Well, I have now finished the 8th chapter of Twilight and I'm still having trouble dredging on. I concluded that these chapters 1-8 could probably have been compacted into two smaller, tidy chapters. Its really all over the place. Don't get me wrong, I'm following, but it's kind of hard not to.
Now, I don't know much about Stephanie Meyer, but I'd assume that she's "well read," although I hate that expression. I got a major kick out of Bella's choice to "re-read" Jane Austen in her spare time, and her fervent desire to write her Shakespeare essay a week before the due date on "the treatment of Shakespeare's female characters being misogynistic" which boggled the minds of her classmates. She blows every other high-school student out of the water with her coolness. Her dis-enthusiasm for normal high school activities, such as going to the school dance, or shopping for clothes is possibly written to give Bella an edge, an intriguing seperation from the rest. Her nonchalance is really what intrigues the new people around her, her constant refusal of possible dates and young boys throwing themselves all over her is never repeated, even to her friends. Instead, she seperates herself from gossip, and her nonchalance takes over, stricktly using her friends as an information source on her main obsession, Edward Cullen, and an occasional ride to the local "fun- spots".
She is not impressing me as a main charachter so far, her characteristics are not heroine-worthy, although they try hard to be. The allusions to Jane Austen, although forced and seem to have little point, do, however, bring to mind her heroines. They are a tad similar to Bella. Fanny Price, in particular. They are both outsiders, yet intriguing to people around them. They are smart, into literature, and have a soft spot for the handsome man who is exceptionally out of reach. In this case, Edmund Bertram is compared to Edward Cullen, but only because their names are so similar. "But the hero of [Mansfield Park] was named Edmund, and that was just too close. Weren't there any other names available in the late eighteenth century?" Snore. Not to mention MP and S&S were both published in the early 19th century. Because of this one similarity, Bella can't bear to continue reading Mansfield Park and puts it down.
If you ask me, there are more similarities between Edmund and Edward than just their names, and giving her the benifit of the doubt, something tells me that Meyer was being coy with her simple-minded allusion. Hopefully.
More on Bella's nonchalance: Her calling her parents by their first names also puts Bella's "coolness" into play, giving her something that readers who are her age might envy. A seperation from the paternal wing, an independance that most teenagers don't experience. Her father is a real nothing, and Bella seems to share an odd spousal relationship with him, often cooking for him, waiting for him to come home, calling him "Charlie".
Since I've heard so much about these "vampires" and the mystery of the Cullens themselves in the first 8 chapters, I obviously know they are vampires. So as I'm impatiently reading about how these people might be bad guys, or good guys, I'm screaming inside "get to the point already!" The hype is certainly not helping in that aspect.
While flandering around the largely vague idea that there may be vampires in Forks, Bella's first person narration gets tedious. The constant debate with herself, the wrestling with her wonderment, the feeling guilty of her accusations, they're all quite mundane. There is only so much you can describe until it begins to seem monotonous. Her constant reflections back to Edward Cullen are present in the first 8 chapters more than he is, and since I know they end up together, the refrences don't intrigue me, they just irk me. I feel like I should have probably started in the middle of the book.
Hype about the character of Edward Cullen alone has been overwhelming, so I was eager to actually "meet" the guy, and see what this "adorable chemistry" and "great connection" was all about. Of course, this is what I've heard from squealing girls who have read it, telling me that the way he treats her is just "perfect". That's when I just had to read it. Because of that word. Perfect. Now, I've attempted to "breeze through" this novel, just as so many people have told me they did, "in one night," and yet, it still keeps falling from my hand. I have to say, it did reach nightstand status recently, but only because i had to put it down somewhere when I fell asleep reading it. Just kidding, its not that bad. I'm just criticizing the hell out of it for fun.
Edward doesn't intrigue me, even with the obvious presentation of his "flawless features" and ability to "dazzle" every girl who comes within a ten-foot radius of him. There is no subtlety with Edward. Even though he is supposed to be one giant mystery, his outwardly gorgeous features and oblivious cockyness frustrate me. He should be more mysterious. Instead, on their first date, he refuses food, forgoes his soda, and orders Bella to "Drink" and eat while he watches. All the while, Bella doesn't think this is weird at all. I don't think the "insta-connection" between them is realistic at all, let alone romantic. This guy is a weirdo if you ask me, mabye even a little creepy. I keep wondering when the hell he will stop being the cliche example of gentlemanly and start being fierce. Oddly enough, Bella is floored with his cliche attempt at being chivalrous, despite her awareness of misogyny in Shakespearean literature.
I better stop blabbing. I'll keep reading.
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