Hello everyone, Creative Karma here again.
Lately, the entertainment world has been swept up into a frenzy about vampires. However, looking ahead into the newest videos and books coming out, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of vampire lore. Maybe the end of the vampire era is coming.
True you still have The Vampire Diaries on TV but that has taken on a life of its own and just become something that only the die hard fans will watch.
But the biggest craze out right now is the Twilight saga craze. Most people know it for the movies but I know it for the books because I read all the books before they showed them in the theaters.
Now while some people see the movies as a horrible rendition of the books that are an abomination, I see things a bit differently. So I’m shoving aside the movie and just looking at the book which I think is the key especially when talking about the Twilight series.
With the recent release of Breaking Dawn Part 1 into theaters, which part of me thinks is a rip off from Harry Potter, I think it’s about time I delve in with them. Now, if you are looking for a full on rant about the movies themselves then it’s best to jump over now to my friend Cinema Chic’s movie review site at http://thecinemachick.blogspot.com/2011/07/twilight-rant-part-1-cast-and.html. Here, I am just going to start off with the first book and end with the fourth one in four different reviews.
So, enough of the sweet nothings and let’s dive into the first book Twilight.
This book starts off with a bit of foreboding. When I first read it, I’ll have to admit that I was rather confused about the whole thing. Then again, I didn’t even know it had been a book series until a friend told me I should read them.
Thinking back about it, it does set the reader up for something evil and horrible to come and might want to make you know just what would happen to get us to that point.
Immediately after, we are finally introduced to the main female character named Isabella Swan, Bella for short.
According to her, her parents had divorced and her mom Renee is seeing someone new but misses him because he has to travel a lot. Bella seems to be rather convincing as she has convinced her mom to go and travel around with Phil, which we will never see, while she moves back to Forks, Washington
However, during all of this intro it become abundantly clear that Bella doesn’t have a very high opinion of herself. Either she is very self deprecating or simply has a case of low self esteem. Most people who saw the movie preferred to choose the former. But in reading the books, I really wanted to believe that she had some severe case of low self-esteem and needed something to help gain her confidence and learn where she truly fit in.
Isn’t that what we all really want? A place where we really fit into the world.
In any case the conversation is as lacking between the pair as one might expect from a father and daughter who have barely spent any time around the other and a father who doesn’t really know what it takes to raise a teenage daughter.
Yet, as a father he does the best he can and has even gone so far as to purchase a truck for Bella to drive around town and to school in without any strings attached.
Sounds pretty good to me.
This is where we meet Billy Black who happens to be a long time friend of Charlie and the one that Charlie purchased the truck from and his son Jacob. Apparently, when Bella used to live in Forks the pair had been good friends as kids and spent most of their time together causing for an easy friendship for Bella to cling to in her new environment.
After the friendly scene, Bella heads off the next day for her first day of school. Her thoughts are what every kids might be if they had to start school in the middle of the year. She comes off really shy and somewhat insecure in this new school despite the fact it’s not the biggest school in the world.
After making it through her first class, we get the first few shy meetings with some of the students of Forks high that take it upon themselves to introduces themselves to the new girl. It is here we meet Eric and Jessica specifically. Apparently, Bella doesn’t have the best memory so those are the only two names she remembers.
Seems to me that if Bella is really looking for a place to fit in that maybe she needs to work on that memory problem. I don’t think any of my friends would stick around very long if I forgot their names. Unless I had a concussion of course.
However, it is at lunch that things start to change for Bella. All day long she has had the other students gawking at her. So it becomes all the more obvious when a group of students isn’t doing that very thing. This is where we are finally introduced to the Cullen children who are Dr. Cullen’s foster kids their names being Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice and Edward.
According to the various students Bella talks to about the Cullen kids, they had been are still are the talk of the school for various reasons. Mainly because they keep completely to themselves and seem to be hooked up in pairs. The only one who hasn’t followed this pattern seems to be Edward who hasn’t accepted any of the various advances of other girls in the school.
Now, this is where the author, Stephanie Meyer, has really set it up for everyone to get hooked onto the relationship of Edward and Bella. Edward along with Jacob have been left utterly available and are thrown at the readers for them to notice. Plenty of fodder for a love triangle and droves of fangirls who want one or the other for themselves.
Now, this is where I personally deviate from the rest of the fans out there. Yes, I’m a fan of the books however I’m not one of the many who has gotten sucked into the Team Edward and Team Jacob. While at this point in the book, we haven’t gotten much detail on the others in the Cullen clan, I didn’t feel like Edward was that attainable. He was single but there was just something about the way the other girls were so attracted and obsessed with him that made me not want to go after him myself.
As the book goes on, I become more attracted to the character named Jasper Hale. True, he doesn’t have an abundance of lines and he’s described as the “one that looks like he’s in pain”. I think it’s the fact that he’s not really noticed all that much. The very fact that he is outside of everyone’s view makes me more determined to really want to know him.
That being said, Jackson Rathbone if you ever read this I’ll look forward to the day I can make it to one of your concerts or see you in person.
But I digress (always wanted to say that).
Well, it’s here that slowly, Bella’s world becomes more and more about Edward. She becomes just as curious as the other kids about the mysterious Edward Cullen and his family…but mostly Edward let’s be real here.
But things don’t start off smoothly like everyone would expect. That’s the one thing I appreciate about this book series. It’s not like in some movies where they run into each other one day and the next day it’s like they’ve known each other forever and then they suddenly decide to get married. No, if that would have happened then I would have put the book down and walked off never to return.
This becomes very apparent in Biology when they are forced to sit next to each other. Edward doesn’t even talk to Bella when she sits next to him. He sits there in his seat and practically glaring at her the whole class in a very stiff posture. There gives the readers a place to pause and wonder why does Edward have this sudden aversion to have her sitting there next to him? What was it that caused this reaction?
Well, we don’t get the answer here and we don’t get it for a long time as Edward does everything in his power to avoid her. Then, he up and disappears. His siblings are seen at school everyday but he’s no where to be found. This leaves Bella having to get along in her life without his presence which she does rather well. But, of course, the book wouldn’t exist if things stayed the way they are now.
A week or so passes and this brings with it the return of a somehow calmer and changed Edward. This change is once again shown when Bella sees him sitting at now their table in Biology. We finally get the first awkward conversation between Edward and Bella. Through these interactions it becomes clear to Bella that something is up since the first time she saw Edward his eyes were black and now they are suddenly this amber color.
Awkward…that pretty much sums up the early days of their conversations. The venue may change slightly but they barely scratch the surface of regular conversation that friends would reach let alone the friends Bella has been hanging with since the beginning who are slowly getting less and less actual face time.
Then, the reader gets the first huge clue that at the very least Edward Cullen isn’t all what he seems to be. On a snowy day, Bella becomes endangered by a van skidding through the parking lot at her school that’s on the course to squish her like a pancake against her own truck. In a flash of action, Bella is surprised she wasn’t killed when she finds that not only is there a dent in the truck where something stopped the truck but that Edward Cullen is now by her side making sure she is okay.
It is from this moment on that Bella becomes more than obsessed with discovering what Edward is because he can’t be human with the things she has witnessed. It’s this very obsession that leads a conversation with Jacob later into her first clue. We get the legend of the Quilete tribe that Jacob is from that they are descended from wolves and his ancestors fought against a creature he calls “the cold ones”.
Now, I like how they have this connected. It may be a small scene that is rather glossed over in the movie but it gives a good connection to the surreal world that Bella finds herself in that her other school mates aren’t aware of.
Her curiosity now peaked about the creatures Jacob spoke of has her going to shop with some of her female friends for a dance that she has been avoiding going to.
I have to interject here. I can understand that this book series is all about Bella, Edward, and Jacob. However, realistically, I never really saw why all the boys were going after Bella as if she was the only single girl in the whole school. She may have her charms to some boys but I’ve only seen a reaction like this in movies that play up this popular girl that everyone wants to be like and all the boys want to date. Maybe I’m missing something here but it seems a little nuts to have these boys so attached to someone they barely know like I mentioned earlier.
Back to the shopping (*shudders*), where Bella splits off from the girls as she goes off to find a book store for something she can read. However, she doesn’t find what she’s looking for and wanders off hoping to find another bookstore. However, despite the stupidity of wandering off the beaten path, she gets herself lost and then she is followed by a group of guys who are either drunk or horny or both.
In any case, this leads to the Edward as a hero moment when he saves her from the goons and chases them off before speeding off with Bella in his car. Unlike any of the previous awkward scenes in Twilight, this one actually means something to the plot. Edward finally reveals that he isn’t what he appears to be. He can read minds. But it’s the ride home that provides the most telling information. Edward is a vampire.
Oddly enough, it’s that simple sentence that sums up the conversation. Yeah, they go through all the typical vampire lore questions but there’s barely any shock. The only shock Bella has is to find out that it’s true. That her assumption is right. Granted, he has only protected her this whole time but even I would pause for longer than she did but I’d be slightly more concerned about their diet than she is.
Oh, remember these amber eyes I mentioned before? Those amber eyes is the way that Stephanie Meyer decided to use to show that feeding on animals has a noticeable change at least in eye color which I will explain further later.
Despite the typical hysteria that usually follows someone meeting a ghost, ghoul or vampire, I found that if I were in the same situation I don’t think I’d be as panicked as most either. Now, if this vampire had done me harm or vampires were something to seriously fear then things would be different. But the vampire in this book hasn’t been made up to be something even remotely scary. This vampire is the final evolution: the dateable vampire.
Slowly, this book forget about the human element and focus entirely on the relationship between Edward and Bella. There is even a scene that is remotely basic. Bella goes and meets Edward’s family. It’s almost normal if you ignore the fact they are all vampires and not remotely related save for the fact they feed on animals instead of humans.
Yes, that’s right, in this world of vampires they are able to feed on animals if they choose to instead of humans. But I want you to keep in mind a fact that most skip over in the book. The fact that the Cullen family feeds on animals is not normal by vampire standards. They are different even in their own world. They have set themselves apart from other vampires who feed on humans.
After a couple of time skips and various dialogue we have our first scene of Edward and Bella at “his” field. Now, I won’t go into huge detail here and trust me you aren’t missing much. There will be more scenes like this than you can shake a stick at. Bella is self conscious around the “gorgeous” Edward and he keeps trying to get across he is the monster here and that he’s dangerous. It happens the same way in ever book just with a topic or two added here and there for flavor.
However, here is where another sticking point does occur for people who prefer the traditional vampire. Unlike even, the Dracula vampire, the “Twlight” vampires sparkle when the sun hits their skin. Now, despite the fact I’m rather accepting of a new version of the vampire even this made me stop in my tracks. It was hard to try and picture a human looking creature sparkling in the sun. My mind went so far to make it an anime sparkle. Don’t tell me you haven’t been there. I was worried it would make them look like one of those disco balls. The movie handled it rather well in my opinion. Not too much sparkle.
Once again, Bella is only mildly surprised with this revelation and they continue to see each other. Is it just me or is Edward not really trying to scare her off. If that’s his intention then there are far more scary things he can do. But I can see also why he wouldn’t want to scare her off. We are only seeing Bella’s half of this story. If Edward really wanted to stay away from her then he would just do it but he doesn’t. Edward is just as enamored with Bella as she is with him.
Of course, even with all the lovey dovey stuff in the world that they could add to this movie they decide not to go all in with the romance for which I am very thankful. No chick flicks for me thanks so much.
Then we get to the scene that I personally loved the best. The world’s next incoming sport: vampire baseball. I really liked that they still have those human tendencies. I mean, I’ve really had enough of vampires who only kill everything or dress up in fine outfits and go dancing in lavish ballrooms. I like the fact these vampires actually still love things like playing baseball, solitare, working on cars and things like that.
Of course, the peace can’t last as we finally meet the protagonists of this book. Namely, the nomad vampires called Laurent , Victoria
It’s this group of vampires that brings the real issue to the forefront. They discover that Bella is human and James becomes more than interested in her…as dinner. This is heightened by the simple fact that Edward protects her from him. To James, the game is on and he’s ready to do whatever he can to get past Edward and feed off of Bella.
Now, everything changes as it becomes all about saving Bella’s life. Suddenly, vampires are dangerous again and not someone you’d want to take home to meet your parents. I appreciate that all the vampires aren’t like the Cullens. The author has showed us that the traditional idea of a vampire still does exist in this world. Vampire who could care less about humans till it’s time to feed on one. They actually enjoy the thrill of the hunt of humans. Most people I talked to about Twilight seemed to forget that little fact even if it’s not the main focus of the books.
The Cullen’s hatch a plan for Jasper and Alice to whisk Bella away to safety while the others protect her father and try to lead James away to kill him so he won’t kill Bella. However, they underestimated James who gets around their plan and discovers where they have hidden Bella. Through trickery and vampire wiles he is able to get Bella alone. This leads up to a fight scene between Edward and James.
I won’t go into complete details here but while Bella isn’t sucked dry by James, he did manage to bite her just once which seems to be more than enough to start turning her into a vampire.
Again, here is where the lore changes. In other vampire movies, the change is inevitable and quick. In the Twilight series the change is not only incredibly painful but it takes three days to complete. However, in the first moments after being bitten it can be reversed which becomes Edward’s only option who doesn’t want Bella turning into a vampire yet.
He tests his will by actually sucking the “infection” out of her like one might do for other wounds. This effort prevented Bella from turning into a vampire. Bella later wakes up in a hospital, goes along with the lies to her mom about what happened, freaks out when Edward talks to her about moving back to live with her mom before he gives in and they all head back home to Forks.
The book ends with Bella being taken to the prom by Edward despite all her earlier denials that she’d ever go to a dance. Apparently, she was more taken over by Edward’s offer.
And that’s Twilight.
Now, despite all the problems the movie caused in my book, the book itself had some very strong points that could have been something great. Things are left out and changed to the point that I had been seriously concerned that anyone who went to see this movie would be very confused if they hadn’t read the books to begin with.
That aside, Twilight has its perks. The vampires may not be those traditional blood sucking and evil creatures of the night but they have their place in the changing views about vampires. Maybe one day we will see a rotation back towards the original idea of a vampire as the popular idea.
While this story is heavily centered around Bella and her feelings for Edward, it does make sense. This book is all from her perspective and that’s what we have to work with. Jacob is placed solely in the friend category because that’s where he’s always been to Bella. Edward on the other hand is something new. She has to get to know him in order to see where if anywhere that he fits into her life. It’s then she sees that her feelings about Edward aren’t something simple.
It’s through Edward that she has found a calling and a purpose that she aspires to. Now, most people don’t aspire to become a vampire but as far as we are aware vampires are just fiction. Who can really say what they would do in a world were vampires did really exist like they do in Twilight.
My opinion: read the book. Even if you saw the movie first. There are things in the book that aren’t covered in the movies and things are portrayed in a different light. Some that like the movie may hate the book and vice versa. However, the one thing I always stress is that when a book comes out and a movie is made off that book that it’s the book they are basing the story off of not the other way around. Keep that in mind the next time one of your fave book turns up as a movie and see if the way you view the movie is different.
As for me, the movie was all right but I prefer the book.
That’s all from this chic for now. I’m Creative Karma and I will always be Team Jasper.
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