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More from the TWILIGHT series
So I finished reading the second book, on Friday I think it was.
Compared to the first one
It was perhaps more long winded than it needed to be, but it had a good representation of a broken heart going on. I think the ending was not as dramatic as it needed to be, it didn't exactly compel you to go on to read the third book Eclipse.
I heard the term 'erotic abstinence' used to describe the series. Stepehnie Meyer is also a Mormon, so the lack of even groping outside the marital bed is explained a lot by her religious standpoint. To be honest... I'm beginning to think that the whole series would have been better written by a non-devout, British woman, (or at least someone who isn't afraid to express what teens get up to, but wouldn't glorify it, and deal with the consequences as well).
Then again the tameness of the series in this respect perhaps reflects the greater prudishness of the American public these days.
Anyway... ECLIPSE?
Third book in the series. Reading it now.
Anything you liked?
The introduction of more monstrous creatures from folklore was pretty good. It's pretty funny how Bella, the main character, ends up falling in with two bad crowds (as it were). Vampires and werewolves in the same world, yeah.
Related links
Official Twilight series website
New Moon Wiki entry
TWILIGHT, and hitting the right notes
I finished reading Twilight, the first novel in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, last night. It certainly has made me want to read the next novel in the series New Moon.
When I say it hits the right notes, I mean it. Likeable characters, with plenty of flaws, sexual tension, mystery and romance. Stuff that makes a teen novel good.
So, you're going to read the rest of the series?
Yes, I'm pressing on with reading New Moon. The Twilight series may not be high literature, but it's entertaining stuff to read. I can quite honestly see how it's become so popular with teenage girls, and thinking of books that deal in the realms of the supernatural, Meyer's books seem to deal with teenage emotions and worries better than the Harry Potter series ever did.
What about the film?
I will watch the film some day, but I have this awful feeling that it's probably not a very good adaptation. Again, I won't outright criticise or praise it unless I've watched it.
Related links
Stephenie Meyer's website
Wiki entry on Twilight series
... until I've read it
Yes, I am going to get hold of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and read the damn novels before I try to criticise it any further.
How do you...
Yeah, yeah, OK so I've been doing a typical critic thing on a podcast I contribute to, and I've been criticising the movie and the novels without having properly experienced them in any way or form. Seeing how the movie isn't on at the cinema any more, I'll get hold of the novels first.
But you're not a teenager!
True, but it wasn't that long ago that I still was, and I do have experience in reading novels aimed at teenagers, and vampire fiction, so I'm used to it in general. Shouldn't be too hard to get through, well I hope it won't be.
Exactly why are you doing this?
It has become an aim on this podcast (see links below for site), for us to not talk about things that no one has seen, played or read. So I will take the fall, and I will read these novels. I'm taking one for the team.
Podcast?
Well, I say podcast, but it's not going to be for much sooner. We're working on turning it into a vodcast (having video instead of just sound), we have the equipment and editing facilites and the technical know how, and we've finally come up with a format as well.
Related links
Stephenie Meyer's official website on Twilight
Wiki entry on Twilight series
Caster's Kitchen podcasts on Cornish Sci-Fi Supplement
I chose to read it
I picked up Ways to Live Forever, by Sally Nicholls, sometime last month. I knew that this children's/young adult's novel would probably make me cry, and despite having this foresight I was unable to stop the tears for quite some time when I got to the end.
Waterstone's made this their winner of their 2008 Children's Book Prize.
Story
This novel follows a boy called Sam in his final months as he slowly dies from leukaemia. We're not treated to some third person narration, but a first person narrative that Nicholls has obviously carefully constructed from interviews and research she has done on the issue. The insights the reader gains into the feelings of the character's around Sam, such as his parents and little sister, also shows the level of research that Nicholls has put into the piece. It's all tastefully done.
Thoughtful
The novel features some extremely thought provoking sections where there are inclusions of notes made by the character Sam (titled: 'Questions Nobody Answers'), these sections ask such things as 'Why does God make kids get ill?'
Related link
Official site for the novel
Shopping?
So, I wandered into my local big chain book store on Wednesday to have a look at the children and teenage fiction sections. Now, I haven't read a children's or teenager's novel since last year and the Deathly Hallows. In fact I haven't had a look at either section in years.BewilderedI was completely surprised by the amount of novels dealing with fantasy genre elements, and vampires and werewolves. There was a severe lack of novels set anywhere near the real world, except for the likes of Jacqueline Wilson in the kid's section (I never got on with her novels as a kid), and then the odd other novels set in the real world, for teenagers, such as the winner of Waterstone's 2008 Children's Book Prize: Sally Nicholls's Ways to Live Forever, and novels by Malorie Blackman, and Melvin Burgess.Fallout (not the game, mind)I suspect the fallout from Rowling's Harry Potter series, Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and the bewitching Charmed, will continue to dictate publishing for children and teenagers for some years to come. Oh well.
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