Twilight

[Caligirl2191]

ok everyone knows that the twilight series is the big craze now, and I just recently decided to cave and read them because I liked the movie. Well I'm on the third one now and I've come to the conclusion that they're really not very good (in my opinion).

Aside from that though, I have an animal issue with them. don't know if this has been discussed before but I feel like throughout the series there's an undertone of human superiority, and kind of a disregard for the value of animal life.

ok the main vampires in the book are considered completely pure and good because they don't take human life to sustain themselves. They do, however, kill innocent animals to live, and not once does a single character in the book express any modicum of remorse or sympathy for them. Bella is completely fine with the prospect of becoming a vampire and having to kill big, magnificent animals to live.

I get that hunting is acceptable, and so the book is politically correct, but it bothers me. In my opinion it would be more virtuous to kill criminals on death row, or rapists or child molesters than wild animals.

I know my opinion is in the minority, and this is just a fictional series, but I think it's a shame that such an incredibly popular title has to have such demeaning connotations toward animals.

sorry this turned out so long, but if you did get this far--thoughts?

[Jess4921]

I love the movie and the books... bad writing, not-so-good acting, terrible special effects and all LOL! :P

I dont like the way the book talks about the animals very much either... If I where a vampire, I think Id eat the people instead. Its worse in the 4th book though- They kill a cougar and all sorts of deer in more detail, it made me wanna cry :(
But I guess Bella already kills innocent animals to eat as a human, so it wouldnt really matter to her as a vampire.

[Envy]

If I had to nourish myself on blood, then I would probably prefer to eat other animals than humans.

[Lain]

ok everyone knows that the twilight series is the big craze now, and I just recently decided to cave and read them because I liked the movie. Well I'm on the third one now and I've come to the conclusion that they're really not very good (in my opinion).

Aside from that though, I have an animal issue with them. don't know if this has been discussed before but I feel like throughout the series there's an undertone of human superiority, and kind of a disregard for the value of animal life.

ok the main vampires in the book are considered completely pure and good because they don't take human life to sustain themselves. They do, however, kill innocent animals to live, and not once does a single character in the book express any modicum of remorse or sympathy for them. Bella is completely fine with the prospect of becoming a vampire and having to kill big, magnificent animals to live.

I get that hunting is acceptable, and so the book is politically correct, but it bothers me. In my opinion it would be more virtuous to kill criminals on death row, or rapists or child molesters than wild animals.

I know my opinion is in the minority, and this is just a fictional series, but I think it's a shame that such an incredibly popular title has to have such demeaning connotations toward animals.

sorry this turned out so long, but if you did get this far--thoughts?


I can think of a million and one more things wrong with Twilight, but I just wanted to say something.

Write that idea down. A vigilante vampire, consumed by guilt for the fact that he has to kill to live. Disgusted by the idea of killing innocent people or animals, he decides to live off of those who have in his mind at least, sinned. He risks discovery and death just to get to these people. Some story lines we can be sympathetic with him, a rapist or serial killer, in others we feel uncomfortable with what he has done, a company executive who commits fraud, an killer who murdered in self defense, until in the end we're not sure if our protagonist is good or bad, and he is mad in his moral conviction, believing he is the only one alive fit to deal out judgement, life and death.

And if you have a high school education, you're guaranteed to be able to write as good as Meyer :rockon:

[animeidee]

Some story lines we can be sympathetic with him, a rapist or serial killer, in others we feel uncomfortable with what he has done, a company executive who commits fraud, an killer who murdered in self defense, until in the end we're not sure if our protagonist is good or bad, and he is mad in his moral conviction, believing he is the only one alive fit to deal out judgement, life and death.

Lain: I totally recommend you look into Death Note (yeah, it's an anime). VERY similar to what you are saying. Very good. The live action movies are good too.

Back on the topic: I agree, the writing is bad, the acting is painful, and the tree jumping... we won't go there. That being said, I love it. =D (However, I'm a Jacob fan. :D ) If you take any of the lines out of context, you are like , "that is embarrassingly corny", but in the moment it's amazingly romantic. Hey, i wouldn't mind having a creepy stalker watching me sleep if it was Edward... lol.

[Shamandura]

ok everyone knows that the twilight series is the big craze now, and I just recently decided to cave and read them because I liked the movie. Well I'm on the third one now and I've come to the conclusion that they're really not very good (in my opinion).


haha, it took you until book three to discover that?


As a vampire crazy fiend, I gave reading Twilight a try...I read about 2/3 of the first one and realized that I was forcing myself at "trying" to read it and decided this was something I didnt have to do. I was able to see past that the book was for a younger crowd; as one of my favorite vampire series growing up was The Last Vampire: by Christopher Pike. The story seemed to drag on....you spend nearly entire chapters just reading Bellas thoughts about Edward..it gets very annoying! Too many "thoughts" and not enough story... If this is Stephenie Meyers writing style..count me out!

[Nikkirodriguez]

The Twilight movie was okay, Which they should
have gotten more experienced actors.
I loved the ending. :)
"I will make it go away bella"
emmmm.

[Lain]

Lain: I totally recommend you look into Death Note (yeah, it's an anime). VERY similar to what you are saying. Very good. The live action movies are good too.


I saw some of Death Note, it did have a good premise but I wish they were more sublte with Light becoming evil, in the first episode right away you lose any sympathy for the guy and you're a L fangirl for the rest of it. And a lot of episodes just come down to L and Light having pissing contests that end in L being awesome and Light laughing maniacally because he's evil like that. Intellectual, thought provoking pissing contests :D All in all it was good, but had so much potential to be so much better, and just didn't keep me hooked.

I actually had Hell Girl in mind, ever see those episodes where someone sends someone else to hell, and you understand why they did that but you also feel uncomfortable with what happened, you know it wasn't worth it? The one where that woman poisoned the girl's dogs was brutal, for instance, and the girl still sold her soul even though the woman got caught and was going to go to jail. I liked that series for that reason, and I wish I got that feeling from Death Note more.

But I digress.



As a vampire crazy fiend, I gave reading Twilight a try...I read about 2/3 of the first one and realized that I was forcing myself at "trying" to read it and decided this was something I didnt have to do. I was able to see past that the book was for a younger crowd; as one of my favorite vampire series growing up was The Last Vampire: by Christopher Pike. The story seemed to drag on....you spend nearly entire chapters just reading Bellas thoughts about Edward..it gets very annoying! Too many "thoughts" and not enough story... If this is Stephenie Meyers writing style..count me out!

You seem like a good person to ask, are you able to recommend good vampire novels? And not say Meyer or Anne Rice :D

[veggiemeggie]

The Twilight series is questionable in a myriad of ways... but I found the sexism to be the most troubling aspect of those books...

[rosiem]

Amelia Atwater Rhodes' first book is good. I think it's called In the Forests of the Night, or something like that.

[Shamandura]

You seem like a good person to ask, are you able to recommend good vampire novels? And not say Meyer or Anne Rice :D

Here's a good series to check out. It's like a prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, which you should read if you havent.http://www.amazon.com/Covenant-Vampire-Diaries-Family-Dracul/dp/0440215439/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
There's quite a few single books I like, not in a series, but this was a really good series that first pops to mind.
I cant remember the exact name of the other book I want to recommend, but I do remember Twilight was in the title, not meyers though. I'll have to go find the box I have some of my vampire books packed in so I can verify the title. I still recommend Christopher Pikes Last Vampire series though, even if my opinion is mostly bias, because it was the first vampire series I ever read in my youth.

[Lain]

Here's a good series to check out. It's like a prequel to Bram Stoker's Dracula, which you should read if you havent.http://www.amazon.com/Covenant-Vampire-Diaries-Family-Dracul/dp/0440215439/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
There's quite a few single books I like, not in a series, but this was a really good series that first pops to mind.
I cant remember the exact name of the other book I want to recommend, but I do remember Twilight was in the title, not meyers though. I'll have to go find the box I have some of my vampire books packed in so I can verify the title. I still recommend Christopher Pikes Last Vampire series though, even if my opinion is mostly bias, because it was the first vampire series I ever read in my youth.

Dracula is the only adult vampire novel that I can think of that I really enjoyed, but I'm a little wary of touching anything with Dracula in the name, just because I don't think that it can be replicated as well, and a lot of people can't resist throwing a lot of sex scenes or worse, defanging the vampire and making Dracula a misunderstood soul instead of the cold hearted frightening man that he was originally.

I have heard good things about Pike, however, so I'll check out reviews ^_^ someone recently suggested books by Kelly Armstrong, know if they're any good?

[Shamandura]

I have heard good things about Pike, however, so I'll check out reviews ^_^ someone recently suggested books by Kelly Armstrong, know if they're any good?

I haven't seen her books, name sounds familar though, is she a Young Adult author? Besides Meyer and Pike, I havent read very many YA books in a long time. I checked out her website and it's apparent she writes more than just vampire books too. She's got a mix between witches, vampires and urban fantasy, sounds awesome! I think I will have to check her out too!

[Lain]

I don't think she's YA, they put her books in the Fiction section at the books stores ^_^ Also my friend says they have a lot of funny moments, some books are very tongue in cheek, and its a little too risque to ever be considered YA.

I'll probably borrow one from him and let you know how it goes ^_^