Mom will appreciate this

Well, maybe she will appreciate it. I don't know. I haven't read Twilight but I thought they were interesting. Two blog posts on Twilight (by the same person):

Why I Think Twilight Sucks, and Other Important Thoughts

A sampling:

"You guys... I SO didn't get it. I thought it was very meh, starting with the main character, Bella (otherwise known as the Queen of Meh).

"(Ooooh, do you hear that sound? It's me, getting delisted from 50 Twilight loving blogs at once. But I CANNOT BE SILENCED.)

"Ugh. She was so boring and stilted and dead inside. I kind of wanted to slap her. My theory is that Bella actually has Aspergers Syndrome and also a really bad inner ear infection that destroyed her sense of balance."

And then a damage-control post, after apparently she offended a few too many people:


What My Opinion of Twilight Does Not Mean

A sampling:

-That I think you are stupid
-That I think your daughter is stupid
-That I think you have bad taste in books
-That I think my opinion should matter to you
-That my heart is made of stone
-That I am cold and dead inside
-That Edward should suck my blood so that I can understand the depths of his beautiful soul

etc.

Thought you might enjoy the perspective of other people who were less than impressed by Stephenie Meyer's writing skills.

The Twilight Phenomenon

There's a write up in the Calendar section of the LA Times today on the filming of the movie version of the best-selling young adult novel Twilight.

I'm conflicted about this - it's great to see a BYU English major grad achieve fame and fortune.

But it is so badly written, it's embarrassing!

Maybe I'm a snob, or maybe I've finally outgrown teen novels.

But The Historian, another novel about vampires, is so much better - and so much better written.

I haven't read any interviews with the author - maybe she, like many of us, said, "I can write a cheesy best selling novel!"

And then did!

(Maybe it's sour grapes!)

It mostly discourages me to see how quickly the reading public embraces bad writing. Okay, it's popular and has a good - but very predictable - story line. But people gush on and on about what a "great" book it is.

Maybe we need a new designation or some new adjectives for bad writing that resonates with the public.

Any ideas??

What is good literature?

And how is it different from a good story?

I finished Wish You Well. I said it was cheesy - it was. It had a somewhat compelling story though. And I wanted to find out how it ended.

But it really wasn't well-written. I've read better stuff in Good Housekeeping - and not even their giant fiction issue. And the "willing suspension of disbelief" had to work overtime to make it work.

(Dad is killed in a car accident. Mom is in a coma - but she can eat and drink and doesn't seem to get bed sores. And Mom and kids go to Virginia to live in the Appalachian mountains with Great Grandma. And the evil gas company illicitly mines for natural gas on Granny's property. And "Diamond Skinner - a plucky young lad who lives on his own and is always there to rescue Lou and her little brother Oz - is blown up when he runs into the mine - not knowing about the illicit activities of Southern Virginia Gas and Power. And the evil neighbor - who put the gas company onto the mine on Granny's property - burns down their barn - in the dead of winter. And then Granny has a stroke - and the gas company goes to court to get her declared mentally incompetent so they can get her land - that she earlier refused to sell to them - and the evil neighbor is on the jury - and the jury finds in favor of Southern Virginia - and you guessed it - Mom rises up from her bed of affliction and walks into the courtroom.)

I'm telling you the plot because you don't need to bother to read it.

I don't think that's what Eliot had in mind when he explained the concept of "willing suspension."

At least it was easy to skim.

I want to read Home - is it as good as the Times review said it was?

The pile - on my nightstand - is actually shrinking!!

So I finished Atonement - and really loved it!! What a compelling - and well told story! I tried to skim but couldn't - the eloquent language and the turns of phrases were riveting:

"Cambridge had changed her fundamentally and she thought she was immune. No one in her family, however, noticed the transformation in her, and she was not able to resist the power of their habitual expectations." This is pretty profound - and to realize that it's a universal thought!! (Here I thought I was the only one who got sucked back into being my old self when I went back home each summer!)

And this one:

"Above all, she wanted to look as though she had not given the matter a moment's thought, and that would take time." Do we all identify with this thought??

And:

"...and he made himself think about time, about his great hoard, the luxury of an unspent fortune." Ah, youth!!

And finally:

"It was a chilly sensation, growing up." That's certainly one way of looking at it!

But I'm a little unclear on the end - I admit I was a bit groggy when I finally finished it - stayed up late to do so - and did Robbie and Cecilia both die? I couldn't quite follow her internal conversations about the various "drafts."

Someone fill me in!

I'm reading a David Baldacci novel called Wish You Well. It's a little "cheesy" but a good friend recommended it - and I want to at least have the story line down when she asks me about it.

I skimmed it but need more details to flesh it out.

So, what is everyone else reading??

What I'm Reading Now:

I came home early from school on Wednesday and our cleaning lady was here, so I had to find a little corner to stay out of the way in - and started reading Choirboys by Joseph Wambaugh. It was terrible - I lasted for about 5 chapters and tossed it!

The same woman who had brought me that had brought me Pavilion of Women by Pearl Buck. So I started that - and I have had a hard time putting it down.

I've read about Pearl Buck before, but it's been since high school - I read a number of her books then. I may even have read Pavilion before - but I am really enjoying it.

Any of the rest of you - have you read her - what is your take? She definitely has an agenda. An intriguing one at that!

new book

My book group is reading Lady's Maid by Margaret Forster. It's about the personal maid to Elizabeth Barrett - before she was Elizabeth Barrett Browning - I think she ends up going away to Italy with Robert Browning in the book. So far it's pretty good.

More books

I feel like I've been reading a lot lately. I kind of go through phases of book book book book book, then nothing but blogs and the newspaper for awhile (with the exception of a large book or two that takes me forever to get through--like the David O. McKay bio). What about you guys?

I just can't seem to get into Goodreads, though. I feel like between blogs and Facebook it's too much for me...

Anyway I just finished Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; only took a day, not surprisingly. I read it in college but must have really skimmed it because I remembered nothing. He (Achebe) is coming to DC in a couple of weeks for a Q&A; I am trying to decide whether to get tickets to hear him speak. If anyone ever wants to discuss it I am up for it. I wonder if his other books are as good (and as short)?

Now I am halfway through The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. If you've read it, don't tell me what happens! I started it yesterday evening and literally stayed up until all hours with a flashlight under my covers. I don't know what it is about reading after Matt wants to sleep--it's too lonely to go into the living room and turn on a light. I much prefer staying in bed with a flashlight. It's cozier. Plus I feel like I'm more likely to fall asleep that way. (Usually when I stay up so late reading I'm having a mild case of insomnia.)