Summer Reading
Jun. 26th, 2008 09:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sharelleBetween the airplane ride to and from Phoenix and my friend sleeping in a little more than she usually does (she's pregnant, after all), I managed to finish not one, but two books during the course of my trip.
Small Favor -- Well, my friends, you called it right: this was a good one! I had a hard time staying focused on it at first since, as I mentioned before, there was just a veritable parade of characters from previous books making appearances - some of whom we haven't seen for so long I'd forgotten what their significance was. (And since I didn't have the other novels on hand, it was tough to remember everything I was probably supposed to.) By the end, however, details seemed to fall into place and I enjoyed it very much.
I was very surprised by what happened to Michael - but even more that he managed to live through it. I was also surprised that Murphy didn't accept the sword - from the moment Harry received it I was certain he'd be giving it to her. Guess that just proves Butcher's skill for surprises.
Very good story overall! (And while I would probably benefit from the refresher of reading the previous books again - especially if Butcher is going to continue to reference himself so much in future installments - there are just too many other novels that I want to get around to reading. So I'll probably take my chances for the time being.) *G*
Twilight -- I grew curious about this book, not because of the upcoming movie (which, to be honest, did not capture my interest with its first trailer - even if it *does* feature Cedric Diggory), but because I constantly saw my students reading it, as well as its sequels. After reading it myself, I'd have to say I liked it . . . but not. (Not an academic assessment, I know, but it pretty much sums up how I felt about the book.)
The story had the potential to be intriguing – forbidden love and, of course, vampires – and I enjoyed the book a great deal in the beginning, but I think some of my interest got lost in the angst-fest that seemed to saturate most of the novel. The emotions generated were so repetitive that, by the time Edward saved Bella from the potential rapists in Port Angeles, I was ready for the book to get where it was going already -- and still the real action didn't begin for another 200+ pages. (Seriously. While the set-up was interesting, and admittedly necessary, I'm not sure *how* necessary it was to continue for almost 400 pages before getting to the meat of the plot.) The majority of the book was spent in a constant state of emo angst and a ping-pong game of "I love you, but get away, I love you, but get away" . . . Rinse. Repeat. Regurgitate.
Bella, herself, was set up like the anti-Mary-Sue -- as though, in an effort to keep her from being too perfect, the author piled as many imperfections on her as possible. In my mind, it didn't seem to work as Meyer had probably intended. Can a person really be *that* clumsy and overly-sensitive and accident prone? It got eyeroll-worthy after a *very* short amount of time, and started earning some major groans a short time after that. (I remember, way back when I was writing Advent, my beta made a comment about how many times I had Presto fall down or bump into someone. She said that, although it served certain purposes to further the story, it seemed too much - as he wasn't really like that on the show. (If anyone was a klutz, it was actually Eric.) I agreed and revamped a lot of the action to compensate. It was this advice that sprang to mind almost the entire time I was reading Twilight, and each time Bella "pulled a Presto" I just wanted to bury my face in my hands.) I realize she was probably supposed to be the yin to Edward's yang (his other half, a soul mate, a perfectly compatible match), but the excess to which she fell down, fainted, stumbled, swooned, bruised something, got dizzy, broke something, or simply talked about doing any of the above (ad nauseam) was just way too much. Plus it highlighted Edward's glowing perfections as a result and, while I'm sure that was Meyer's intention, it didn't happen for me the way she probably wanted: It just made me irritated with both of them.
Honestly, I think Bella may have been better suited to be paired up with Samuel L. Jackson's character from Unbreakable.
"They called me Mr. Glass."
The fact that, regardless of her glaring imperfections, everyone still automatically loves Bella at first sight – even when she's not particularly nice to them – just solidifies that blatant Mary-Sue persona that most writers try to avoid. I also found her to be a rather unreliable narrator since she seemed to spend the entire book in a state of thrall. (Or was that Meyer, herself?)
Overall, although it started out promising, I found it to be a little too self-indulgent and angsty for my taste. If there was a little more action to the plot, and a little less mooning around in emo-land, I might have enjoyed it more. I can appreciate it for the YA story that it is, and I can certainly see why my students like it, but when all is said and done the series just doesn't seem to be for me.
I'll gladly welcome any other opinions of course, especially if the other books in the series get better. As I actually enjoyed the beginning of this one up to a point, I'd be willing to recognize some redeeming qualities further down the road.
Small Favor -- Well, my friends, you called it right: this was a good one! I had a hard time staying focused on it at first since, as I mentioned before, there was just a veritable parade of characters from previous books making appearances - some of whom we haven't seen for so long I'd forgotten what their significance was. (And since I didn't have the other novels on hand, it was tough to remember everything I was probably supposed to.) By the end, however, details seemed to fall into place and I enjoyed it very much.
I was very surprised by what happened to Michael - but even more that he managed to live through it. I was also surprised that Murphy didn't accept the sword - from the moment Harry received it I was certain he'd be giving it to her. Guess that just proves Butcher's skill for surprises.
Very good story overall! (And while I would probably benefit from the refresher of reading the previous books again - especially if Butcher is going to continue to reference himself so much in future installments - there are just too many other novels that I want to get around to reading. So I'll probably take my chances for the time being.) *G*
Twilight -- I grew curious about this book, not because of the upcoming movie (which, to be honest, did not capture my interest with its first trailer - even if it *does* feature Cedric Diggory), but because I constantly saw my students reading it, as well as its sequels. After reading it myself, I'd have to say I liked it . . . but not. (Not an academic assessment, I know, but it pretty much sums up how I felt about the book.)
The story had the potential to be intriguing – forbidden love and, of course, vampires – and I enjoyed the book a great deal in the beginning, but I think some of my interest got lost in the angst-fest that seemed to saturate most of the novel. The emotions generated were so repetitive that, by the time Edward saved Bella from the potential rapists in Port Angeles, I was ready for the book to get where it was going already -- and still the real action didn't begin for another 200+ pages. (Seriously. While the set-up was interesting, and admittedly necessary, I'm not sure *how* necessary it was to continue for almost 400 pages before getting to the meat of the plot.) The majority of the book was spent in a constant state of emo angst and a ping-pong game of "I love you, but get away, I love you, but get away" . . . Rinse. Repeat. Regurgitate.
Bella, herself, was set up like the anti-Mary-Sue -- as though, in an effort to keep her from being too perfect, the author piled as many imperfections on her as possible. In my mind, it didn't seem to work as Meyer had probably intended. Can a person really be *that* clumsy and overly-sensitive and accident prone? It got eyeroll-worthy after a *very* short amount of time, and started earning some major groans a short time after that. (I remember, way back when I was writing Advent, my beta made a comment about how many times I had Presto fall down or bump into someone. She said that, although it served certain purposes to further the story, it seemed too much - as he wasn't really like that on the show. (If anyone was a klutz, it was actually Eric.) I agreed and revamped a lot of the action to compensate. It was this advice that sprang to mind almost the entire time I was reading Twilight, and each time Bella "pulled a Presto" I just wanted to bury my face in my hands.) I realize she was probably supposed to be the yin to Edward's yang (his other half, a soul mate, a perfectly compatible match), but the excess to which she fell down, fainted, stumbled, swooned, bruised something, got dizzy, broke something, or simply talked about doing any of the above (ad nauseam) was just way too much. Plus it highlighted Edward's glowing perfections as a result and, while I'm sure that was Meyer's intention, it didn't happen for me the way she probably wanted: It just made me irritated with both of them.
Honestly, I think Bella may have been better suited to be paired up with Samuel L. Jackson's character from Unbreakable.
"They called me Mr. Glass."
The fact that, regardless of her glaring imperfections, everyone still automatically loves Bella at first sight – even when she's not particularly nice to them – just solidifies that blatant Mary-Sue persona that most writers try to avoid. I also found her to be a rather unreliable narrator since she seemed to spend the entire book in a state of thrall. (Or was that Meyer, herself?)
Overall, although it started out promising, I found it to be a little too self-indulgent and angsty for my taste. If there was a little more action to the plot, and a little less mooning around in emo-land, I might have enjoyed it more. I can appreciate it for the YA story that it is, and I can certainly see why my students like it, but when all is said and done the series just doesn't seem to be for me.
I'll gladly welcome any other opinions of course, especially if the other books in the series get better. As I actually enjoyed the beginning of this one up to a point, I'd be willing to recognize some redeeming qualities further down the road.
