julieandrews (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
julieandrews) wrote2008-09-14 04:39 pm
julieandrews) wrote2008-09-14 04:39 pm
Entry tags:
Thoughts on Stephenie Meyer's "Breaking Dawn"
Rule #1 of nom de plumes, pick one that people can spell easily. Not saying Stephenie Meyer chose her name, but she might've considered using a pen name. Even if people get the Meyer right, they invariably get the Stephenie wrong. Smart, intelligent, reader- and writer-type people. If she wasn't so popular, people would have trouble doing searches on Google and Amazon for her books. :)
Okay, so what follows is some of my thoughts on the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn in particular, and perhaps venturing into discussion of Orson Scott Card's stuff and maybe even Octavia Butler if I get that far.
This series is odd to me. I find it readable, and I find I want to keep reading it. But I don't particularly like it. It's ridiculous. It's eye-rolling. It's annoying. It's cliche. And when it's not any of that, it's just extra specially ridiculous.
It's like a mediocre supernatural romance without the good bits.
Bella seems strong at times. She knows what she wants and she usually stands up to get it. Except that all she wants is a life with Edward. (Apart from the times where she waffles and decides what she wants is a life with Jacob.) A little more roundedness and perspective would be nice. If not a career, how about a hobby, or an interest, or something she's particularly good at or has fun with? Maybe some actual friends who aren't, like, related to Edward.
By "Breaking Dawn", it's downright creepy how enveloped she's been by this family. Jacob even gets dragged into it! One, big, happy, wolfy vampire family.
As if that isn't enough, they spawn. With a typical television-style fast-maturing baby. Takes them 4 books to have sex, but they've got a toddler in a couple of chapters.
Another theme in these books that really bugs me is the idea of everyone pairing off. With the vampires, they find a person to spend all eternity with. With the wolves, they have a supernatural soul mate thing going on. Heaven forbid someone should have a temporary relationship, a gay relationship, a non-monogamous relationship, or decide to stay alone for awhile. Even if you can't reproduce, you'd still better be paired up with a member of the opposite sex. Even her divorced father and mother can't stay single!
So, yea, I've noticed the same themes in Orson Scott Card's work, and I do come to the conclusion that it's a Mormon thing. Not that it isn't also a more widespread thing, but it seems more obvious in the Mormon beliefs.
At least Meyer's women seem stronger and I haven't gotten any anti-gay vibe (other than the lack of them), but I did find one sentence rather troublesome. It may seem worse taken out of context, but it jumped out at me while I was reading.
From page 609. A bunch of vampires are gathering at the house to join together to "witness" when all heck breaks loose. Here's the description of some of them --- "though the Egyptians all looked so alike, with their midnight hair and olive-toned pallor, that they easily could have passed for a biological family."
Yea.
So you might think it odd I'm now going to mention Octavia Butler, but I noticed similar themes in the books of hers I've read. People pairing off, women whose purpose is to mate with a guy and have his children. Special children who are then going to go on to have more children and change the world.
I'll go into more detail after I've (re)read some more of Octavia Butler's books. Or should I read more OSC or Stephenie Meyer. (I started The Host and didn't get very far before being bored to tears.)
There are issues in all of these that bother me, and I need to think about them some more. And write about them some more. And hear some more about what other people think.
Okay, so what follows is some of my thoughts on the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn in particular, and perhaps venturing into discussion of Orson Scott Card's stuff and maybe even Octavia Butler if I get that far.
This series is odd to me. I find it readable, and I find I want to keep reading it. But I don't particularly like it. It's ridiculous. It's eye-rolling. It's annoying. It's cliche. And when it's not any of that, it's just extra specially ridiculous.
It's like a mediocre supernatural romance without the good bits.
Bella seems strong at times. She knows what she wants and she usually stands up to get it. Except that all she wants is a life with Edward. (Apart from the times where she waffles and decides what she wants is a life with Jacob.) A little more roundedness and perspective would be nice. If not a career, how about a hobby, or an interest, or something she's particularly good at or has fun with? Maybe some actual friends who aren't, like, related to Edward.
By "Breaking Dawn", it's downright creepy how enveloped she's been by this family. Jacob even gets dragged into it! One, big, happy, wolfy vampire family.
As if that isn't enough, they spawn. With a typical television-style fast-maturing baby. Takes them 4 books to have sex, but they've got a toddler in a couple of chapters.
Another theme in these books that really bugs me is the idea of everyone pairing off. With the vampires, they find a person to spend all eternity with. With the wolves, they have a supernatural soul mate thing going on. Heaven forbid someone should have a temporary relationship, a gay relationship, a non-monogamous relationship, or decide to stay alone for awhile. Even if you can't reproduce, you'd still better be paired up with a member of the opposite sex. Even her divorced father and mother can't stay single!
So, yea, I've noticed the same themes in Orson Scott Card's work, and I do come to the conclusion that it's a Mormon thing. Not that it isn't also a more widespread thing, but it seems more obvious in the Mormon beliefs.
At least Meyer's women seem stronger and I haven't gotten any anti-gay vibe (other than the lack of them), but I did find one sentence rather troublesome. It may seem worse taken out of context, but it jumped out at me while I was reading.
From page 609. A bunch of vampires are gathering at the house to join together to "witness" when all heck breaks loose. Here's the description of some of them --- "though the Egyptians all looked so alike, with their midnight hair and olive-toned pallor, that they easily could have passed for a biological family."
Yea.
So you might think it odd I'm now going to mention Octavia Butler, but I noticed similar themes in the books of hers I've read. People pairing off, women whose purpose is to mate with a guy and have his children. Special children who are then going to go on to have more children and change the world.
I'll go into more detail after I've (re)read some more of Octavia Butler's books. Or should I read more OSC or Stephenie Meyer. (I started The Host and didn't get very far before being bored to tears.)
There are issues in all of these that bother me, and I need to think about them some more. And write about them some more. And hear some more about what other people think.