This week, it seems like the internet is full of vampires. All I see on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook is Twilight, Twilight, Twilight x 1,000,000.
From which I can conclude that either a new book or a new movie is coming out. I don’t know which and I don’t care.
Yes, it’s true. I am one of 17 people in the U.S. who has not read the Twilight books.
I don’t have a problem with fantasy — hello, Harry Potter?
I don’t have a problem with vampires — back in the day I read Anne Rice’s numerous books about the bloodsucking fiends.
I cannot get interested in the Twilight books. I don’t know how many books are in the series or if it has concluded or not. I don’t even know the author’s name.
But perhaps I am wrong. Maybe I should read these books. After all, I am the same person who had to be convinced by my sister and my mother-in-law that I should read the Harry Potter books and boy was I happy that I finally did.
So today y’all are going to tell me if I read the books or not and why. For my lurkers, I’m making it easy and including a poll so that you can weigh in while continuing to lurk:
Okay – I have tickets to the midnight showing tomorrow night of New Moon – me and the girls are going and my husband and son. Come on I’m a true fanpire but it’s the werewolves I’d be hanging with. I go for the “good” guy. Call me team JACOB
Now, come on, it’s even my son’s name.
My daughter has read all of the books 3 or 4 or 5 times. She has been telling me to read them but I figure it will be like the time I got talked into reading a Danielle Steele novel.
I am still so sorry I did that.
Great, great story. Awful writing. She gets somewhat better as the books progress but… not that much. Still, the story is pretty damn good.
And *I* have tickets to see it tomorrow at 5:00 pm. Which means I get to see it approximately 7 hours before everyone else in the world. I WIN!!!!! And my husband’s work is sending me. I LOVE 1800CONTACTS!!
I haven’t read them (and also don’t know the author), but I can’t get into teenage angst-y books, so I’m one of those 17 people right there with you.
At first I thought the same thing as you…oh poor poor teenage rage against the ‘rents blah blah! But I have to say Twilight made me sob like a 13 y.o. The books kind of drag in places but if you have the time to indulge in mindless entertainment they are FAB!
I think you should read them, if not out of curiosity, for your daughters. Are they not caught up in it, or even interested? If not, I don’t know how you managed to escape it all. I know Em is a few years older, but all girls here talk about it. And eventually they will too. There are at least 2 more movies coming out, so G will be in middle school, caught in the frenzy. Just read them, to prepare
I read the first one to see what all the fuss was about and while she did a good job capturing the hell and torture that is a first love, I never felt the need to go on and read 3 more books about it… I did however, skim the 4th to see how it all wrapped up.
I haven’t read any either, long may that last!
I enjoyed them. They’re not great writing, but cool vampires and hot werewolves are a fun way to pass the time. Team Jacob!
I’m not going to lie to you – the writing is pretty crappy and clumsy. The story is good, addictive enough that I read (skimmed in parts) all four books despite being frequently irritated by her writing.
Initially I picked them up for the cultural literacy: my daughter’s friends were all reading them, my daughter wanted to read them, and you couldn’t move six inches in the blogosphere without tripping over a reference to them.
I say, go ahead and read them. Just don’t have too high of expectations.
I have no idea if you should read them. I don’t know anything about them either.
To make you (and me) feel less alone: a mom in my circle of friends suggested that we all go see the new Twilight movie together this Saturday night, and maybe go get a drink afterward. Only one mom responded, “I’m in!” All the others responded, “I’m not into Twilight, but I’ll come after the movie for the drink!”
I (tried to) read another book by the same author and was HORRIFIED by how shoddy the writing was. I won’t read them because I have too many GOOD books already lined up.
Decent story, awful writing. The dialogue is PAINFUL!
Mindless entertainment, awful writing, but overall a good story that gets you caring about the characters… even if you don’t want to be. I read all four because the Kindle app on my iPhone made it too easy to just keep going. If she stops at 4 (I haven’t been interested enough to find out) that would be a good thing…
I thought the first movie was a lot better than I expected… but that’s not saying a lot.
Yes, I think you should read them. I actually saw Twilight the movie before I read the books. Like many of the others said, it is really addicting. The writing isn’t Pulitzer Prize-worthy, but it is written in such a way that you really want to know what’s next. For me, it reminds me of when I was a teenager and gives me a bit of escape from the stress in my life. I don’t care that I’m 32 and like the books maybe more than I should — it makes me happy and that’s all that counts.
I voted no, but will say this. Read them if you want some mindless entertainment you can knock off in no time (or want to know what all the fuss is about).
Great idea…not great writing. More sex than I expected for books being marketed to kids. (I know, I shouldn’t be surprised…but I am.)
I read them because it was a total craze at work. The girls know I love to read and so after they bought the books (at the midnight releases) and read them, they’d leave them on my desk for me. Who am I to turn down free reading material?
And yes, they’re all going to the midnight showings to be “first” to see it. I will likely never see the movies. I still haven’t seen any of the HP movies either, although I enjoyed the books.
I’m on team Jacob. Bring on the cute werewolves. Forget the cold Vamps. : )
My younger daughter ploughed thru the Twilight books but has been disappointed by the movie. She loved them so much that 2 years ago she made me read them. I’ll admit I wanted to know what would happen, but I wouldn’t recommend them if you don’t have to. While Bella, the heroine, is not a weak helpless female, she does require a lot of rescuing and isn’t exactly something to aspire to.
That having been said, there’s a lot worse junk out there…
If you’re looking for fluff, the Twilight books are great. They are a quick-read, engaging and I enjoyed them. If you’re expecting an awesome work of fiction, then NO. Do not read them.
Also, it’s not like Anne Rice vampires. This is more about a love story.
I enjoyed them. But I took them at face value. Also, EDWARD! ZOMG!! SWOON!
Honestly, if you’re looking for something along the same lines…Pick up Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead Until Dark is the first). They’re a thousand times better. I’d call them Twilight for adults but that’s just insulting to Ms. Harris and Ms. Stackhouse.
Because Twilight?
Is horrible. Wait…make that HORRIBLE. I read the first two and skimmed the last two, hoping all the while that something interesting would FINALLY happen. It didn’t. I hated Bella (the main character) – I just wanted to smack her, the writing was just painful and the story/plot? Meh/Yawn. I spent most of the 4th book thinking just how creepy that talking baby is going to look in the movie.
SEE??? We are really the same person. I also neither read nor watched nor care about these books.
Vampires are so 1999–Anne Rice sucked me dry. Now? It’s all about ZOMBIES, baby!
I read the first one for that very reason – 100 billion people can’t be wrong!
BUT THEY ARE. SO VERY WRONG. I had no empathy with the characters, the whole thing was so unbelievable (and I read Stephen King) but what pissed me off the most was the bloody Dad. “I’m going out Dad,” “Okay, mind how you go.” COME ON!
Meh. Redeeming feature – it did remind me of high school crushes and all the angst and tears…but not so much that I want to read another 3 books to find out if they ever Do It or not. Because that’s all it really is huh?
And that’s my opinion
Meh, it’s a good mindless read, although I find Bella (on paper and on screen) to be one of the most annoying female characters since Katherine in Wuthering Hrights. All talk about young girls “looking up to” this character makes my skin crawl. Really, I’d rather my daughter make a hero out of Bellatrix than Bella.
If you can’t get to sleep some night, read Twilight. If you’re like me, you’ll be out in 20 pages.
I love me a good vampire (witness my recent pilgrimage to Whitby) but have not gone near those books. Looks to me like someone crossed Ann Rice with Hannah Montana and that’s just plain wrong.
I read the books when my then 15-yr old was obsessed with the books. And I got sucked in. Not in an I CARE ABOUT THESE CHARACTERS kind of way, but in a THIS IS FUN kind of way. And then the movie came out. OMG. The Movie. I’ve made no secret of my cougarific love for the men (okay, boys) of Twilight. I saw the first movie on the “big screen” with my daughter three times (she saw it a total of five) and we have the DVD, which I just watched last week with a grownup friend who had not seen the movie. And over our coffee and pumpkin bread we enjoyed every over-acted, poorly-written scene! I have a definitely love/hate/love relationship with the horrible/fabulous/horrible Twilight Saga.
I haven’t read them either, so I can’t weigh in, based on my own experience, but judging from your other comments, I wouldn’t bother. Why waste time with bad writing? I might see the movie though, just to see why Cedric Diggory has been dominating the tabloids for the past year and a half.
The second movie comes out Friday
I personally like vampire related things (thank you Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) Long before the hype started a friend recommended that I read this new vampire book called Twilight. About a year and a half later, I finally managed to read the books…and they were awesome. The vampire rules threw me a bit since they’re somewhat unconventional, but I like the twists. The character development and plots absolutely sucked me in. I fortunately was warned before seeing the movie NOT to expect the book. Which allowed me to enjoy the movie for what it was without expecting to see the book. (ask me about the Keira Knightly Pride and Prejudice movie sometime…I sat in the fetal position the whole way through) The books are still way better. Sure, it’s not the most complex set of books I’ve ever read, but that’s fine with me. I still think the writing is great and I really enjoyed the stories. I think that some of the anti-Twilight (not all, just some) is from the “non-conformists”. (I am by no means trying to make a blanket statement, but I personally know people who are “against Twilight” for the sole reason that it’s popular)
Incidentally, there are 4 books and all are out in the stores for purchase
I don’t get the Twilight thing… I assumed it was for younger girls/women but I did put it on my PBS wish list to check it out… It hasn’t come yet but the longer it sits on my wish list the more I think I shouldn’t read it. I’m not into fantasy OR vampires especially.
But i don’t know… I s’pose i should be more open minded. It just seems that with such little reading time I should read something that I really want to.
Sigh.
P.S. I agree with Johnny Depp being Sexiest Man. Especially when he has makeup on (ala Pirates). Prrrrrr
I’m with you – I haven’t read them and have no interest in reading them. It also took me 3 years to read the Potter series, which were amazing…but I tend to avoid books that get all the hype. I guess subconsciously I don’t want to be a sheep and just reading them because “everyone else is doing it.”
I am half way through the second book; all the girls who go to my Rangers (one step up from Guides) read/talk about the books/film so I thought I’d give them a shot. I read the first one in about a day and a half, mainly cos I was ill. They’re a bit like Dan Brown – definitely not good works of literature but fairly easy to read. Perhaps read them if the girls express an interest in reading them? As for the films, I can’t comment having seen neither…
PS: Have been lurky lately due to reading on iPhone and not being able to comment easily!
I’m not going to lie and say that they’re the best books ever written. In fact, I wouldn’t even go so far as to say that they’re really very well written at all. But they held my attention over last summer (NZ summer – so, last Xmas) and I enjoyed them. Looking back, I think I enjoyed them more as a time filler, and as something trashy to read. I didn’t enjoy the movie Twilight, and I’m not planning to see New Moon because if it’s as bad as Twilight, it’ll be a waste of money.
But I’d say that if you have some time to kill, and you want mild entertainment, they’re worth giving a go.
No time to read all the comments, but I think you missed the boat by forgetting to put in a “I don’t care” option in your poll.
The Twilight boat is one I have not gotten on either. And I used to read the Anne Rice books, too. Don’t know why, but I have not one iota of desire to read them so far.