tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post7239266581227925029..comments2024-03-25T02:15:50.088-07:00Comments on Legends of Medieval France and Italy: My thoughts on the Twilight seriesLinda C. McCabehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11554730334838454885noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-40692381536946306002009-06-10T10:34:03.650-07:002009-06-10T10:34:03.650-07:00Thanks much for the title--I added it to my wishli...Thanks much for the title--I added it to my wishlist on Amazon [read: my buy when money is available list on Amazon].Lesliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11499811997010849716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-41215167920431200232009-06-09T22:28:25.723-07:002009-06-09T22:28:25.723-07:00Leslie,
Thank you for stopping by and for giving a...Leslie,<br />Thank you for stopping by and for giving a link to my blog on yours. I'll have to troll more there later when I get a chance.<br /><br />Yes, I do know about Mary Sues. I wrote Harry Potter fanfic, so I know <i>all about</i> Mary Sues and Gary Stus. The only thing that lessons Bella from Mary Sueism is her clumsiness. To me that seemed slapped on and not truly a part of who she was. Let's just say I wasn't convinced Bella was really clumsy.<br /><br />Small nitpick.<br /><br />Speaking of inspiring you to read something...I have a book recommendation for you. I finished reading this before I wrote my essay on the Twilight series and it did influence me. It is <i>Beyond Heaving Bosoms: the Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels</i>. It's funny and it takes apart the romance genre in ways that will make you snort liquid through your nose if you make the mistake of trying to take a drink while reading.<br /><br />Seriously, it is wickedly funny.<br /><br />Feel free to stop by again sometime.Linda C. McCabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11554730334838454885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-71258800525671367502009-06-09T03:22:02.969-07:002009-06-09T03:22:02.969-07:00I must say that I definitely enjoyed reading your ...I must say that I definitely enjoyed reading your review of Twilight far more than the actual reading of the book, more for the way Meyer wrote than the story at hand [which I found a touch watery at best]. Like you said, Bella is rather repetitious in her descriptions of Edward, but really she's rather strong on descriptions in general--the CD skipping, the way his skin is so perfect the way his hair is caught in the wind, and so on and so forth.<br /><br />Recently a friend, who has not read the books, was jokingly told never to read them by her mother who says that she will want a perfect husband like Edward rather than her current one--yet another problem I found within the texts. Yes, I believe that the raw emotion is an attraction to the series, but also to the romantic vision that Meyer created in bringing together this angstridden young man with his angstridden young love. It brings together a slew of romantic ideals, the self-sacrifice, the purety, and even the impossible nature of the basic arrangement.<br /><br />But it bothers me.<br /><br />I love stories. I love books. If you check out NWNP, you'll find that I'll read most anything, pop culture, quality or no, but perfection in a character, if you'll pardon me, is boring, and I found Edward to be boring.<br /><br />And Bella is, if you are familiar with fanfic terminology [I admit, I've written my share in the past], a complete Mary Sue. She's strong when she needs to be, weak when she needs to be, molding completely against Edward.<br /><br />...<br /><br />I hope I've not been too harsh.<br /><br />When it comes to vampires, the only true exposure I've had have been reading Bram Stoker's Dracula and the film Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, but after reading some of your notes on vampire lore, I feel quite drawn to do some research of my own. Thanks for opening a new reason to buy books.<br /><br />And thank you for the Count reference. That made my day, and it's barely started. If you'll excuse me, I must find a way to get the song "Bella Legosi's dead" out of my head.Lesliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11499811997010849716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-14197361389374251582009-06-04T06:36:40.299-07:002009-06-04T06:36:40.299-07:00Linda - your response to me brings up an interesti...Linda - your response to me brings up an interesting point. You say the HP series gets "good" with Book 3. However, I'm not likely to give an author that much time to hook me. I'm anal about finishing a book I start, although I'll admit to some sitting by my beside with the bookmark stuck about halfway through, to be finished 'some day when there's nothing else to read.'<br /><br />On another note - the one movie where I thought the 'tightening' worked very well was Hunt for Red October. It might have dropped a lot of threads, but it ended up hitting the most important ones. That's one movie I can watch repeatedly.Terry Odellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610682530545306687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-40678517007734722952009-06-04T06:26:35.357-07:002009-06-04T06:26:35.357-07:00I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this series, an...I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this series, and I agree with your over-arching conclusion regarding the comparison between Twilight and HP not standing up to much scrutiny. Twilight is not a Hero's Journey novel at all, and the series was certainly not written according to any alchemical formula. <br /><br />But, I do think you missed the biggest point of the series actually. When you listed out the specific ways in which Meyer departs from traditional vampire lore, you noted that she made Edward a vegetarian vampire out of squeamishness -- not wanting to make her Hero the stuff of a horror movie. But that's not it at all. I think this series is mostly an exploration of a theme that Meyer explores more overtly in her stand-alone adult sci-fi novel "The Host" -- the question of what it means to be human and the nature of the human soul. Edward (and his family) are making a conscious *choice* to seek out a diet that fulfills their survival needs but satisfies their own moral stance against taking the life of another human being. She also goes to great lengths to illustrate her vampires' struggle against the ever-present temptation to indulge in the more satisfying food of human blood (most particularly in Midnight Sun of course). It doesn't seem to me that Meyer could have effectively had Bella Turned into a vampire if, in doing so, she was in fact surrendering her soul. I found it all very Dumbledorian -- it is our *choices* that define us. If a vampire has no soul, then a vampire should have no emotions and no ability to distinguish right from wrong, a vampire would then be an attractive equivalent of Rowling's dementors, yes? <br /><br />I had little to no experience with vampires of film, literature or legend prior to reading Meyer. Since then, I have read quite a few of what are called paranormals, many of which really are just traditional romances where the Hero happens to be a vampire (or in some cases, the Heroine). Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series (HBO has adapted it into "True Blood") is excellent -- her premise is to set up vampires as a metaphor for the gay community once they "come out" to the humans (after synthetic blood is developed so that they no longer must feed on humans, though they still prefer it). Her vampires are a legally recognized minority -- and it's a great blend of sex, horror, humor and greater themes about tolerance. And she too explores the nature of humanity through her vampires. Anyway, Meyer not sticking to all the traditional vampire elements didn't bother me, because I didn't know what those were to any great extent. Vampires of literature apparently have long been a blend of whichever elements of vampire legends worked best for an author. Having read quite a few paranormals now, Meyer's approach is not that untraditional. The "sparkling" aspect is a new one, best I can tell, but for the most part, authors pick and choose which aspects of the myths they want and discard those they don't want. <br /><br />I am actually surprised that you didn't spend much time analyzing Bella's character. I do think Bella has strengths, although her weak spots sorely tested my patience in Eclipse. <br /><br />As you know, I enjoyed the series and have gone on to enjoy other paranormals.Penny Linsenmayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11034917313513638541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-88421030772466034352009-06-04T05:50:03.817-07:002009-06-04T05:50:03.817-07:00Terry,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comme...Terry,<br /><br />Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. I'm unfamiliar with the Highlander series, but I understand the fanfic phenomenon. Writing Harry Potter fanfic for me is what really gave me the impetus to try my hand at writing fiction. I wanted to flesh out various theories I had and see how they would work on paper.<br /><br />FWIW, should you have some beach reading time this summer and feel inspired to possibly try another HP volume, the series gets really good at the third book. To me, the first two volumes are tight and almost cartoonish. It is in the third installment that that the tone gets darker and more adult. Themes of loyalty and betrayal become important and some mysteries of the past are revealed.<br /><br />The fourth book has a body count that is almost Shakespearean. It includes four contemporary deaths, (two shown on the page, two deaths are off the page like Rosencranz and Guldenstern in <i>Hamlet</i>), and many historical ones are detailed in the narrative.<br /><br />One of the aspects of the HP series that impressed me the most was how J.K. Rowling embedded subtle clues to future volumes in earlier books. For example, the name Sirius Black was tossed off twice in the first chapter of the first book. Hagrid had borrowed his flying motorcycle. There isn't any mention of Sirius again in the rest of the book, nor at all in the second book. Sirius Black happens to be the titular character in the third book <i>The Prisoner of Azkaban</i>. There are many such instances of her doing that type of thing and that was what drove the intense speculation about what future volumes might contain. The online fandom scoured the past volumes for clues and spun wildly inventive theories.<br /><br />As for the HP movies, I have enjoyed them, but recognize the many compromises that are made in condensing a novel into standard length movies. The third book is one that while I enjoyed the emotional heart of the movie adaptation, I was disappointed that the climax of the story lost too much explanation. I do not feel that the story's complexities and plot twists were encapsulated in the brief screen time. Instead it was sacrificed for action/adventure sequences.Linda C. McCabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11554730334838454885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-896911960035171090.post-87396683043802491062009-06-04T04:18:37.732-07:002009-06-04T04:18:37.732-07:00I have to confess I haven't been caught up in ...I have to confess I haven't been caught up in the Twilight phenomenon. I haven't read the book, had no desire to read the book, nor see the movie. I got through 2 Harry Potter books, but did Netflix the movies, which were more entertaining (and that's unusual, since I think there have been two movies I preferred to the books they were based on.)<br /><br />As to the immortality conflict: I did love the Highlander TV series (cut my writing teeth on Higlander fanfic). I guess my reaction to it in your essay is along the lines of BTDT.<br /><br />Thanks for the insightful analysis. I have a better feel for what I've missed, but still have no desire to join the crowd. I'm just not into any of the current paranormal trends.Terry Odellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610682530545306687noreply@blogger.com