Everyone else is writing about it, so why don't I...

I picked up the first book in Stephanie Meyer's 'Twilight' series a few weeks ago, and read most of it in the space of one (long) afternoon. I had suspected, from reading the reviews on Amazon, that I would probably not like the book. I wanted to read it, however, because it's something of a publishing phenomenon and I have a bunch of nieces who are smack bang in the middle of the 'Twilight' demographic.

Firstly, I'm going to say up-front that 'Twilight' is an easy read. It'd be a great book for a plane trip, or for a 'the weather's crap outside and I have nothing else to do' kind of day - you get immersed in the story straight away, the narrative moves fairly quickly, and the language used is pretty light. It's not the most stunningly written artistic piece of literature ever written, but it is aimed at teenagers.

Now - onto my whinges about 'Twilight!' (Oooooh goody - the fun part!).

It really is THE most appalling piece of Mary-Sue writing that I think I've ever read. Bella, the protaganist, is a fairly ordinary teenaged girl, who has 'never had a boyfriend' and describes her appearance as non-remarkable (although she totally notices how boys want her). And yet, Edward, her vampire love interest, is completely obsessed with her.

This isn't so much a criticism, as it is perhaps an understanding of why the book has such massive appeal with teenage girls, and why they might see Bella as a main character they can identify with. I think the logic goes something like this....

"OMG, Bella is SO like me! She's a good student, and doesn't think she's pretty! And boys don't chase her! That is, except that totally hot vampire-guy Edward... It takes a superhuman, otherworldly, totally hot, immortal special creature of the night to truly recognise Bella's special special-ness, because ORDINARY boys are too ORDINARY to understand her!"

That's okay. I think most teenage girls feel unpretty and unrecognised. And my imagination runs along very similar lines every time I fantasise about Viggo Mortenson. So I can empathise. Really.

The more disturbing aspect of the novel, is that it seems to eroticise the dynamic of a violent relationship. Edward is often at pains to point out to Bella how physically dangerous he is to her, but she seems to almost get off on the fact that he loves her enough to constantly fight his blood-sucking, murderous natural impulses and not er, kill her... What's more, the fact that he could turn into a lethal madman at the sight or smell of spilt blood seems to make Bella think that this just makes the whole thing all the more sexy and verboten and blah blah. Seriously, he could just SNAP!! At ANY MOMENT!!! Actually, it just occurs to me as I'm writing this that the author never suggests what might happen anytime Bella gets her period...? But that would mean having to deal with that icky sex stuff...

It's important to note, in this context, that Meyer is a devout Mormon, and I have no doubt that this also bears a heavy influence on her narrative. Traditionally in vampire literature, the vampiric bite is metaphor for penetrative sex. Ergo Edward's abstinence from 'biting' Bella represents abstinence in a more general sense. How romantic! He loves and respects Bella enough to resist his natural urges and NOT bite/penetrate her! How convenient that he gets to declare his pure and undying love for Bella, but he'll never actually do anything as gross as getting his scary man-penis out of his pants and having sex with her, or ejaculating, or all the rest of that 'unclean' stuff that will cast a stain upon Bella's purity.

It is, for what it's worth, a fairly clever telling of the vampire fantasy to represent the sexual dilemma of teenage girls. Boys are seen as something to get excited about, and emergent sexuality makes the whole thing terribly exhilirating, but at the same time there is a sense of danger regarding the actual consequences of what happens if you get 'too close' to a guy ie actual sex. Sex, in all of its wonderful, messy sexy goodness is still seen as something dangerous if one isn't emotionally or physically equipped for it - as some teenaged girls might not be.

I guess my overall impression of the book could be summed up with - meh. I won't be reading the rest of the series.

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