I thought about the way I acted in book club last Friday. I believe that what I said about Twilight and its fans was very inappropriate, and I apologize to anyone who was offended.
As atonement, and as an exercise for myself, I have decided to write my next blog post focusing purely on the positive aspects of Twilight. I have not seen the movie, and I will not review the series, though I have read the other books. Before I begin, here's a quick timeline of my relationship with Twilight (feel free to skip it if you find it uninteresting):
- I pick up Twilight around 2008,in freshman year. I like it a great deal.
- I read New Moon and Eclipse shortly afterwards. Although I don't like them quite as much as I liked Twilight, I still like the series as a whole.
- I read Breaking Dawn over the summer and proceed to become anti-Twilight.
- I read the leaked chapters of Midnight Sun, which remind me of why I liked Twilight in the first place.
- I spend both my sophomore and junior year picking out the flaws of the series without really reading the books.
- In senior year, Meena Vempaty lends me Meyer's latest novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Prior to reading it, I decide to re-read Midnight Sun to understand what drew me to the Twilight series in the first place.
And so, we come to his point. I will only be listing the positive points of Twilight in the following blog post. Please keep in mind that, while I am not directly reviewing the future books, some of my opinions have been colored by the additional character background information I found via the later installments. Here goes:
- The entirety of Twilight is based around a solid idea. It's genuinely interesting to read about two characters who are both repelled and attracted to one another.
- Edward Cullen may have roughly a century's worth of experience, but, as later books mention, his sensibilities were frozen in time when he changed into a vampire. So, though he may have the eloquence of someone born several decades earlier than his classmates, he still reacts to situations in the same way that a 17-year-old would. He's slightly awkward, and a little unsure of how to deal with his feelings toward Bella.
- Alice is so lovable. She's the most excitable little ball of energy in the entire series, and I adore her for that.
- Sparkling in the sun is a genuinely creative way to get around the rule that vampires can't be seen in the sunlight. I thought (and still think) that was inspired.
- Back to Edward: he's actually what a lot of girls look for in a boyfriend. He's musical, intelligent, and completely involved in his relationship with Bella. I also enjoy his occasional sarcastic quip: "Afraid of a needle. Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem, she runs off to meet him. An IV, on the other hand..."
- Jacob (pre-wolf) is seriously the most realistic teenager in the novel. He speaks and acts like someone our age, and I have no problem at all picturing him in our high school.
That's it for now! It's been a while since I've actually read the book, so I probably missed quite a few, but I'll add to this list as I think up more reasons.
