2.24.2009

Twilight!



So I recently finished reading the Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer. I have to say I was blown away by how fantastic this series of books was. Let me start by saying I avoiding reading the books for a very long time. The first book, Twilight, was published in 2005. I read so many reviews calling this book the next Harry Potter. I thought to myself, please no series of books could ever compare to Harry Potter. I refused to read the books because they are about vampires. I had no desire to read books about vampires, it was a type of books that has never interested me. Furthermore I didn't want to read books that were for young adults. This last fall when the Twilight movie was getting ready to come out I am ashamed to say that I began to get sucked into the hype. Everywhere I turned I saw someone reading one of the books. I kept hearing people talk about Edward and Bella. I gave in and bought the first book. I justified it to myself that I never thought that I would like a book about wizards, and I loved Harry Potter (which was also a young adult book series).



Twilight was more than I could ever begin to describe. Beyond being a great book it was an epic love story. As you grow older you begin to forget how powerful falling in love for the first time was. Not to belittle what many of us have now, but that first time was so overpowering and confusing. Actually now that I think about it, love is always that way. But...your first time is your first giving it the power of the unknown. Stephanie Meyer's is a Mormon, so I did find many strong religious values that were in this book. And considering the sexed up world we live in, I found it slightly refreshing. More importantly you have to remember the characters in this series of books are only in high school. Beyond all of the hype I just truly got sucked into a magical world that consisted of vampires, warewolfs and humans.
The Twilight Saga consists of 4 books: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Each book built upon the last creating a world that you wish would never end. I am so sad that the series of books is over. I was not ready to say goodbye to the wonderful characters that Meyer's created. I have to say that I often wish that I was an author. That I could figure out how to master the craft of placing words to paper. When I read a book like this series, it makes me jealous that I don't have that talent. I hope that one day that Stephanie Meyer's decides to revisit the characters and give us another book (or many more!)
If you have happened to have read the series and are longing for more of Edward and Bella I will recommend that you read Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun is the story of Twilight from Edward's point of view. The rest of the books as I'm sure you know were all written from Bella's point of view. Meyer's began writing this book with the intent to publish it and had a draft of the book leaked to the Internet. She decided to put what was written on her web page for her fans to read. But sadly she has said that she has no current plans to finish the book. It is 12 chapters in its current state. I thought that this draft was super. It was so interesting to read the same story from a different person's point of view. I would love to see the entire series of books written this way. Here is a link to the web page to read the draft http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsun.html
Now that I have read all the books, twice, I am forced to wait until this fall to get my next dose of Twilight. This is when New Moon comes out in theaters. While I didn't love the Twilight movie, I still found it very good. But I knew that nothing could ever compare to the book and how I pictured things in my head. I think that I will have to watch it again, without any expectations to truly appreciate it.

1 comment:

Karla said...

I'm part way through Breaking Dawn. I agree - I thought it was lame to read it, and waited as long as possible, but am totally sucked in. :)