Not too long ago, I remember reading in the Wall Street Journal about a young-ish author (around 32 or so) who has really made it big writing a series of books about a high school girl and a vampire. The author, Stephenie Meyer, indicated that the love story of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen was something she dreamt about. The dream wouldn't leave her alone, so, she wrote it down, and, history (and a boat load of money) has since been made.
The books are intended for teenage girls, of course. I set the article aside and didn't think too much else about it other than vampires are sure a popular subject.
This past summer, The Kid got hooked on these books, known as "The Twilight Series". The fourth installment was due to hit the bookstores on August 1st so The Kid set about to read the prior three. She did so in about two weeks; pretty impressive since each book is over 400 pages.
Now my interest really was piqued; I mean, The Kid reading three books in rapid succession? I asked her about them and she told me they were "really, really good".
Ok, so, I decided to read the first book in the series, entitled "Twilight".
I have to admit, it WAS pretty good (if a bit "young", but, remember, it is intended for probably 14-20 year old girls, not old broads such as Mrs. B). So, yeah, the "love story" aspect is a bit far-fetched (but believable, again, to young girls who still haven't quite figured out that love isn't so easy). And, there are themes throughout the book that only young girls (or, I should say, only young girls SHOULD) believe, such as, the thrill of the most gorgeous boy in the school, whom up to a point appeared to hate your guts, is now your fiercest protector, savior, and is madly in love with you.
But, for the most part, the plot moved along, there were some intriguing characters and concepts, and, it held my interest.
I received a DVD from NetFlix the other day; on the inside cover was an advertisement for the movie version of Twilight. So, now there will be a movie, this will generate more bro ha ha for the books, so on and so forth.
And, the 4th book came out to much fan-fare (The Kid has already read it).
I don't know if I will read the next three books. I will probably see the movie (on DVD of course; God, can you imagine the hoards of girls descending on the theaters when this movie releases) though.
Check out the trailer (sorry, couldn't get You Tube to work).
Mrs. B
3 comments:
Yeah, I saw the 4th book on sale in the Dayton Airport bookstore. Excellent marketing because the cover got me to read the front/back flaps. If I remember correctly, the first sentence included "teenager" and "vampire", so I immediately put it back.
Although the series is not my style, any book that encourages reading is good.
Yes, I think that the series is good from the standpoint of encouraging kids to read. And since Mrs. B. didn't tell me that there was anything too shocking contained in the first book, I glad that the series has encouraged the Kid to read more now. Hopefully, this trait will extend itself to other books.
Mike Dvorak's daughter Rebecca was reading this series when they were here last and Mike said every teenage girl or close to teenage girl (Rebecca is 12) was reading them. He said Rebecca loved them. So I bought the first one. Haven't read it yet, but it's on my list.
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