Let’s start with a tangent. So how many times a day do you think Stephenie needs to spell her name. No, it’s not quite in the league of Tiffani and Cate, but sheesh, the strange need to change letters in otherwise spellable names needs to stop! Tangent ended.
Not to sound even more judgmental and snobbish than I usually am (see above tangent), but I am one of those people who deplore the state of American readers. God bless Harry Potter. I read the first book and love the movies, but if all you’ve read in the past year is Harry, the Golden Compass and Twilight, I’m probably going to downgrade you as reader. Not as a person, take note. But only as a reader. That said, the overwhelming success of the Twilight series — especially among ADULTS — was offputting. (I mean, come on. Even Oprah puts non-young-adult books on her list. You’d think women would read “The Road” or “Grapes of Wrath.” Even if I hate the fact that she put her O stickers on Steinbeck and McCarthy.)
However, I was very, very surprised that I liked Twilight. Trite and formulaic? Yes. Catering to the yearning teenaged girl in all of us? Yes. But did it make me want to fall in love with a vampire? Hell yes.
Even being the book snob that I am, sometimes it’s so fun just to reconnect to the joy of reading, where you can’t wait to see what happens next. Throughout my childhood and into the teens, I was the kind of person who could hole up and read an entire book in one day, and this was one of those. If I had a whole day without work and obligations anymore, of course. As is, it took me three. But the joy? It was there and I relished it.
I’ll admit, the culminating drama at the end was a little unbelievable and forced. The narrative climax was a bit hit-you-over-the-head and please-please-suspend-your disbelief. But the relationship between the main characters is cute and engaging — even if it contains more than a bit of the of wishful thinking that every girl indulges in.
Like Harry Potter, I’m very glad I read the first one. I don’t know if I will continue into the second, but I suspect my romantic tendancies will trump my literary sensibilties and I will. Of course, I will be disappointed if I never find out what a real relationship (you know, IT) is like between a vampire and a mortal. But it’s a young-adult book, so I’ve resigned myself to the thought that I’ll never know. Perhaps they can make an adult version for that part? Here’s hoping.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars – Book club vacation reading
1
jes
so glad i’m not the only one who succumbed. go ahead, read all four. [although, if you were going to finish a series, i would have to recommend harry potter over stephenie's little saga.]
and, when you’re finished, read something like “the blue sword” that is brilliant and readable and intelligent and for young adults but won’t make you feel like you’re buckling under the pressure of oprah or thousands of goth dressing teenage girls.
Posted at December 6, 2008 on 7:59pm.
2
Kate at http://www.katejonuska.com
Your recommendations are always spot on, in my opinion, so I certainly will put “The Blue Sword” on my list. And in terms of Harry Potter: I know, I know. I think I will get around to the whole series eventually. The husband has all of them, after all.
Posted at December 7, 2008 on 8:37am.
3
Pam
My indulgent reading lately has been the Dresden series by Jim Butcher. I usually speed through one in a couple of days. Harry Dresden is a wizard — but the grown up kind and he solves mysteries while fighting the forces of evil, which include sex-starved vampires, faeries and werewolves. They’re cheesy, sexy and outright fun. And a good break from *important literature* like “The Grapes of Wrath” or “The Road.”
Posted at December 7, 2008 on 12:33pm.
4
Kate at http://www.katejonuska.com
Important, shimportant. All books — or most books — have their time and place.
Posted at December 7, 2008 on 12:45pm.