I seem to be a girl after all. Or maybe just a masochist.

[seabird78]

If you happened to read my post on Twilight a few weeks back, you know that I had a few bits of praise, followed by a helluva lot of criticism concerning that book.

I stand behind everything I said, but somehow the things that put me off haven't prevented me from continuing to read the series (in my defense, the remaining three novels were acquired as Christmas presents). Makes me somewhat of a masochist, I know, but now I'm so close to being finished with New Moon that I feel duty-bound to get through Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as well, just so I can say that I did it.

I'm determined to figure out what makes these characters so appealing to so many people, and I think the following passage offers a strong clue. It's a bit of dialogue from Edward to Bella in case you're interested, and it won't spoil anything if you read it:

"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars--points of light and reason. Suddenly, everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

My rational, bullshit-detector side wants to dismiss this as nothing but swoony emo nonsense, wants to laugh it off the page for being so ridiculously melodramatic.

But then my overly sentimental inner twelve-year old takes over. She wants to embrace this for being so nakedly sincere, wants to swoon over the thought that such romantic proclamations still exist. She delights in the notion of such all-consuming passion.

And so, you understand my internal struggle as I turn each page. Definitely makes for the strangest reading experience I've had in a long time.

Comments

[caillecha.livejournal.com]

I was so reluctant to start, but I've read the entire series in about two weeks. And, similarly, it's that the melodrama appeals to my inner 12-year-old...but she just wants the brilliant, perfect man to satisfy her rescue fantasy, and believe that kind of love exists.

Of course, I still have my "this is teaching the wrong things to young girls about relationships, domineering man, rescue fantasy, damsel in distress bullshit" argument, but it's nice escapism :)

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

Even my inner twelve year-old, as romantic and swoony and washed in emotion as any twelve year-old girl would've found that line bleah.

I mean, admittedly, at twelve, I was absolutely, head over heels, crazy in love with Father Ralph from The Thorn Birds. Not the idea of a priest, mind you, because lapsed though I may be, that's just, ew.

But in a lot of ways, Ralph and Meggie mirror Edward and Bella without the bullshit. He's much, much older than her, from a lifestyle (if you will) that doesn't mesh with hers, and is convinced that if anything were to happen between them, that bad things overall would happen.

I mean, the parallels are pretty much there—Ralph removes himself from Meggie's presence for a long time, she tries to develop feelings for someone else and then finally, finally when he comes for her, it's absolutely explosive. And McCullough managed this without the overwrought dialogue.

Perhaps that just imprinted on me at a very early age. To this day, I'm not a fan, as a reader, of flowery overwrought prose. As a writer, I suck at metaphors. It just seems to be my particular preference. I'm dying to hear what you think of Breaking Dawn when you get to it, though, because it sparks a whole new set of complaints from me.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

I've not read the Thorn Birds, but you've sold me on checking it out, because even though I occasionally found myself swooning over the overwrought dialogue, mostly it just made me snicker.

I'll gladly share my thoughts about both Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as I get through them...I'm sure I'll have complaints about them myself. I'm still trying to sort out my overall impressions of New Moon, and despite going all aflutter over that passage I quoted, the book left a lot to pick apart.

[ex-fashioni.livejournal.com]

Well, I just rambled on at length about Thorn Birds including some bits of text, so you can see where the differences lie for me.

[editrix26.livejournal.com]

You're going to have a rough time with Breaking Dawn.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Uh oh. Is it even more swoony than the passage I quoted?

[snarkout-rat.livejournal.com]

now I'm so close to being finished with New Moon that I feel duty-bound to get through Eclipse and Breaking Dawn as well, just so I can say that I did it.

It's so funny how this series seems to foster such a feeling of obligation in people. I keep hearing these sentiments from people about the series, and I haven't seen anything like it.

I read the first book and saw the movie. Liked the first half of the first book, when there was all the tension. The second half? Vampire family baseball? Not so much. But even with that, I'm still vaguely considering reading the rest of the series, and there is a certain "sense of duty"-type sentiment there.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I kind of scratched my head over the baseball scene myself. It was really silly.

I had no idea that my feeling of obligation was shared by others. I wish I could describe it better...I mean, it's not that I'm overly attached to the main characters. Maybe it has something to do with the need to know whether Bella is FINALLY going to get Edward the way she wants him, and suffering through all the stuff she has to endure for the sake of that payoff. I mean, I know I'm not to expect anything super pornographic, or even slightly pornographic for that matter, but I'm still chomping at the bit to see the moment that they final give in to their desires, because if Meyer is skilled in one area, it's the ability to convey the tension that stems from wanting someone and being unable to act on it.

[fuzzilla.livejournal.com]

My take is: The style is definitely overwrought and bleah. The sentiment expressed, though? I can for sure see the "crave like crack" appeal of that.

[seabird78.livejournal.com]

That sentiment really puts it over the top, for sure. Because it's such a fantasy that I'm in love with, the idea that a man could be that devoted...

[mdatl.livejournal.com]

As for me, I read poetry.