As another book for the Lit Flicks Challenge (see my post here) I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. (I'm not really keeping track of how many I've done--with this one I just happened to read the book and watch the movie in the same weekend, so.)
I had avoided these books so far because of a few bad reviews I read when they first came out. (In short: Edward's a stalker, Bella's always cooking dinner, and the writing sucks.) But at last the number of people (many of whom share my taste in books) gushing about them reached the level where I felt like I had to at least give them a chance.
While I think some of the criticism is probably fair, after reading gulping down this book and the second one in less than 24 hours, much like the books' heroine, I know they might be bad for me but I just don't care!
I got a little impatient with Bella at times, but Edward and his family are fascinating. (I actually really enjoyed going to Stephenie Meyer's website and reading the partial draft of "Midnight Sun" which is "Twilight" told from Edward's perspective--I really hope she finishes it someday soon.) And the more I think through the initial places I had trouble with the book, the more silly my issues seem. As an example, I once caught myself thinking, "Who really falls in love for life in high school?" (This from a woman who married her high school sweetheart....ahem.)
The movie was actually almost better than the book, mostly I think because there was less of Bella's internal dialog. (I really don't hate her, I just want her to grow-up.) I thought Robert What's-his-face (who will always be Cedric Diggory to me) was such a good Edward, and the girl made me like Bella's character more. Mostly I loved the way they filmed it--the half-tone colors, the music. It was very "bad-ass vampire" movie, but in a fun way that didn't take itself so seriously that it was over the top. I hear they've decided they're going to make the second book into a movie now too--can't wait for that--meanwhile I'm off to devour the third and fourth!
