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Knerd
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#2676
Old 12-04-2008, 02:37 AM

Hey Guivre, welcome to our little family!

I don't have the time right now, but soon I'll add your post to the list of names on the front page. If I don't get to it within a day or two, feel free to yell at me. :lol:

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#2677
Old 12-04-2008, 04:31 AM

Finally, I have a computer again. I can update my list now. I have relented and I am reading Twilight now on the behest of my niece, so that's the book that will go on the list next. It's pretty good, but I have read so many books that are better, that haven't gotten the recognition that it annoys me a little...

Cherry Who?
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#2678
Old 12-04-2008, 05:14 PM

Shadow - Another one succumbs to the Twilightivirus.

And yeah, there are much better books out there for sure. I think it's popular partially because it's an easy read that is widely likeable, appeals to what most girls want (a guy who's a little mysterious, a little bit dangerous, but loves them madly, protects them, and would never hurt them), and presents a character that most teen girls can probably identify with at least a little.

tirethminet
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#2679
Old 12-04-2008, 07:41 PM

I'M MORE CLUMSY THAN BELLA. >:[
y'know, aside from almost getting hit by a car. that takes a special kind of stupid.
the movie makes me want to read the books again.
i found the audiobooks online so i can listen to them while i knit! =DDD

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#2680
Old 12-04-2008, 10:21 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cherry Flavored Antacid View Post
--and presents a character that most teen girls can probably identify with at least a little.

'Guess so. I'd like to think I don't have a Juliette complex, but I'm definitely a pale brunette bookworm in the classic sense. :sweat:

I very much agree with your analysis of the series' appeal. I think it qualifies as a pop culture phenomenon, really, and can be consumed (with relatively little guilt) when viewed from that angle.

Not so much of the important life themes, though. Twilight has a lot of fun one-liners, but lacks the deep, soul-searching substance which lit nerds often expect from their fantasy. That makes the series less compelling... and then there's Breaking Dawn, which for me was a great big pile of, "WTF?"

Cherry Who?
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#2681
Old 12-04-2008, 10:54 PM

Yeah, Twilight's just light fluff. It's not heavy and even when serious, it's still not that serious. It's not mind-numbingly stupid, but nor is it overwhelmingly intelligent. It's just a light generic-appeal book for girls.
Really, that's how a lot of young-adult books are. They're ridiculous, fluffy and light. They just usually don't get analyzed so heavily.
I mean, read Princess Diaries. It's fluff, too.

tirethminet
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#2682
Old 12-04-2008, 11:59 PM

i have not read eclipse or breaking dawn yet.
but, really, the series i just a little frolic through vampire-y stuff for girls that isn't very deep, but deals with the fantasy element in a realistic way.

although, your conclusion that it's for girls is hilarious. i had an 80+ lady come in looking for the spanish versions of twilight and new moon. (and none of us in the store speak spanish, but we're in texas. it's ridiculous.) i also got a preteen boy come in for breaking dawn and quite a few 30-something women looking for twilight. XD

but fluff! it's easy reading (i hate analyzing what i read) and fun~~~

Cherry Who?
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#2683
Old 12-05-2008, 01:18 AM

No, it's not hilarious that I said it's for girls. Because it is. It is directed at girls.
That doesn't mean that boys or older women cannot read it and cannot possibly like it. It just means that it does not generally appeal to them and that it generally appeals to teen girls.

You can say that a girly magazine like... I don't know, Seventeen appeals to girls. That doesn't mean that no boys or adults read it. It means that it's made for teen girls.

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#2684
Old 12-05-2008, 03:33 AM

Oooooh, yeah, The Princess Diaries was tweeny. But honestly, I didn't mind it so much-- because, at the very least, that tween heroine wore combat boots and cared about social causes. She spent the entire "diary" swooning, but her basic principles were much more aligned with mine. Plus I read it when I, too, was prepubescent. Less guilt, there.


I am glad for Twilight, though, because it delivers me hours of entertainment in teasing SparkleCrazed young women. In a friendly way, because I don't approve of ridiculing people, but I do get a kick out of teasing nevertheless. The entire phenomena is... well, it's funny. Funny works. Whatever makes people happy works for me, so long as the series does not literally eat their brains. :angel:


The books really are all good fun. Except for the One We Don't Name Anymore Ever Ever Ever. But still: fun.

Best is to converse with the people who know they're imbibing fluff. You can get a really good back and forth mock-fest going about the last novel, without any ill-will becoming involved.

tirethminet
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#2685
Old 12-05-2008, 04:03 AM

@cherry - granted, hilarious was not the best word, but my mind is shot. @[email protected]

@aislin - i have way too much fun poking fun at the books and the movie.
and all, i mean all of my friends who have read the books also make fun of it, so we had a grand time at the movie. XD
is the book we don't name anymore the magical disappear/reappear book?

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#2686
Old 12-05-2008, 04:31 AM

@Cherry: The Leenie didn't mean hilarious as in "You're wrong, other people buy it." She meant it more as "Lol 80 year old women fantasize about Edward too!" xD

I need to buy the fourth one so I can just sit down one day and read them all straight through... They need to get cheaper though. Seriously $26 whats up with that?
(I only read the first xD I can't read a book without the next one in the series on my bookshelf.)

Cherry Who?
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#2687
Old 12-05-2008, 05:01 PM

Oh, I see. That wasn't clear.

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#2688
Old 12-05-2008, 05:34 PM

Yeah Leenie doesn't Spreken ze English very well, especially at night. Sometimes her sentences are really extremely long thought processes put down into a few words, thus equaling confusion.

Anytime someone mentions New Moon, I automatically think of New Moon by Midori Snyder and then I go "Wow, I didn't know it was popular." Then I realize its not. xD

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#2689
Old 12-05-2008, 05:42 PM

yeeeahhhhh my mind doesn't communicate with other people very well.
i understand english and how to use it very well, i just... don't? XD

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#2690
Old 12-05-2008, 06:35 PM

I just started reading "Chariots of Fire." Its a good book so far. =0 I'll add it to meh list soon.

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#2691
Old 12-05-2008, 11:09 PM

Just finished A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson. It was really good, for a historical fiction with romance in the young adult section could be. I am a bit ashamed though, considering this really isn't on par with my grade level..but everyone has their guilty pleasures. xD

Cherry Who?
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#2692
Old 12-05-2008, 11:45 PM

Eva Ibbotson... That name sounds familiar. I think I read something by her when I was younger.

And I know what you mean about feeling guilty. For the most part, I read adult-oriented books. Whenever I read a young adult book, it makes me feel so odd. xD I haven't read them regularly since I was 12 or so.
But when I was 12, I was certainly old enough to comprehend it all, but seeing as most of the characters were older than I was, some of the things went a little over my head. But now the books are sort of beneath me.

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#2693
Old 12-06-2008, 12:33 AM

for some reason, i love children's books over most teen and adult books.
then again, if it's a good enough fantasy/scifi story, i get won over. :3

yay, eva ibbotson~ i love her kids books.

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#2694
Old 12-06-2008, 12:35 AM

Right, exactly. I've always been above the reading level for my age, so I read most of those young adult books and fell in love with it in 5th grade. And I haven't really gone on my reading sprees of reading a book a day for several years now, so my book taste has only matured slightly. Now I will read those recommended by friends or on the New York Times list..but those books are just so easy to read...and so innocent.

[email protected]: Haha..didn't see your post until after I posted it mine. Well, way to make me feel better. I mean..kid books. T.T It's young adult okay...xD

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#2695
Old 12-06-2008, 12:55 AM

Aha. I wiki'd Eva Ibbotson. I read The Secret of Platform 13 and Island of the Aunts. I think I also read Which Witch? but I'm not sure. If I did, I borrowed it from someone (which I think I remember doing) because the name would be more familiar if it had sat on a bookshelf for years.

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#2696
Old 12-06-2008, 02:10 AM

actually, simplixity, she did write kids books. i still have my copies of island of the aunts and which witch? :]
i was really surprised when i saw her teen books on the shelves at work.

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#2697
Old 12-06-2008, 02:55 AM

I end up reading a lot of young adult books because I teach young adults, and I get frustrated with adult books that think you HAVE to throw in a sex scene or gratuitous amounts of language and violence to get adults to read them. I've literally read a book that was really good that just inserted a completely random and inappropriately timed sex scene smack in the middle. I skipped it (all 20 pages of it) and didn't miss any of the plot.

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#2698
Old 12-06-2008, 03:13 AM

OOooh, now I know where I recognized the name from! Costco used to sell double-sided books, and my grandmother wanted me to try out Eva Ibbotson. I never did. I preferred reading Ghosts I Have Been (Richard Peck) and Lyddie by Katherine Paterson-- both of which were sold next to the Eva Ibbotsen book that my grandmother enthused over.

I guess that's not a really potent memory, is it? :sweat:


@Leenie and Dream: You guys are fantastic! You make excellent compatriots. That whole series of posts reminded me of my best friend and myself: we, too, translate each other for the people around us.

In fact, I wish she were a Mene user, because I'm not sure that last sentence made sense.

Cherry Who?
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#2699
Old 12-06-2008, 03:15 AM

Shadow - Urgh, I do hate books like that.
Few books that I've read have even had much sex in them (I'm not going to count Rockstar autobiographies), but it's always been tasteful and made sense with the plot. It was natural, not just thrown in there for the horndogs.
A good example is in Water For Elephants (an amazing book. Everyone go read it now). There was a bit of graphic detail, but there was also a curtain-over before things started to get a little too graphic. All the scenes were relevant to the plot and tasteful in that aspect. The writer didn't water things down for the sake of being PG-13, but nor did she sex everything up to be "mature." It was just another part of the book. She handled it well and [actually] maturely. No "SEX NEVER HAPPENS EVER. ESPECIALLY NOT IN THIS ENVIRONMENT OR SITUATION," but nor was she like "LOLPENISTITTIESFUCK."

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#2700
Old 12-06-2008, 04:36 AM

@shadowfoot - that's the main reason i don't read adult books. XD

@aislin - not potent, no. x3
and she totally understands what i mean. except i've been visiting for almost two weeks and have been driving her mad. >D

@cherry - i actually got a customer recommending water for elephants to me, and now with you, i might actually need to look into it, but i really am not sure about reading realistic fiction. :[

and guys, i totally got a bucketful of japanese manga today, so i'll probably be working on trying to read those right now. XDD (and most likely fail. :[ )

 


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