A post a day, keeps the writing depression away! Here begins my daily write of passage, in order to get something substantial by November. A review of the teen-lit Twilight. The craze of all sixth class kids from Singapore to Singapura (home of Sanjay Singh Sir, ‘traditional’ artist, near Yelahanka :D)

Book: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Purchased: Pirated Rs 100 from Thippasandra Market road (DESPITE being available for 70 bucks on MG road) Despite real version being available for Rs 350~. No way spending that much on low lit.

Beginning with the cover.

Oh, who hasn’t been tempted by a luscious red apple? A luscious red apple held out in offerance by a set of pale white hands. Set to a dark/mysterious background. If temptation could ever be a book cover – it would be this! Move over Satan! Lol. Aside, the twilight typeface is very nice. I love the slight curve to the letters – especially the ‘l’ and the overlay in the ‘w’. And who would have thought blue would go with red, black n white (my favourite combination ever!!)

The story

The Genesis. Paradise Lost. Jekyll & Hyde. Dracula! The power of knowledge. The eternal battle between the id and the super ego continiously rages in man (or is it only in women??) – ever since Eve fell ( yeah right!).

If Milton, RL Stevenson and Bram Stoker (!!) can do it, why can’t Stephanie Meyer? Don’t ask my why she can’t do it, but I know for a fact that she can’t! Despite beginning with a prologue from the Bible. Yes, vampires are hot (physically cold, but in human teen terms – hot!) And when a human teen with raging hormones (17 year olds, i tell u!) wants a vampire but can’t have him (vice-versa) – you don’t have a great piece of fiction – you have teen semi-porn. Thats it.

The story is weak. The setting – Forks – is boring. Very very uninteresting visual description of locations, events and people.

The Characters

The characters are very sparsely built. The 17 year old Bella’s character completely confuses me. Sometimes she acts like she’s 12 years old – sometimes 19! And the Adonis of vampires – Edward Cullen – is nothing more than hot and mysterious. No depth at all! The parental figures – Charlie and mother (whatever her name is) – are fleeting and weak. The friends – Mike, Tyler, Jess, Lauren – all prototypes of American small-town teens. No individuality. Made from a lump of clay (lol, cf. ). The Cullen family. White, cold, beautiful. Made from a lump of marble.

The Effect on Society

Haha. What a fancy sub-heading. Well, someone told me if Harry Potter changed the world of wizardry, Twilight does the same to Vampires. And I was hopeful. But, no. It’s just more crap to the never ending pile of crap. And to think there are sequels.

Sigh. We need to save the sixth graders. Whatever happened to good old Agatha Christie’s???