I'm not going to lie, its definately a mixed bag. I'm trying to analyze the novel as a stand alone (as opposed to comparing it to some other similiar book) but if I fail, please don't hold it against me.
1. Ms Meyer's does a decent job when she's describing her narrator's thought process. Its complete drudgery when describing what her characters are physically doing as well as when describing a setting. I also enjoyed the ambiguity about Edward's big mystery in the first 1/3 of the novel.
2. On her website, Ms Meyer describes her writing approach:
I wrote out whichever scenes I was interested in, rather than starting at the beginning and working through to the end. I wrote most of the books in scenes, and then went back later and tied the scenes together. It cut out a lot of writer's block to write whatever part I was most interested in at the time. And it makes it easy to finish. By the time you get around to writing the less exciting transitions, expositions, and descriptions, you already have so much done!
Though I think it can be useful, it becomes problematic in other ways that will be address later.
3. Because the author is so character centric, I really think it suffers by having a disjointed plot. They're like "Oh BTW, this important plot point happens & is the cause of of X, Y, Z". I use the transition into the 3rd Act as an example. The big problem in the later third of the book, never really gives us the reader that the person in question's life is in danger. Also the big connection between the menace & the Cullen family is cheaply thrown in there at the end. Had it not been mentioned, it'd have zero consequence in terms of the rest of the story. The main character's actions in the 3rd Act are so abrupt it forces you to reread parts of the novel because you're convinced you've missed something when you haven't.
Because the author's writing style has the scenes individually written & THEN linked together later, it creates a disjointed story. I really think having a better editor may help her in this respect. The same w/ how Ms Meyer's overuses the "I did this, then I did that, that I walk to the kitchen to do this, & he just sat their smiling at me" approach. There are other ways that the canvas can be illustrated while still achieveing the intended effect.
4. It was interesting in how there were shades of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice in Twilight, (you can thank my copy's discussion notes for that tipoff). I also can see glimmers of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye w/n the rebelliously, independent Bella & all the trouble she gets into.
In conclusion, I am clearly not the demographic that Ms Meyer is aiming for. However it really does say something about the enthusiasm school age children react to this novel. If it gets them to turn off the Xbox for a few hours a day & get them to read stuff they enjoy, I'm all for it.
All in all, I give Twilight a 3 out of 5 stars. If you're looking for a light, quick read, this may be up your alley. If you're looking for something w/ a little more teeth & w/ rich detail, you'll want to pass.
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In keeping w/ the theme of love & relationships, I'm showing you an oldie I shot w/ Elysie & her boyfriend.
Feel free to comment, opine, whatever any part of this, so long as its civil.
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