21/1/2009 - *book and bo*
Ok I finished actually reading Twilight the other day. And as I know there is about only one person reading my blog, you might like to read my review of it....
SPOILER ALERT - if you are one of the two humans who has not yet read TWILIGHT book then SKIP to my BO reference later (and no - I am not talking about my smelly pits...*snort*).
I gave Twilight 3 out of 5 stars (although it was pegging at around 2 out of 5 there for a while....for reasons noted below).
I put this review on my goodreads list...:
I have stayed away from as many spoilers as possible for the next three books, so this is purely my opinion of Twilight! - and I am not spellchecking as I type, so ignore typos..ha! Also, I watched the movie before reading the book.
I really like the storyline for Twilight, it especially appealed to my inner teenage girl! But, even my 16 yr old self was in agreeance with my current self that Meyers’s writing style is very irritating, only improving from the point of where Bella goes to meet the Cullens. I think if they released the book again and took out 98% of the “perfectbeautifulbreathtakinggorgeouswonderful” references to Edward's looks, it would have read MUCH better. The annoying way Bella continually & repetitively speaks about Edward and his perfection is just bordering on ridiculous, and making her character less appealing as a result. Also Edwards constant referral to how dangerous/bad/unhealthy he is for Bella was just annoying. I wanted to slap both of them at times (just like when I watched the movie!)!
I reckon there surely could have been a better medium in the sulky/emo/annoying way she was played on screen and the vapid/repetitive/annoying way she is portrayed in the book.
The over use of beautiful etc is totally detracting from Bella’s character development itself through the novel, and it is a real shame, because my feeling of the undertones about what Bella truly is or who she is descended from, along with her personality, are being obscured – I can’t WAIT to find out what happens with her, (even after stupidly accidently reading a slight spoiler). I really don't want to believe she is as superficial and "damsel in distress" as she comes off after reading Twilight. I hope as the time line progresses through the other books, that Meyer puts some effort into exploring Bella more and has her grow up a bit.
I am really keen to find out how it all unfolds, and doing my damdest to stay away from any other spoilers (which is VERY unlike me, usually I am trying to HUNT them DOWN!). And I am really happy all the books are out now, so I can read them one after the other, I think if I had to wait for them after reading this first one, I may have lost interest half way through and not bothered. I think this is where watching the movie helped, as I knew action would be coming (eventually, in a pretty rushed way, right near the end of the book.....*ha*).
I also want to slap Meyer's editor, who must have been really slack who just didn’t want to for some reason pick her up on the dodgy dialogue/lack of character development/oddly paced story line – if she had a kickarse editor who forced the issue I think the book would have been 100 times better as a result.
Another reason I am really glad I watched the movie first was that I felt Meyer was a bit lacking in her descriptions (the movie and Robert Pattisons hot personage are filling that in nicely, although it improved from the point she met the Cullens), but hey, its her first novel so I’ll cut her some slack on that.
I actually didn’t mind reading the “of three things I am certain…etc” dialogue in the book compared to how it came off in the movie if that makes sense. IN the film it just seemed ridiculous and unncessary to me (I remember actually saying "duh" after Bella spoke the words). IT didn’t seem as cheesy in the book which I am really happy about!
BUT, to me the whole sparkling vampire skin thing still just is stupid – both in the book AND especially in the movie. I would have been happier I think if Meyer just played it that the explaination went along the lines of “the whole exploding in sunlight thing is SUCH a crock, but we have very light sensitive skin/eyes (etc) and prefer gloomier overcast days or darker situations” (or something).
The book also was a bit of a hard slog to read in amongst Bella's "edward gushing" and only really got "page tuning" from when she met the Cullens and they had the baseball game and met the bad mob. I actually prefered how they wrote the storyline in the movie where the "bad vamp" element was introduced earlier and refrenced as a bit of an ominous presence throughout until the met up. If Meyer had have done that it would have made the earlier parts a helluva lot more interesting - especially as that part involved Charlie a bit more (who I really like!).
But I loved in the book how they delved into Carlisle and Alice's past - that was great, and it was a shame they left that out of the film.
It isn't the best book in a teen-genre I have ever read (most being read from my Adult-who-is-a-repressed-teenager perspective), but it is an enjoyable read - it would be more-so if I had have had someone take to it with a black texta and cross out the multitude of "edward is hot" references. I just hope the rest of the books get better!!!
That said, I really enjoyed the little exceprt at the end of the Twilight book of the novel Meyer has not finished yet written from Edwards perspective - now that is one I can't wait to read!
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There you go. I am sure your day has absolutey been made by reading my perspective on that...*yeah right*.
I am now part way though New Moon - I am sure you are HANGING on the edge of your seat for my review on that one.. Actually, I am enjoying reading it so far - there has been a fraction of the Edward Gushing of Twilight for which I am VERY greatful!
So, what about the BO you might ask?? I refer to the new honcho head guy of all the free world, Barack Obama (what an unfortunate intial combination....I can see the media going berserk on that if his reign time in offce comes under pressure at all).
Congrats Mr O - you did a fine job of making it to the top, hopefully your time will be constructive, positive, peaceful (well more so than now anyway), safe, and remembered for the good things your administration accomplished. And I think it is great to see a young family in the white house again.
I didn't stay up to watch his inauguration, seeing as it hit our screens around midnight or so, and I knew it would be played to death today.
I think it is quite cool to see the USA so into their voting this time round - there was a record at something like 64% of eligible people actually voting. I mean for a country that doesn't have compuslory voting that is a pretty good result.
It will be very interesting to see how he goes. I admit am a cynic when it comes to ALL politicans.
I think many are in it for themselves, especially the ones who seek the upper level jobs that take them further away from directly representing the people who elected them. Granted, we need the high level leaders etc, but I am wary of pretty much everyone in the "top job" and how they got there - what factions are behind them, who is doing all the wrangling and angling to get them there - are they just puppets for more powerful faceless nameless back room heavys who only have their own vested interests at heart and not those of the electors? How much of what they represent is truly them and not the mouthpiece of what others want us to hear?
I think that the way our leaders conduct themselves when not making the great prepared stirring speeches and spouting the memorable and encouraging catch phrases (Mr Myspace PM Kevin07 was sooooo annoying with that - and he still bloody is!!) is a truer sign of their capabilites. Take George Dubya and his constant gaffes when he was unscripted. Aussie pollies have done the same.
Mr O's little line fluff when he was taking his oath of office was two things to me:
A) humanising - it made him seem more regular and it was actually quite cute (he has the NICEST smile!!) - you could see he was so excited and happy and nervous to be there;
and B) a sign that perhaps the great orator that he comes across as, is maybe not 100% obama (they image his people like to portray), but maybe more like 75%. He is very skilled at speaking, but how much of what he actually says is his own? I hope I am wrong - but I really think that when you are taking your oath of office, you would have had the chance to practice it 1000 times since the election to get it 100% right. It wasn't like it was a surprise dialogue you had to speak, or something that was 50 pages to read.
Anyway, I think he did well to achieve the election result, and be where he is today, and I hope after all the hooplah dies down and the celebs go back to doing what they do best (being fluffy "ahct-ors" or muso's) and let him get on with the job, that he does make good choices and leads well, especially since he has such a tough start ahead with the current global situtation.
OK bored enough yet??
You did well to make it this far through my non-spell checked rantings.
So here is your reward:
Just a touch of Henry Cavill in from his dunhill fragrance add - ahhh The Tudors. Best.SHOW!
swoon.
BYE!
L.
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