Laura Whitcomb’s “A Certain Slant of Light”

I was having a slow day at work, and when I was sorting out reservations for books, I found A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb.  It was reserved by a work collegue, and since she generally has good taste in everything, I read the blurb, was intensely intrigued and left a post-it on the book saying ‘Let me know what this book is like once you have finished’.  That she did, telling me that she blubbed like a baby at the end of the story.

Encouraged, I took the book up myself.  The first quarter of the book is the strongest, with the protagonist’s love interest echoing the same air of mystery and puzzlement as the hero of the Twilight series.  It all starts in a classroom in high school; the boy gives her particular attention that she does not understand, and she is uncontrollably drawn to him.  She abandons the only existence as a ghost and drastically changes into a living form to be with her new infatuation.

So far.  So Twilight.  But where as Twilight goes on to become a ridiculous fan-fictitious farce, this novel remains more grounded and though it never verges on the ridiculous, it does seem to lose track and the impulse to keep turning pages slackens towards the end. 

Stephen King: Hates Stephenie Meyer, Loves J.K. Rowling

After reading this article of Stephen King praising J.K. Rowling and slagging off Stephenie Meyer, I have to say, I became rather more positive about the state of the world.

To make sure I would stay happy forever, I was cheered by this article that had a poll between Harry Potter and Twilight, and Harry has over three quarters of the vote.  I have to admit that I was worried that people would forget just how great Harry Potter was now that it is all finished and dusted, and with the Twilight series still very much in the lime light.  But I needn’t have worried.  Not to mention that the quarter of people that voted for Twilight are probaby fourteen year old fangirls.

The human race.  I have faith in you yet.

Bad Sunday: Queen Eliza & Twilight

It’s that time of week.  Bad Sunday.  Where I write of bad things I have come across during the week.  Are you wondering where last weeks Bad Sunday got to?  Tough luck, because this tradition starts today.  I don’t want you to think that I’m a bad, negative person so I will start Good Fridays too (you see what I did there?)

BAD PEOPLE

Twilight Fangirls
You simple, rabid little girls.  Twilight is bad Literature.  Indeed, enjoy it all you want, even I did a little, but accept that it’s bad writing, please.  No.  Nobody cares that the film had Edward and Bella have the conversation about vampires in the forest instead of the car.  We don’t give a fuck.  We are rational human beings.  Someday, somehow, you too, will be rational.  We hope for you.  We really do.

Shockingly Terrible Books

Needless to say, I read a lot, and I have a few rules to reading.  One is to always finish a book you have started.  If it is bad, at least give yourself knowledge of the whole thing to write a better negative review of it.  People deserve to know the truth; I’ll take on the pain, so others do not have to!  Another rule is to read every hyped up book.  Why?  If it is popular, I consider that there must be a reason.  And I’m nosey.  I must investigate.  A more infrequent rule is to pick up a book simply on the strength of its cover every now and again.  Armed with these rules, you just know that the only natural course, is the course to some very bad books.   I list some of my worst experiences here.

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (2006-2008)

If you read my book reviews, you’ll know that I reviewed the first book of this series, Twilight, and that I gave it quite a fair review.  It’s enjoyable, I said, but very poor writing with a structure that resembles what China would be like if it were an anarchist establishment.  I smiled at it, gave Meyer a patronising pat on the head, and let the bad literature go.  I just let it go.  As I got further and further into the series, however, my good nature was pushed to its limits and I lost my patience with possibly the worst writer to ever be published.  I thought that, perhaps, she has the mental age of a twelve year old and was called “the fat kid” one too many times during gym class.  There are so many things wrong with this series that I don’t even know how to start.  If you can imagine every bad thing a writer can do to their novel you will pretty much have summed up Stephenie Meyer.  I’m just going to take a deep breath, and list things until I get bored:

Current and Near Future Endeavors

Here is a list with what I am currently engaged with, so expect a review soon, and what I am expecting to read, watch or listen to in the future.  In order.

BOOKS

Currently reading:

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Future reads:

• Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
• The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
• The Life and Death on Anne Boleyn by E. W. Ives

MUSIC

Awaiting reviews:

• A Winter Symphony by Sarah Brightman
• Spirit by Leona Lewis
• Funhouse by P!nk

Future listens:

• Bittersweet Symphony by Jade Valerie
• V for Vendetta Film Score by Dario Marianelli
• Tenor at the Movies by Jonathan Ansell

FILMS

Awaiting reviews:

• Twilight (2008)
• Howl’s Moving Castle (2005)

Future viewing:

• The Edge of Love (2008)
• The Duchess (2008)

I will try to get all of these done, so if you are interested in any, keep an eye out.  If anyone spots anything in my future endeavors that should be avoided at all costs, make sure to warn me!

Anticipating the Twilight Movie: Twilight Trailers

Fan girls worldwide are getting geared up for the movie adaptation of Stephenie Meyer‘s best selling novel Twilight.  It is the first novel of four of The Twilight Saga and has a fan following of a similar nature to J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter series.  With midnight release parties, an author shot into celebrity status, 50 million books sold, and a huge online following, Twilight looks set to become an instant success.

The difference between Twilight‘s success and Harry Potter‘s is that whilst Twilight has a very dedicated following, it contains only teenage girls and young women.  For that reason, the film and the books, will probably never be as big as the inclusive and generally appealing Harry Potter series.  However, a following of young girls and women is probably the best type of the following when trying to hold the public’s attention for a period of time, and teenage girls and their obsessive nature (much in the same way for boy bands and baby faced actors) are sure to be giving their undivided attention when their Edward Cullen graces the big screen.  However, just how long can Twilight last as a movie franchise?  Could it ever be as successful as Harry Potter?  Probably not, and I’ll discuss why.

Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight”

I consider it my personal duty to read a hyped up book. I must do it. I must have my own opinion, no matter how decided the public are, no matter how slated it is by elitists. I usually side with elitists when it comes to books. Generally speaking, I much prefer to sit down with classics than to pick out anything from today’s literary world. Maybe it was drilled into me by reading classic after classic for my degree.  Who knows?

Despite this, I have a weakness for hyped up books. Why? Blame it on Harry Potter. When I was sixteen (ooooh, seven years ago) I was mocking Harry Potter along with everyone else. Until I read it, that is. And here is my weakness. The reason why I picked up Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Like anything that is hyped up, people want to swoop in and belittle it, because it is popular. Harry Potter is popular, and to this very day I still come across the odd person that wants to insult it, criticise it and put it down. The pattern that emerges when this happens, however, is that the person in question has not picked up the damn books. I think to myself that they simply would not be saying these things if they actually made the effort to read them; they would, more than likely, become engrossed, like almost everybody else has in the world.