Monday, December 29, 2008

YA books, Twilight in particular

I finished Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I need to rant about it a bit.
It was spell-binding. I didn't want to put it down. I needed to see what would happen next, and I haven't started the second book yet. But I'm alarmed.

cracked.com has a faux-screeenplay spoofing the worst of the story. In it, the protagonist's father (faux characters) says:

So, the next generation of young women are currently flocking to see a female lead starring in a movie by a female director based on a bestselling book by a female author, and in this movie the main character wants to become completely submissive and self-sacrificing for a male. http://www.cracked.com/article_16878_if-twilight-was-10-times-shorter-100-times-more-honest.html

What terrifies me about the Twilight craze, is that I've had college girls tell me, "I want to find my Edward!" Ohmygod. That's saying that if you find your one true love, that's all that ultimately matters, even if it means that you give up absolutely everything, even your very life and any hopes, dreams, aspirations, your family, for him.

Yeah, the story is compelling. Yeah, I love meeting this intriguing vampire family. Yeah, Edward is hot...errrr, no, cold is more apt, but sexy, okay. But it's not a story to die for.

Harry Potter, yeah. The power of love--not sensual, sexy love, but LOVE--for friends, for family, for the good of humanity--overcomes the love of power in Harry Potter. Here, in Twilight, the great love of your life is truly all that matters. I can't push it as a great book. Pulp for teens? Yup. Good romance, yup. Great literature? Nope.

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