My thoughts on Twilight

I've had a LOT of people asking me about the Stephanie Meyer book series, the first book being called "Twilight". I'm more than happy to give you my 2 cents on the books - if you're happy to bother reading ;)

First, a bit of background. Stephanie Meyer had a dream. No, not like "I have a dream..." but like, sleeping in her bed kind of dream. In her own words "I woke up (on that June 2nd) from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her immediately".

She then make the decision to write it down, and thus were born the twilight books.

Okay, that's where the history lesson ends and my own thoughts begin. I love these books. I do. But a few disclaimers before I tell you why, because there are critics out there who, rightly, say that the books aren't very deep to which I say - they were written for teenagers AND Stephanie has said herself that she doesn't think of herself as a writer as much as a storyteller (I agree). This isn't a book that will make the top ten most well written books of all time. Not even the top 100. It's not a extraordinary peice of literature that makes you ponder the meaning of life (well, actually sometimes it did that for me), or make you a deeper person. Sometimes the characters seem a little flat, sometimes the main character is a little too needy, sometimes extremely annoying, sometimes they do things that are completely predictable. But, I refer you back to my previous statement - I love these books.

The story is wonderful and it sucked me right in. I read the books almost WISHING these characters actually existed. I read the books and I escape. They are easy to read, easy on my brain and at times they get my pulse racing. I know I can read these books and not be offended by filth masquerading as literature or art (Pillars of the Earth, for example). There are many books out there that people like Oprah, or whoever will tell you to read, and you do because you think they must be great books, or make you feel important, or intelligent, or other nonsense like that. I've done it, and I've been taken aback by the filth in them - Oh, but it's great literature! It's so well written. Doesn't it make you think? Um, yeah - about how my brain is now filled with junk that will be nigh to impossible to remove. All in the name of "great literature". Okay, so I'm down off the soap box and back to "Twilight" . These are easy to read, enjoyable books - great for a day at the beach, or cozied up at home. Not much thinking involved, but great stories. They drew me in, and I'm no teenager. (Just check out Twilight Moms and you'll see I'm not alone.) Do I reccomend them? Absolutely. Go read them. Will you be more intelligent for reading them? Well, you won't be LESS intelligent, and you won't be offended by rubbish (bad language, gratuitous violence, or lewd sex). I think you'll like 'em. If you want a low down on the premise behind the books, check out Stephanie Meyer's website. I loved them, and you might too!

Still not sure? Well, just wait for the movie coming out in December! So excited for it.