Posts Tagged ‘taormino’
I’m not a literary snob. I’ve read McCarthy and Charlaine Harris with almost equal enjoyment. Yeah, I said it. And after reading Twilight, I get the mass appeal. Really, I do. After all, I finished the thing and I’ve put down books that are far superior to this one (so I’m told). But a couple of things discouraged me from reading the others in the series.
-Where’s the blood. Hello. Vampires are supposed to be blood-thirsty, amoral masters of seduction. I read a vampire story and I want some edge. Some debauchery. I get that this is for teens. But COME. ON. It seems that Meyer has manipulated the story and its logistics to the point of ridiculousness. This is where the absence of tension comes in. She has to invent tension between between Bella and Edward because the fact that he’s a vampire is basically irrelevant. So he eats animals. Big deal. So do I. He’s gorgeous and INSTINCTIVELY ADORES her. Of course she digs him. Essentially, there’s no conflict. Well, until the end* of course.
-Bella is completely unlikeable. I don’t want to be her. Even if Edward is hot. A heroine that can’t even walk down the hall without requiring rescue? Ick.
-Edward is completely unlikeable. Trust me, I’ve dated guys like him (possessive, controlling, obsessive). It’s life-altering. Especially when you’re only sixteen years old. I don’t support a book that romanticizes this kind of relationship for an adolescent audience, particularly when the heroine is this passive. Kids are in enough danger these days.
-All of the smothered passion of a Victorian novel but WITHOUT the wit. P&P for example keeps us girls (and guys, I’m sure) reading because of the banter between Elizabeth and Darcy. Well, the banter between Elizabeth and everyone. Never mind that they hardly touch throughout the entire novel. None of that here. There’s no energy.
*-This high-impact, action-packed ending? Where did this come from? Out of nowhere. That’s where. Suddenly, ‘trackers’ appear. Madness ensues. It’s p
Tristan Taormino s Chemistry