Have you heard of Twilight? It's a teen book series about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Twilight, the first book in the series, was published in 2005, and now it will release as a movie in about two weeks. There's a lot of buzz about this movie, so I hope that fans are not disappointed.
Except that they all will be in at least one aspect.
You see, the author, Stephenie Meyer, describes the heroic, hunky vampire Edward as so perfect that no human could realistically portray him. This was my biggest beef with the book: Edward's perfection. I got tired of hearing about his alabaster skin, his tight muscles, his copper hair, his amber eyes. Edward's god-like body (Stephenie's words--not mine) was mentioned a lot. Probably 70% of the book is comprised of a description of Edward's body or Bella's reaction (fainting, staring, lusting, etc.) to it. Not much action or suspense going on.
I have other issues with this book as well, but I will not bore you with them. I read Twilight because so many of my students were reading it, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I mean, I jumped on the Harry Potter train, and I was soon thrilled to be riding the Hogwarts Express. However, I am jumping off the Twilight bandwagon. The series, for me, will remain unread.
Twilight rating: 4/10
About Me
- Mr. Stephenson
- I was born on Labor Day in Fort Worth, Texas, while his father was attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jason's parents are both Sooner born and bred, though, and they returned to Oklahoma as quickly as possible. Growing up as a preacher's kid and an older brother, Jason always felt that he was being watched and that he should set a good example. He enjoyed grade school, junior high, and high school in Atoka and Holdenville. Living in a small town where his graduating class was around 75 allowed Jason to be active in a wide variety of clubs and activities. He played the cornet in band for eight years, and he also played on the academic team. He also made time for student council and NHS. Jason got a full-tuition scholarship to Oklahoma Baptist University*, and he is very grateful to have had such an outstanding liberal arts education. Now having taught 7th and 8th grade literature at Deer Creek Middle School for two years, I am enjoying the challenges and excitement of teaching high school English. *Not wanting to give up on a chance to qualify for OBU's full tuition scholarship, I took the ACT five times until I got the score I needed.
7 comments:
JASON LEE STEPHENSON!!!! (I don't know your middle name, so I threw a guess out there...I think it sounds good) - I AM SO MAD AT YOU! Twilight is the best. I do agree with you on one thing though - the endless descriptions of Edwards perfection. Ugh.
BUT - me and about 8 other girls are definitely going to be standing in line on opening night! AHHH, can't wait! :)
Jason SCOTT Stephens, I am so WITH you on this! My kids are obsessed with these books, but what I have read doesn't impress. However, we are, as you know, English major snobs, thus we are jaded.
And I have a major inner struggle with telling a student to "put down your book and get to work"....if they WANT to read for FUN, I'm inclined to let them! Does this make me a bad teacher?
Well, I got the middle name at least....! ;)
Okay, so right after I read your blog, I went to a friend's house for dinner with a bunch of people, and all the girls had read "Twilight." I started to sort of make fun of this series, but then I realized that I had not even really attempted to read the books. Thus, I now have in my possession the first book of the series. I'm going to give it a go for two reasons: #1 So that I can relate to my MANY students who are reading these books and actually want to TALK to me about BOOKS voluntarily, and #2 so that I can back myself up with "research" when I most assuredly bash the book after reading...! ;)
I like the way this erinkern thinks. Read the book so you can bash it (a.k.a the only reason I actually finished slob((never letting that go)))
I would go see the movie but either A) It's in french or
B)It's in English but has annoying subtitles (in french) throughout the movie.
dilemna.
and I would have to travel an hour and a half by train to go see it.
I was sooo disappointed in Eragon. Although you can kind of tell that the books are written by an 18 yr old (remember outsiders? you could tell sometimes)
I am jealous. But yeah I'm in Europe so I shouldn't complain...
I decided I don't need your address. Don't worry about it.
So I lead a book event for Twilight at my school last February. We had a HUGE turn out. My inner city middle school showed up like it was going to be the event of the season (which it was!)...boys and girls. I played the roll of Esme & fielded any questions from the students. I've got to tell you, as much as you want to disagree, this is the teenager's pride and prejudice. No, I'm not saying same literary merit but culturally it's a phenomenon. Do you know about the twilight moms? I volunteered at a World Vision event on Sunday & talked to a twilight mom. Crazy stuff...and yes, I will be watching the movie as I have read the entire series more than once. If it makes you feel any better, I get very frustrated with Bella in every book.
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