Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Lorelei Armstrong wrote:

Ishta wrote:And now feel free to lambast me for saying that regardless of our personal life choices, women the world over really do have a secret daddy complex. :-)

This line bothers the grown-ups.

Okay, it bothers you: but WHY does it bother you? Write about that.

Well, you all convinced me to read the books. I figured that with so much passion centered around just one set of books, there was no way I couldn't read them. And for that, I thank you. I loved it! And I'll tell you my opinion--the Twilight Saga is such a huge success because it's real. Take away all the fantasy and what you have are two people interacting with each other and everyone around them in a real, relatable way.

I've read through all the comments and I've got a few arguments:

One, I completely disagree with the idea that Ms. Meyer committed character assassination with Edward in New Moon. Throughout all of the first book, Edward kept on saying that he wished he was strong enough to leave Bella in order to protect her. He finally did it in the second book, not because she got a paper cut, but because someone in his own family tried to kill her. And in his attempt to save her, Edward actually ended up hurting her more. Sure, he blamed himself for James, but ultimately--what with Bella's bad luck--James could have come upon her on his own while passing through Forks. If Jasper had succeeded in killing her, that would have been entirely Edward's fault. It was even his present she was opening when it happened! Edward's leaving her was entirely in keeping with his character; he thought he was protecting her.

Two, Ms. Meyer wrote a YA Romance, not adult literature. It's not fair for anyone to compare the two separate genres. There are more adverbs in her novels because they're at a lower reading level.

Three, Edward is not depicted as perfect. Twilight was written in first person in the pov of a teenage girl absolutely in love! Of course Bella would obsess over him--this is natural. However, Edward's many flaws are very apparent. He has a horrible temper, he's rather possessive, and he has very low self-esteem (and keeps making stupid decisions because of it). Bella's obsession over his looks is in keeping with her low self-esteem. She continually questions his love for her because she feels she can't possibly deserve him--he's this "mythological" being while she's just a plain old human.

And finally, Breaking Dawn did get a little freaky-deaky, but Ms. Meyer did her research. To be upset with how she describes her vampires is silly. Bram Stoker's Dracula makes no appearance in any civilization's myth, and yet we feel we have to hold all vampires after him to that standard. How ridiculous! This is why agents and publishers are getting frustrated--we're unable to think outside what a previous author created for us. The fact of the matter is, there are plenty of myths concerning vampires that are completely unaffected by the light, who can ***SPOILER*** impregnate women, and who don't have fangs. Yes, hers were sparkly, but sparkly can be scary. Just look at the angler fish (http://www.cathylaw.com/images/29_angler_fish.jpg)

I'll happily admit that I absolutely loved the series and thought they got better and better with each book.

Emily, I agree with you that it is unfair to compare YA fiction to adult fiction. I think that this comparison is a large part of why so many people don't understand what made Twilight such a success - it's written for teenagers, but we adults are trying to understand it. I think Ms Meyer really relates to her characters and her audience, and understands them ina way that allows her to write for them.

I understand what you're saying about Edward's leaving Bella in New Moon being about his protecting her, and not about the paper cut. But after Jasper, Emmet, Edward and Alice saved Bella from James - there was much more blood, and Jasper managed not to kill her then - I would have expected him to think more about the other options available to them, like the two of them going away together for a while while Jasper got himself more under control. The conversation in the woods when Edward left Bella didn't feel real to me, because it was less conversation and more Edward talking. Also, Alice would have known how his leaving would affect Bella, and although Edward knew her visions could change depending on the decisions people made, I would have expected him to listen to her more. On the other hand, Edward and Bella going away together would have been a) less interesting in terms of driving the plot along; b) not quite in keeping with the nature of their relationship, since Edward basically set the tone in terms of the progression of the relationship and of intimacy and going away together would have been Bella's idea and not his; c) difficult to pull off given what we knew about Bella's relationship with her parents, the importance of school and her ties to her friends there, etc. I am also not a fan of the whole love triangle thing in literature. But, I can understand why she did it.