Twilight

So, at the recommendation of cousin Marie Orton, who is in my ward, I read the first vampire book by Stephenie Meyer. Actually, Sam made me do it. He sent the book to me via e-mail, and he knows that once I start a book, it's difficult to put down. This one was no different.

It's set in Forks, Washingon, which is an actual town near where I spent nine years of my boring life. The main character, Bella, has brown eyes and brown hair and is pretty much a boring person like me. She's in high school. She meets up with a remarkably talented, handsome, and mysterious guy who happens to be a vampire, and they are drawn to each other by more than the average chemistry. Edward reminds me in many ways of Sam. For these reasons alone, it was difficult to stop myself from reading the book from cover to cover in a day's time.

The second, third, and fourth books were brought over to me by Marie on Thursday, a week ago. I figured that I would eventually get to them, but I started the next book on Friday...well, I finished them all by Monday night late. The second book references "Romeo and Juliet" and is loosely based on that play. The third book references "Wuthering Heights" and is loosely based on that book. (I hated that book, but this novel made some interesting references that helped me to better understand the point of the original story.)

Those three would be complete, in my opinion. I started reading the fourth book and immediately regretted it. When Bella was just about to drink some blood, I put the book down and told Sam I was done. He told me to just keep reading and see if it got better. The book was just a weird, unnecessary addition. Maybe some of the romance novel innuendos and graphic violence could have been cut out and I'd have liked it much better.

Anyway, now I see that they're making a movie of the books. It sort of made me sad to see the cast and how different they are from who I imagined. Aside from "Harry Potter," this is the first time I've read the book and then seen the movie. I can see that I'll be disappointed in the Hollywood version of the books, but isn't that the point of Hollywood? Moneymoneymoney. Regardless of the good original, things must be changed in order to appease a larger audience. It sickens me. I would much rather see BBC's "Pride and Prejudice" than the trite new Hollywood version, even though it lasts much longer. I want to see a full story with realistic characters. That makes for a movie I want to watch again and again. That's what I love about reading. It gives me a fuller view of the thoughts and motivations of each character and lets me take my time mulling it over as to what it means.

As for the Twilight series, it's an interesting concept, but I'm not sure I'll ever read it again. Bella is so stinkin' selfish, and she doesn't deserve what Edward has to offer her. Very romantic and everything, but I'm surprised to hear myself say that what I've got is much more romantic!