Twilight by Stephanie Myers
Published 2005, Film released 2008
Read February 2009
I was loaned this book by a colleague who had read it and said it was a really good read. Before that, though, I had seen the book around work, with many of the students reading it and others in the series (there have been four books released to date). I normally read a "difficult" book and an "easy" book at the same time, and this was my easy one alongside Palace Walk by Naguib Mafouz.
Twilight is a classic teenage novel about a girl who is new to a small-town school and feels out of place and alone. She soon meets Edward, who is a mystery to her, and most of the school, but somehow they are drawn to each other.
I guess it is a spoiler, but I can't write much more without saying that it soon turns out that Edward, and his family, are vampires. The book treats this revelation rather predictably; Bella happens to touch his hand and it is ice cold, he is really pale, he is really strong and really fast etc, and so Bella goes on the Internet and finds out about The Cold Ones! She then buys and book and all of the clues add up - surprise! This part of the story does follow a really predictable formula and does feel Buffy-esque. As Bella and Edward get to know each other, Edward tells her all about his strengths, weaknesses, how vampires are made etc, so their conversations become a plot device for introducing the reader to Myers own brand of vampire mythology.
Going back to the story, the book is well written enough to establish that Bella is a clumsy, outsider in this small-town and feels like a typical teenage girl thrown into the lion pit that is an unfamiliar high school. The book starts well painting the distance between Edward and Bella as being insurmountable for an actual romance to occur. But, as this is a teenage novel, and not real life, they manage to fall for each other and open up without much of a to-do. The story does a better job though at portraying the difficulty Bella actually has with being accepted by Edward's family all of whom are vampires who portray themselves as a set of foster parents and five foster siblings). Rosalie and Jasper's feelings towards Bella cover what otherwise is dealt with too quickly, the issue of inviting a human into a vampire coven.
This book is a page-turner and you can easily get into the story. It would definitely be an enjoyable read for teenagers, and it is fun for adults, but unlike other books such as the Northern Lights trilogy, there isn't "another level" for adults to read the book at. I found many aspects of the book predictable and unoriginal (probably because of my love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but as you can see this didn't stop me reading it, and it won't stop me reading the next book in the series. Mainly because I am intrigued as to how Myers is going to deal with the issue Bella raises in the closing chapters; that she would like to become a vampire. I think that Bella feels a need to become like Edward because of her vulnerability as a human, more than not wanting to grow old without him. My reading of the character may be wrong, but this basis doesn't endear her as a character for me. Hints are made that she may become a vampire, but with four books to go, I can't imagine it happens any time soon. I have also heard that one of the later books deals with the story of Twilight from Edward's perspective and if this is done well, should be a very interesting read.
A few weeks after finishing the book we flew to Oman and the film, Twilight, was available on the plane. I did watch Slumdog Millionaire first - as although I was interested in the film I felt it was more important to have seen Slumdog than Twilight (!) but on the way home I managed to catch it.
I found the film to be equally watchable, but not challenging. Most of the characters appeared as had imagined in the book, but there were a few differences for me. I found that the film better conveyed the idea of vampires attracted to the scent of Bella. There was a recurring image of a fan or wind that gave away her irresistible scent. The portrayal of Edward's siblings was well done despite much dialogue or screen time. However I didn't feel that the film adequately covered the ostracism that Bella felt when she arrives at the start of the book. She covered her face a bit with her hair in a few scenes, trying to hide, and then about twn minutes later, it felt, she was in his arms. Like the book, the film was watchable, enjoyable (for what it was), but never challenging.