It’s around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday and the sun is just breaking out through the fog here in Berkeley. One daughter is off at a soccer tournament and the other is curled up on the couch, devouring the latest installment in Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight trilogy.
This is the daughter whom I never thought of as a bookworm, who always turned to television, instant messaging, or her computer, rather than taking up a book. I could bring home stacks of books from the library, purchase the books with the largest print or glossiest covers from the store, but it was all for naught. The girl just didn’t enjoy reading.
Until she encountered Stephanie Meyer’s books.
I picked up the first book in the series, Twilight for her a few months ago while browsing at Cody’s Books. (yes, that late, much-missed Berkeley institution) I had been aware of its existence but didn’t seriously consider buying it until I saw that the New York Times had given it a good review.
I brought it home. Juliet started to read it, liked it, but then got bored and set it down.
When faced with a 10-hour flight to London, however, she picked up the book again. And couldn’t stop reading.
Forget the Tower of London. Forget Harrods. For the first two days in London all she did was read. When she finished the book, we went to the world-famous Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road to buy New Moon, the second book
She finished that one in record time, although by that point I made her start to sightsee. Thank god for the Tube, though. Juliet could read on the subway between sights.
I couldn’t find Eclipse, the third book, in England, so when a friend and her daughter came to visit, they brought a copy. Even though Juliet hadn’t seen her best friend for two weeks, she buried her head in the pages. She couldn’t tear herself away from the book.
Naturally, we were all excited by the release of Breaking Dawn. Juliet was determined to get the book as soon as it went on sale, which was 12:01 a.m. on August 2. Since I had stayed up late many times in the past to go get Harry Potter at that hour, I had no trouble with this plan.
On Friday evening, we found ourselves in A Great Good Place for Books in Montclair. Kathleen Caldwell and the younger members of her staff (dressed in black) had gone all out for the occasion. There was a huge “casket” in the back room where fans could have their picture taken. There were bowls of candy and drinks, and buttons and stickers. Around 25 young girls, ranging in age from 10 to 17, were on hand. The staff ran a trivia game. Juliet came in third. (When she went to collect her prize, she actually chose a galley of the new book by Cornelia Funke. I consider that a good sign.)
There was a small contingent from Juliet’s school and a handful of people we knew from the neighborhood. Everyone was squealing and screaming and hugging one another as the books went on sale. Juliet immediately urged me to take her home so she could start to read.
Now I know these books are schlock. A friend of mine, Mya, whose daughter Eliza also loves the books, provided me this description:
“I've read all of them to keep a beat. (No literature - total teen candy. Addictive and empty calories that are probably not healthy.) Meyers puts the reader inside the head of the main character and in the throws of compulsive, obsessive longing for the love object. The heroine, Bella is so entranced by the looks of vampire, Edward (love object #1) that she spends the first book obsessing about him and fantasizing about the scent of his breath. The reader is trapped into her one-track compulsion, slogging through chapters of her longing to see him again or sit near him in science class. It's exhausting and a little embarrassing and after awhile the reader is broken, and like a good addict - gives in and accepts her as she ignores her friends, lies to her family and does lots of stupid slf-destructive things. (you just give up on knowing why the two are obsessed with each other - they don't really talk, just pine and swoon).
Book two, the vampire leaves Bella and after being comatose for several chapters and then on the verge of suicide (without him there is no reason to live), she finally distracts herself by getting into foolish and life threatening positions -- she hears Edward's voice whenever she experiences near-death. Bella pulls herself into the land of the living by befriending a native american boy, Jake who agrees to help her fix a motorcycle so she can ride fast without a helmet. He falls in love with her (enter healthy relationship #2) and vows to protect her. Then Jake turns into a ware-wolf along with a bunch of other tribe members. The arc - Bella jumps off a cliff and Vampire decides to kill himself - Bella tries to sacrifice herself to save Edward.
Book three - Everyone is back home safe and healthy. Edward is handsome, icy cold, chivalrous, refined and hairless. He cannot risk too much physical contact so there's lots of near-sex. On the other hand, the ware-wolf's resting temperature is 105. He's grown huge, strong and hairy and is fully developed into a man. Both love Bella. Edward wants to marry her. Bella agrees only under the condition that they have sex first. She begs him to make her a vampire. Lots of lying to Mom and Dad and prolonged flirtations with foreplay. Bella's life is threatened by a new enemy so the vampire and ware-wolf find a distant respect in their love for the same girl. One cold night the ware-wolf keeps her alive by laying with her semi-naked in a sleeping bag. End of book she gets confused; carnality might be worth more than immortality.
Welcome to book 4.”
Clearly, the literary value of the series is dubious. But I am not complaining. I just get a smile on my face when I think of my 13-year old curled up on the couch, her nose in a book.
