After months of harassment, i've watched Twighlight.

[Zepaholic]

Yes, i admit it. My shrink said that it's ok to express things(lol).

Anyway, my kids(and wife) have finally MADE me watch the movie. Now they are adament that i read the books from Stephenie Meyer. This is humiliating for me....teen angst and vampires are not my thing at this point.

Soooo, anybody have any advise? Are the books readable? The movie i found to be.....errrrrr, amusing? I might even watch it again(GASP).

[ninelives]

I haven't read the books or seen the movie but adults I know who read them have enjoyed the series a lot.

[Jimmy's A Legend]

The same thing happened to me, my sister made me watch it, personally I think that the whole thing is rubbish!

I'm sorry but a vampire that GLITTERS They are meant to burst into flames!

Why does a vampire want to go to school.

Vampires are supposed to be cold blooded and evil not fall in love!

In the second or third book there is a warewolf but the warewolf can decide when he turns into one-NO THEY HAVE NO CHOICE IT'S WHEN THE MOON IS FULL!!!!!

But then again, just my opinion.

[Virginia]

I read the series and liked it, although not nearly as much as Harry Potter. I liked the first and last books the best. I bought the movie, have tried watching it twice, and fallen asleep both times.

My daughter (almost 16) read and loved the series and hated the movie because it fell short of the books. Hopefully one day I'll make it through the movie and can form an opinion

I was kind of lukewarm on Bella to begin with, and liked her less as the series went on. Alice and Jacob were my favorite characters.

Most of my "mom" friends all read and enjoyed the series and some were pretty gung ho on it.

[BlackandGold]

Read the first two. The characters are not well developed. I don't have much empathy for Bella or Edward. The story itself is good, but I don't think that Stephanie Meyer is a good writer. Some of her sentence structures make me cringe.

[Footsteps of Dawn]

Don't read it. Like BlackandGold said, there's no character development whatsoever. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly makes Edward so goddamn hot...apparently the majority of the female population likes sparkly men with PMS symptoms and absolutely no personality.

The story is boring...although I suppose it could be viewed as a realist portrayal of American high school life at the turn of the 21st century, in which case it might be interesting to anthropologists 100 years down the line. As for you, in the here and now, it's...not so interesting. You have a daughter, right? Then it's nothing you haven't heard before, since it's told from Bella's perspective. Most of the book is her gushing about Edward or telling about her boring day at school. It does have some decent action at the end, as you know, but trust me, the first 3/4 reads like any schoolgirl's diary.

And honestly, I had no opinion of the series going in. I was hoping it was going to be like Harry Potter, which I love, but I wouldn't have been too surprised if it didn't live up to Harry's standards. What I didn't expect is that it would turn out to be a piece of glorified fan fiction. Skip it.

[Zepaholic]

Don't read it. Like BlackandGold said, there's no character development whatsoever. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly makes Edward so goddamn hot...apparently the majority of the female population likes sparkly men with PMS symptoms and absolutely no personality.

The story is boring...although I suppose it could be viewed as a realist portrayal of American high school life at the turn of the 21st century, in which case it might be interesting to anthropologists 100 years down the line. As for you, in the here and now, it's...not so interesting. You have a daughter, right? Then it's nothing you haven't heard before, since it's told from Bella's perspective. Most of the book is her gushing about Edward or telling about her boring day at school. It does have some decent action at the end, as you know, but trust me, the first 3/4 reads like any schoolgirl's diary.

And honestly, I had no opinion of the series going in. I was hoping it was going to be like Harry Potter, which I love, but I wouldn't have been too surprised if it didn't live up to Harry's standards. What I didn't expect is that it would turn out to be a piece of glorified fan fiction. Skip it.

Thanks to you and everybody else for the heads up. Unfortunately i have started reading the 1st book and i just can't not finish a book that i have started.

My daughter will pay for this...lmao.

[Aquamarine]

A lot of my female students had read it, so as I like fantasy literature I asked them about it, and they said what you all just did, basically--that some of the writing would make me cringe (it even made them cringe). Their consensus seemed to be that you had to be under a certain age to enjoy the books, in effect!

[Zepaholic]

A lot of my female students had read it, so as I like fantasy literature I asked them about it, and they said what you all just did, basically--that some of the writing would make me cringe (it even made them cringe). Their consensus seemed to be that you had to be under a certain age to enjoy the books, in effect!

Funny, my wife who is usually very level-headed absolutely loved the series and read them all.

Should i call somebody?

[Aquamarine]

Funny, my wife who is usually very level-headed absolutely loved the series and read them all.

Should i call somebody?

Some of my students may actually be older than your wife! (Non-traditional students, they're called these days.)

Nah--there's no accounting for taste. If the subject matter is good, it can overshadow the quality of the writing for some people, for instance. But I don't know, not having read them, I'm just going by the warnings I was given.

[ledzep45]

Vampires are supposed to be cold blooded and evil not fall in love!

I'm guessing you dont like buffy or angel?

[Jarlaxle 56]

They're shit, stay far far away from them at all costs.

[spats]

If a person is under 20 they should stay away from the whole thing. It's strictly aimed at teenage girls. It was torture watching the movie. it was nonsense.

[ninelives]

If a person is under 20 they should stay away from the whole thing. It's strictly aimed at teenage girls. It was torture watching the movie. it was nonsense.

Aren't teenagers people under 20?

[spats]

Aren't teenagers people under 20?

Sorry i typed it wrong. I meant anyone over 20 should stay away from it because it is strictly for teenage girls. Anyone else will gag at that movie.

[Pip]

I haven't read the books... but I wanted to headbutt the characters in the movie - it was crap...

at one point I was thinking of sewing my eyes together in protest...

My Husband was away for 3 weeks and got bored in his hotel so he read all of the books - he seems to be ok with it - he doesn't like the main characters though..

He is one of these people who just read everything and anything... he reads about 300 books a year I swear... He isn't too big on the Twilight series though - he was saying they would have been better when he was a teenager.

[Virginia]

I tried again last night and saw about 3/4 of the movie before falling asleep again. The movie is dark, the music is sleep inducing and there isn't much dialogue.

It occured to me though that the actress who plays Bella looks an awful lot like Gillian Anderson from the X Files, and then I got to thinking that aside from the vampire theme, the whole darkness/weirdness mood of the film was also very X Files'ish.

[LedZepChick]

I've read the first two books. I liked Twilight. New Moon bored me to tears and took forever to finish because I just couldn't get into it. I haven't purchased the next book. I may finish the series up at some point, just to be a completist.

In regards to the movie...Eh!! I was bored and unimpressed.

[Spalove]

I plan on reading all 4 books because they are on my 50 book challenge list. That is unless I find 4 other books to read instead.

I'm definitely not going to see the movie

The only guy that knows how to write vampires in my opinion is Joss Whedon.

Angel and Spike can kick Edward Cullen's ass

editing this because I've decided not to read the twilight series.

[Nathan]

I read the first book and was forced to see the movie.

Utter, complete crap. All of it.

First off, the author Disney-fied vampires. Edward Cullen was a wuss. If Dracula had known of Edward's existence, I'm sure he would have personally come into town to see that Edward was killed... slowly.

The writing itself is horrid. I actually felt that way about JK Rowling, too. The difference was that JKR's story was so compelling (up until Book 6: Half-Baked Plot, that is), that I could forgive the need for a lot of better editors. I cannot with Twilight. It is a teenage drama chick-flick, nothing more. There is absolutely nothing in it that actually has to do with vampire lore, as the author has taken great pains to create her own. Of course, I would forgive that if her vampire lore was, you know, good, but it sucks. It's Disney-fied vampire lore, "safe for the kiddies" bull.

Aterwards, after getting certain people to accept that I was just not going to finish the series, one of them did finish it and basically told me everything... and I was disgusting... with the way the author handled that little "love triangle," with the way she butchered the only character I actually thought had any potential (I forget his name, but the one who turned into a werewolf and "imprinted himself" on Bella and Edward's child [VAMPIRES CAN'T HAVE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY'RE DEAD FER CHRISSAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!] because he "loved Bella" or some BS like that).

And I love how the author breaks her own rules that she set up in her world all for the sake of the plot...

And the movie itself was, somehow, worse. It was pointless. My Dad rented it expecting... you know... your typical vampire flick. He thought: "vampires. Cool. Some horror, blood, action... maybe a little sex and nudity (because, let's be honest... the vampire personifies unbridled lust)..." even though both my brother and I (and numerous others) warned him it wasn't. And he was so disgusted he actually considered asking Blockbuster for his rental money back (he eventually decided against asking, but he has resolved to listen to my brother and me the next time we tell him something isn't what he thinks it is).

Stay far, far, far away from this one.

[Aquamarine]

Haven't read/seen Twilight (thank God!), as I said above, but one small disagreement--I think Rowling can really write. She did need a more forceful editor to keep some of her plots under control (especially in Order of the Phoenix), but she's an excellent writer in terms of her actual prose, IMO, and she writes terrific dialogue.

[Misty]

i devoured all 4 books in a few weeks time and was thoroughly enertained...and i am in no way a teenager, not even close. the books are a fantasy....the story is to get lost in. i don't think stephenie meyers was out to win literary awards, but i think she did a fine job of a creating a fantasy world that readers could use as an escape hatch. i loved the edward cullen character...but always read him with an english accent..?

i must add, the movie was a huge disappointment. i was expecting it to be well done like the harry potter films. it was far from it. it was awful, in fact. it just seemed so low budget...and not in a good indie way. and kristen stewart was a terrible choice for bella....she's a horrible actress.

[Nathan]

Haven't read/seen Twilight (thank God!), as I said above, but one small disagreement--I think Rowling can really write. She did need a more forceful editor to keep some of her plots under control (especially in Order of the Phoenix), but she's an excellent writer in terms of her actual prose, IMO, and she writes terrific dialogue.

Oh, I will say, that, if you compare the two, Rowling is a much better writer then Meyers. My problem with Rowling was that she tended to... what's the word... exaggerate things that didn't need to be exaggerated. Here characters almost never simply said something. It was also "exclaimed," "coldly," etc. She tended to be overly flowery with descriptions as well. Like I said, she could have benefited from some better editors. However, unlike Meyers, Rowling's story was good enough to make up for it.

IMO, there is nothing redeeming about Meyer's little fantasy. Nothing.

[Katuschka]

I'm guessing you dont like buffy or angel?

Who does?

[Katuschka]

Haven't read/seen Twilight (thank God!), as I said above, but one small disagreement--I think Rowling can really write. She did need a more forceful editor to keep some of her plots under control (especially in Order of the Phoenix), but she's an excellent writer in terms of her actual prose, IMO, and she writes terrific dialogue.

I must say that I´m still not sure what to think about Rowling. Which is strange, because consider myself a Potterhead. I think she made several astonishing moral points, but they are often buried into overtly melodramatic passages, and that ruins it for me a bit.