fans who actually loved the series and not the movie characters. Im just so sick and tired of all the hate. Twilight might not compare to the Kite Runner because they are in a different genre. Its not going to compare to other books, classics, world literature because its not supost to. The Twilight Series is just that, the Twilight Series not meant to be ripped to shreds for not being as "deep" as other books. All books are different. All books are deep in their own way, if the authors mean for them to be.

[Minuet]

I read the series two summers ago out of curiosity, and it was more than horrible; it was utter rubbish. I gave the first book a chance, since I thought that the author was just 'starting out', but everything just went downhill as the pages progressed. Her diction, structure, vocabulary, and above all, her GRAMMAR. It's horrible, especially in Breaking Dawn. I was just so utterly annoyed by these silly yet obvious grammatical mistakes. You'd think the woman would notice such mistakes after 3 novels (4, counting her science fiction book). The more I read it, the more it slowly killed me inside, but the stubborn fighter in me insisted I go on until the very last page, and I did.

The idea of Edward is not so much appealing as it is comforting. The only logical reasoning I have for why people obsess over Edward so much these days is that he's a very basic guy; when you think about it, he has no specific personality. He drives a Volvo (or was it a Range Rover?), he shines, he has a cannibalistic attraction to Bella he just happens to control. Of course hopeless girls who only want to be fed dreams will love Edward; he's too obedient to function, and therefore he is a vampire. Every fault in him is represented in the fact that he is a vampire. No, people, vampires aren't cowards. Edward is a coward, lol. I'm sorry if I offend anyone, but he honestly is. He takes no initiative.

If I had to change the ending to a more suitable one, in my opinion, it would be that Bella's personality develops from the empty vessel that she is to a logical woman who ends up defying all she's dreamed of. She would go for Jacob when Edward left her to go to Italy, and she would have an inner psychological struggle in which she would have to choose between the forbidden fruit (Edward) and Jacob, the safer, more logical choice. And it goes on from there. And she would still be impregnated by Edward in what is depicted in my version as the biggest mistake ever, and she makes one of the wolves imprint it or whatever it is to make it seem like it's Jacob's own. Complicated material, as opposed to the predictable ending we all saw before the two even got together.

[Quico Millá Martínez]

of course not.

although i'm a boy, i read the first three books a few years ago before they became well-known, and I couldn't stop hating all the characters (besides i don't enjoy too much romantic books). They´re all irrealistic, immature, plain...

I mean, how on Earth can a teenage love turn on to an eternal love? is that meyer's messsage to the young girls? fall in love desperately? get emotionally dependent on the first strange guy you meet? be uncapable of being happy without a man on your side?

Bella has a happy ending (I assume, although i haven't read the last book of the series), but thats not real life.

[Ruan Chun Xian]

I started reading the series hmmm the summer before 9th grade so 3 years ago. The series is good, it is fun etc. I dont see why everyone is harping on it or Stephanie Meyers. The books are good and yes at parts I did cry and i was drawn into the whole vampire- werewolf thing. Im i the only one who has noticed that all of this series hate sparked after the first movie? And continued after the movies continued to be produced. What would have happened if the books were never turned into movies? Hmmm? There were millions of fans before the movies, fans who actually loved the series and not the movie characters. Im just so sick and tired of all the hate. Twilight might not compare to the Kite Runner because they are in a different genre. Its not going to compare to other books, classics, world literature because its not supost to. The Twilight Series is just that, the Twilight Series not meant to be ripped to shreds for not being as "deep" as other books. All books are different. All books are deep in their own way, if the authors mean for them to be.

Au contraire, I hated the books after reading the book. The movies just gave everything - the love, the hatred - that much more exposure. Harry Potter also came to much more attention (at least in the US) after the movies were announced. Most of the disapproval I have and that I see other people have of Twilight is purely based on the horrible writing and bad messages in the books. As to people saying I'm just jealous, well, yes, I am. If Meyer puts in no work developing her characters and her story and still got published, making millions, why do I have to agonise for hours over a single scene in my own writing and get nothing for it?

As for the depths of things, well, it's ok that you don't have a big moral story, but do you have to promote codependency, suicide, abusive relationships and teen marriage/pregnancy which then results in complete emotional abandonment of the child? Because that's what I got from the Twilight Saga.

I'm not demanding Smeyer to write to the standards of Austen or Stephen King, but when you encounter mistakes and awkward phrasing on every single page, so much that it distracts you from what is happening on the page, then you know you have a problem. I don't know whether Little, Brown and Meyer's editor are pure geniuses or just pure idiots. Maybe they saw the commercial appeal of this (which I won't deny) and just published the horrible writing for the hell of it, knowing they'd still rake in money.

Someone should really have taken a red pen to Twilight. Wait, someone already had.

Of course it wasn't meant to be great literature. But I, as the reader, had the right to expect a plot that made sense and some consistency within a so-called saga. I expect the actions of the characters to...well, make sense and there to be an actual ending. I'm sure that isn't too much to ask. Meyer couldn't deliver on the most basic points of storytelling. I'm sorry if I hate it, but I really don't understand why, as early as the first book, the Cullens have to run away like little babies when James starts stalking Bella, since they were outnumbering James and co 2 to 1. I don't need to be told James is supposedly this powerful tracker. I see nothing in him that convinces me so, especially when the Cullens did manage to kill him with little fuss later. When the reader is not convinced, it's not always the reader's fault. Maybe there's something wrong with your writing!