Friday 1 August 2008

Twilight Bashing! Okay, maybe not 'bashing' per se...(or, Meyer vs. Rice)

ATTENTION: This review-that-descended-into-an-unfair-comparison is unendingly pretentious and patronising. Be warned

Twilight

Stephanie Meyer
So. I’ve just finished reading a (new) book (that is not borrowed from the library) for the first time…Okay, maybe not so monumental after all.

Aha! Wait! I’ve just finished reading a book by an author I’m not familiar with! Hurray! Wobbly justification for not studying!

Anyway, Meyer is… I don’t know, not great, but not bad either. Mediocre, I guess. I suspect, though, the reason I’m so hard on Twilight is because I’ve been spoilt on the Vampire Chronicles. Show me a vampire series as beautifully dark and terrible as that one, and I’ll show you a flying pig.

Truthfully, however, it’s pretty good. IF you’ve not read the great Anne Rice. I can see why there’s a craze about it in school though. It’s equal parts romance and action, and sadness and bittersweet…ness. And, if you haven’t met Lestat or Armand , Edward Cullen will be the most beautiful creature you have ever read. All translucent beauty and alabaster skin, with eyes that alternate between the inkiest black to tawny gold. Although I might add, she does ruin it a bit by having Bella drool over him endlessly (there goes the Rice breeding again. It’s a teen novel, dee, get a grip).

But then again, Rice’s vampires drool too, over fragile humans no less. I think it all boils down to language. Rice is ethereal and disturbing and true... her vampires are mirrors of us, an indication of what we might become if we could live forever. They think nothing of killing, they are ruthless, yet they love beauty, and can appreciate the minutest details of life, thanks to preternaturally powerful eyesight. To see the world in a grain of sand/ and heaven in a wild flower/ hold infinity in the palm of your hand/ and eternity in a hour. They know what they are, and some, especially if they are taken by force, hate it, but mostly they relish it, revelling in what they are and always will be, feeding discreetly, covering up from humans with gloves and sunglasses, loving and living out eternity, or at least until Mekare and Maharet are destroyed.

Erm. Got sidetracked there. I think this was started as a review, not a comparison. Meh, I might as well…

Since I’m already on about Lestat and Armand, I may as well add that Meyer’s descriptions of her vampires are suspiciously similar to Rice’s, albeit a bit watered down. In her defence, though, there are only so many ways vampires can be described (for the uninitiated, the compulsory characteristics are pale, cold skin, gorgeous, vividly coloured eyes, and a dazzling (again, a word used by both Meyer and Rice) presence).

Ah, Edward. Edward, Edward. Born in 1901, yet seventeen forever (*cough*Armand*cough*). Devastatingly beautiful (and muscular to boot), elegantly pale, dangerous when roused, loving when with Bella, a Greek god, Adonis come to life. And who apparently, speaks with an archaic cadence (for want of a better word. I know its not right, but I can’t find a better one. I can’t remember the one used in the novel). And like a dog coming back to its marked territory, we return to the problem of language. Personally, I think Meyer’s language is too simple to do justice to the preternatural beauty of a vampire, much less one who has lived for a hundred years. Of course, one could argue, Edward may have been assimilated into modern society for so long that the little hints of his old world splendour seen in the novel are sufficient. But STILL (yes, I do realize the flaw in my argument here. Not so much an argument as two whiny words). Also, sometimes there are far too many adjectives. Too often we are reminded of Edward’s comeliness, of the coolness that is his skin. Again, it’s the teen novel thing. Bella is obviously infatuated with him (hel-lo, insanely handsome gentleman? I think I speak on behalf of most girls that I would hunt him down ruthlessly, vampire or no), so she spends most of her time thinking of him, missing him, wanting him. She is, after all, a seventeen-year-old who is just having her first taste of romance.

(Also also, I’ve just remembered what I thought while reading, that Edward is a watered down Louis. Kind and gentle and not wanting feed on humans and loving one woman. Well, little girl in Louis’s case, but her mind grows, if her body does not.)

And then we come to Bella. I’m sorry, but it’s terribly difficult to sympathise with her. Too generic YA novel heroine. Outcast at former school? Check. Pale, pale skin in midst of tanned high school? Check. Divorced parents, complicated family life? Check. Hottest guy in new school falls for her? Check. Unsure why she is so beloved by aforementioned hottest guy in school? Thinks she’s not worth it? Hell yeah, check.

I can genuinely tell you that I wanted Bella to be turned vampire at the end. But I think the whole Twilight series would have ended then and there. The thing is, I feel that Meyer’s whole plot is built upon the impossible, forbidden love between Bella and Edward (much like to forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, as quoted from Genesis at the beginning of the novel), and to make them equal would be condemning them to an eternity of happiness and love. At which point there would be nothing to write about. All conflict in Twilight stems from the fact the he is a vampire; she is not. It is difficult for him to hold her while her blood still runs enticingly in her veins, but he persists. At the end, she wants to become like him, to accompany him into eternity, but he will not let her. Anne Rice can get away with this kind of thing (and trust me, she does this all the time, turning the human the vampire loves into a similarly immortal blooddrinker) because (a) her prose describes all vampiric activities to perfection and (b) her vampires are more than what they seem. They are not only defined by their love for humans, or their blooddrinking. They all have exquisitely tortured pasts, and each move they make, what they do, who they choose to be their lifelong companions, seem to be determined by their pasts. In Twilight, unfortunately, even Carlisle’s (I love that name) tale of woe is… well, not fleshed out enough.

I think the only way this book(s) can redeem itself is if the young adults who have outgrown it go on to discover the Vampire Chronicles. I'm trying to think of Twilight now as a stepping stone to VC, as opposed to a fanfiction. This is the only thing that is stopping me from burning them and yelling to the world:"What are you DOING? Read ANNE RICE!". Bah.

Oh, and depite being hailed as the new JK Rowling, she's got nothing on JK, either.

It seems to me were it not for the vampire twist, Twilight would be just another teen I-have-lots-of-problems-and-can’t-fit-in type romance novel. Fortunately for us, it is not. You see, despite all my griping and whining and (frankly unfair) comparisons to Anne Rice, I have decided to like this novel (just barely). I'm not one to reject novels because they are too simple. Its refreshing to read this, actually, as I don't have to think. Despite the mild plagiarism, and against my better judgement, I think its...fine. As to its forthcoming sequels, I will have to read them before I decide. I refuse to dislike on hearsay.

… and also also, this is being made into a movie! *fangirl sqeee*! Diggory is perfect for Edward.
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