Getting Better All the Time 3.18

"Twilight" book #6 of 2008

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer ...so why did I read this? Allegedly this book is all the rage amongst Jr. High girls, so I hear from MyBetterHalf, who has a friend who is a Jr. High School counselor. The girls raved about the book, the counselor deigned to read it, really liked it, recommended it to MBH...and then I read it.

I'll give it a B+

Much better writing than in Stray. It's the typical girl meets vampire, falls in love, in Forks WA, drama ensues. The first bit was slow, either scenery or girl-thoughs of "he's so dreamy, I wonder if he likes me"...but then, around page 120 something interesting happened that got me hooked.

About the origins of vampires, were they created, or evolved. I'm going to say, "created" because the weapons that they have for their prey, are much more than needed. The way I see evolution working, you need just enough to get the job done, a cheetah only has to be as fast as the slowest gazelle. The shark only has be be strong enough to kill the seal. The owl only has to be swift enough to catch the mouse. But vampires, they are stronger and faster than humans. AND, they can charm humans. Better senses than humans. Supernatural powers to regenerate, maybe fly, maybe transform...depends on the mythos you're holding to. So, who created the vampire? Why? What does Anne Rice say? What about Joss Whedon?

One nice thing about the story, the big climatic fight between the good -vs- the "Big Bad", lasts about two sentences. Meyer seems to know that most readers do not care about the particular details of a fight. That if you keep going on and on, pretty soon you sound like Arnold Rimmer, "...then I rolled a six and a four."

Previously I said my favorite line, "It must be a hard thing, to be a father; living in fear that your daughter would meet a boy she liked, but also having to worry if she didn't." pg 227

Another good line, "Every father's dream, that his daughter will be out of the house before the hormones kick in." pg 296

And another, "Making decisions was the painful part for me, the part I agonized over. But once the decision was made, I simply followed through - usually with relief that the choice was made. Sometimes the relief was tainted by despair, ...But it was still better than wrestling with the alternatives." pg 140

spoilers follow:

Questions I have...

Why do vampires hide? Seriously. Even in the old days, just sell your services, to someone you can trust to not burn you death in your day-sleep, and reap humans at night. Take a page from the Dragons book of "What to do with great power".

And back in the old days, don't you think a low level baron would love to have a vampire on his side? And hopefully the baron is smart enuff to realize that if the vampire is slain, then he too will quickly die at the stake, because he's aided the beast.

I think Joss answered this by saying that The Slayer keeps the vampires in check.

Finally, were any of Joss's vampires (or Anne Rice's) smart enough to use a machine gun. Sure, the slayer has got cool moves, cute skirt and Mr. Pointy, but can she dodge lots of bullets?

I like how the Quileutes Indians have made an agreement with the vampires.
And they'll be watching.

I am curious about the society of vampires, that is only alluded to in this book.

Evidently, Bella is OK with never having sex, because it would be too dangerous to have sex with a vampire. (pg 310)

Sure, she makes him happy, but the vampire clan are fools, fools I tell you, to believe that a teenage girl won't accidentally tell their secret.

Several times Edward tells her that she's doomed, that it is difficult to keep her alive....hmm...that's the problem with 1st person stories, I'm pretty sure that if there's a next book, the hero is gonna live. ( JK could've / almost / maybe did kill Harry Potter, nicely done, JK. )

I liked Edward saying, "I'm not always the most dangerous thing in the woods" pg 192. ...things to come...other vampires, were-wolves.

AND FINALLY, am I the only one bothered by the age difference?!? He's more than a hundred years old!

It is strange, the juxtaposition of teenage girl thought, followed by immersed in a secret world.

Posted by joncim at June 23, 2008 11:18 PM