(no subject)

[charliesmum]

So I'm reading the Twilight books because...I don't know why, exactly. Curiousity, amusement, something.

Anyway, I thought New Moon was marginally better than Twilight, and Eclipse is better than that first two simply because in Eclipse we actually get back stories. Badly executed stories that are shoehorned clumsily into the plot, but stories nonetheless.

So, yes, better than the first two but still full of eye-rolling moments.

The first major eye-rolling was Roselie's back story. She was from a well-off family during the Great Depression. Her father was still rich because he, get this, worked at a bank. A bank. Because banks were so stable during the Great Depression, apparently. Research is for wimps, I guess.

Then there's the bit I just read. This nearly broke my brain.

Jacob declares his love for Bella, says he doesn't expect her to feel the same way, then forces a kiss on her, and feels no remorse, even though she goes 'totally limp, just waiting for it to be over' and breaks her hand (because all of the sudden he's rock-solid.) hitting him for attacking her. And he actually says something along the lines of 'you know you wanted it.'

And then her dad, when told that Jacob forced a kiss on Bella making her so angry she broke her hand defending herself, says 'good for you, son.' Worst. Cop. Ever.

I do appreciate the fact she's actually pondering how hard it will be to leave her real family. Finally some logical emotion. I still really don't get what Edward and Bella see in each other.

Comments

[zelle999.livejournal.com]

The facepalms will come more and more frequently the further along you read. By Breaking Dawn you'll be ripping out your hair at the stupidity.

[dorei.livejournal.com]

Erm ... for the record, my grandmother's family was very stable during the depression. Why? Because my great-grandfather was a bank president. He had money. Pots of it. Did he lose some when his bank was closed early on in the rush? Yes. But he kept most of it, enough so that his family was able to take in additional "help" so that there were a few less people in the breadlines.

So it's quite possible Ms. Meyer did, in fact, do some research, at least in that arena. Just sayin.

[crossbow1.livejournal.com]

But he was a bank president. His bank could have let go thousands of employees, but unless the bank completely folded, his job was safe. Regular bank employees weren't so lucky.

[dorei.livejournal.com]

His bank DID completely fold -- Chelsea Bank & Trust closed its doors on December 23, 1930. Not sure why you think bankers would necessarily keep their money in their own bank. They invest it. Apparently, my great-grandpa was a smart guy and didn't speculate in the market. That's how he weathered the storm.

[crossbow1.livejournal.com]

That still puts him in a small minority.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the guy in the book though was just some middle-management guy. Roselie's fiance was the son of the bank owner that her dad worked for.

Might not have been bad if she had made Roselie's dad like your Great Grandfather (and good for him, by the way!) because the way she wrote it was very hand-wavy - Roselie has to have been wealthy, I'll just say her dad was a banker. I Didn't get the sense she thought about it much at all.And don't get me started on WHY Rosalie became a vampiere...

[crossbow1.livejournal.com]

From what I hear tell, the really whatthefuckery comes in the fourth book. I almost want to read that one.

[swordmage.livejournal.com]

The icon says it all...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_geekie_/]

I've only read the first book, and found it pretty eye-gouging. I think I focused more on Meyer's craft than the plot itself, though. Several things she does really, really bothers me - her tendency to infodump, describing a character's clothing down to their shoes and the way they wear their hair, and...pretty much a lot of things that I was told not to do in the writing classes and workshops I've taken. It's "show" not "tell"...eh, what do I know? She has the gobs of money and I've yet to be published. >.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

I've tried to explain that to people - story aside (and it is pretty appalling) the writing is so bad it is frustrating. I know people who can write better in their sleep, and yet SHE got published.

She 'shows not tells' all the bloody time.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_geekie_/]

I'm beginning to believe that the book industry is all about the movies/pillows/dolls that your book can sell rather than the craft. I know that's a horrible thing to say and probably sour grapeish, but the industry is a business, and businesses have to make money. It would certainly explain why Hollywood seems to be turning a lot of books into movies lately, and promptly spawning tons of memorbillia to sell at Hot Topic.

[chavvah.livejournal.com]

It scares me that young, impressionable girls are reading this crap and think it's okay for men to treat women the way they do in these books.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

That Nick Knight icon always makes me happy.

And I agree. I've actually made it a point to discuss it with my friend's daughter, just to make sure she knows better.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_geekie_/]

This.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

Basically, the tale of Edward and Bella would have made a great supernatural horror story--IF Meyer had written about them with the personalities that they really have instead of the ones she thinks they do. Because this is what I see when I see her favorite couple:

Edward--An obsessed, emotionally abusive psychopathic control freak who genuinely believes that he is damned, who constantly warns the girl in his life that he is going to kill her (which he eventually does), and who frequently admits that he enjoys killing and gets off on it.

Bella--A shallow, materialistic, hybristophilic girl who believes that value consists of being beautiful and rich, and who is willing to do anything, including dying and being eternally damned, to get it.

(As you'll see as you go on, Bella will beg and beg and BEG for vampirism even after Edward warns her that it means death and damnation, and even when her main worry should be Edward and not "Oh my heck**, Edward is going to die, and then who's going to turn me?")

Also, I believe that Meyer wrote in the forced kissing scene because Jacob/Bella was becoming as popular than Edward/Bella, and she just couldn't have that. So she wrote in a scene that was basically a Writer Revolt, trying to sink the Jacob/Bella ship--or at least make it less plausible--by making Jacob look bad.


**"Oh my heck" is a Mormon euphemism. They don't like to say "Oh my God."

[sing1118.livejournal.com]

OMG I know. Also, read markreadstwilight. It's amazing.

[drakonlily.livejournal.com]

I HATE THESE BOOKS AND I HAVEN'T READ THEM ALL

I tried. But it REEKS of grooming a much younger, vulnerable person to the whims of a MUCH older, FAR more powerful person and the ... ick.

It's such a squick of mine, really. the imbalance of power gets to me. And it just... god.

[sixth-light.livejournal.com]

Sexual assault: how you know he really loves you!

[fourthage.livejournal.com]

Have you seen cleolinda's recaps of the Twilight books? They're hilarious. I've got them all in my memories, if you haven't.