The Dark Side

Well your Young Adult Librarian has crossed over to the dark side [gasp]. What could I possibly mean? I have now read the first installment in the Twilight series.

Compared to the other books I’ve read, Twilight has the most hype, the most fans, and the probably the highest emotions and discussions attached to it. Is it wrong to read the book? What is so great about it? Should it be encouraged? All of these questions and many others went through my mind while I was reading it. I figure that you all know the general story of Bella, the awkward heroine, and her lovable and terrifying “vegetarian” vampire, Edward, so I won’t bore you with a plot summary. Instead I figure I’ll talk about some of the questions and some of the answers that I’ve come to about Twilight.

One of the questions that I couldn’t help but ask was what makes a good book? There are so many people that say Twilight is such a great book, and yet there isn’t something tangible to latch onto that statement. Is a great book something that keeps you on the edge of your seat? Something that you can identify with? Something that challenges you? Something that entertains you? Something that you can’t put down? Something that you want more of?

Having said all that, I don’t consider Twilight a good book. I read it, and I didn’t hate reading it. I didn’t want to throw up or throw the book at someone. But, if someone asked me if I liked the book I would probably say no. But, that doesn’t discount the fact that there are many people that greatly enjoy this book, and I don’t have a low opinion of you because you do like the book. But having said that, there were some things that I found disconcerting about the book and the series in general.

Basically it comes down to this question: Why do we like Twilight?

I want a book that has a message. I like when a book has a message I agree with, but I also enjoy a book with a message that challenges what I believe and makes me think. What is Twilight’s message? Is it ever nailed down? Do we know what the message is? Is the message of Twilight something we can get behind and encourage?

I’m not saying that everyone reading this book will become absorbed by it, and I’m not saying that it is an evil book. But I am saying that it is curious to me that the demon in the story, Edward, is painted as the angel. You might argue that Edward is really a good guy because he denies the monster that he is and doesn’t kill Bella when he easily could. That’s true. But, is true love being with someone because you can’t resist them, or is true love doing the best thing for the other person?

Overall, I think I have more questions after reading Twilight than when I went into it. What do I think about Twilight? I’m still trying to figure it out.