So on Friday night, I caved to the peer pressure and bought the book. Started it Sat a.m. and finished it Sunday afternoon. It was a good book - interesting story, characters that pull you in, mindless enjoyable book consumption. So last night I went to see the movie, and what a disappointment. Usually movies are never as good as the books that inspired them, but i thought that the Twilight movie totally misse
d the mark. I would guess that most people who saw the movie without reading the book wouldn't have cared for the movie at all. They glossed over so much, filled in gaps with additional material NOT in the book (I HATE that), sped through important dialogues for the sake of time, etc. etc. With Twilight grossing over 70 million at the box office this weekend, I think it's too bad that they didn't just make the movie a little longer and kept in more of the key elements that create the foundations for the story.I WILL say that they did an outstanding job of casting.....Robert Pattinson who plays Edward Cullen (the vampire) is described in the book as an otherworldly type of beautiful. Compelling, but almost shocking to look at. Pattinson (also played Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter m
ovies) himself is a gorgeous piece of man, but when you add in the hair and makeup to make him look like a vampire? They totally hit the nail on the head - he WAS otherworldly, compelling...beautiful. He justified the movie for me because well...he's nice to look at for 2 hours. I think he's this next generation's Brad Pitt. YUM.My overall impression? The books are good. They are romance novels geared towards young adults (I can see why highschool girls are batty over them) so the reading level makes for a quick and easy read. The movie's okay -IF you read the books and are interested in the story and the actualization of the characters on film.....if you haven't read the book: skip the movie - you'll miss out on a lot.
If you like stories about vampires and fantasy-type fiction, a more "adult" type book along those lines would be The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I read it a few years back when I worked at Books A Million. It took me a LONG time to read - it's a pretty thick book - but it's more along the lines of a DaVinci Code-esque suspense/thriller following a mystery surrounding Dracula. Did you know that legends of Dracula have some elements of historical truth to it?? Vlad the Impaler, a cruel Romanian ruler from the 15th Century inspired Bram Stoker's famous novel, and stories and legends about vampires have been around for centuries. True story. Google it if you're bored one day. :)
So that's my history lesson, movie review, book review and book recommendation for the day.
Happy Monday!
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8 comments:
OMG...I love The Historian!
And I loathe Twilight. It's mindless, sexist, and unrealistic. Sorry, but...no. Real vampires don't sparkle. Or quote greeting cards in everyday speech.
Ok, Sarah Beth, you have to admit...it's about a VAMPIRE. It's supposed to be unrealistic. "Real" vampires??? I didn't find it sexist. Mindless, yes. As Tammi said, it's a "young-adult" romance novel. What's wrong with spending a couple of cold November days on the couch reading something that doesn't require me to think too much? So it's not life-changing, it's not written on the level of, say...Harry Potter. Not your cup of tea? OK, I get that. But sometimes a girl (or middle-aged mom) just needs to ESCAPE for a while.
AmyN
Which is fine. We all need an escape. But you are old enough to see it as just that, and not feel cheated when real people don't measure up to Meyers' characters. I'm not attacking you for liking it. But I can't make myself read it...or enjoy it.
And of course vampires aren't realistic. Poor choice of words on my part. But it is the character's psyches that I find most ridiculous. Teenage fan girls swoon over Edward's "chivalry"...but I would find such behavior from my fiance disturbing. The character's are too perfect, even in their flaws.
I'm not going to look down on you for enjoying it. Just don't get all squeally and fan-girlish on me. ;)
I didn't catch any sexist undertones in it either, but mindless: yes.
Entertaining: yes, for me - although everyone finds different things (and types of books) entertaining.
I like an easy mindless read now and again. It's fun. For me,anyway.
So, SarahB - did you read it or not? I couldn't tell from your posts....
And for the record: I think i might get all squeally and swoon over Edward Cullen. I'm not usually a freak about movie stars, but um....wow. He can bite me any day.
LOL :)
I read some of the first book, but I couldn't finish it. And I've paged through the others. I have since learned the rest of the story from Sam, who read the whole series.
I envy you for being able to enjoy it. I'm too analytical (and critical) for my own good.
As for the sexist overtones, I think what threw me was something Bella said along the lines of "What's more tempting, my blood or my body?" (don't know which book that's in) and the fact that a) Bella is practically throwing herself at Edward for most of the series, making her seem quite shallow, in addition to helpless, and b) Edward is completely beyond reproach despite some very intense, supernatural instincts to pulling him in the other direction.
It struck me as very "angel vs. animal" to quote a favorite author. ;) But maybe I'm the only one...
I haven't read the book or seen the movie, and I don't plan on doing either. I do, however, find it interesting that the author is a homeschooling mom, and these are her first books.
Interesting in what way, Melissa?
Interesting that her first book sold so well, that isn't usually the case with authors. Also interesting that a Mormon, homeschooling mom would write such a sensual book (IMHO).
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