Introducing Bram Stoker's Dracula...with a side mention of Twilight

Check out this short introduction to the novel Dracula by British literature expert Roger Luckhurst:

Do you agree that Stoker's novel is a "fantastic read" even though we're living in the 21st century, rather than 1897?  How does it compare in your mind with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight?

Dorian and Edward

     
          

As I've been re-reading The Picture of Dorian Gray and thinking about character, I've found myself comparing the dazzling Dorian with the sparkling Edward Cullen.  Apparently I'm not the first one to immediately think about the similarities (and differences) between these characters.

Check out this humorous entry entitled "Dorian Gray is Better than Edward Cullen" on fanfiction.com.

Or this blog entry entitled "If Dorian Gray met Edward Cullen..."

Care to share your thoughts on this dynamic duo?

Why is this Book Not About Zombies?

The answer to the title is, of course, that zombies are not sexy. I’d still rather read about zombies. Zombies are fun. Has anyone seen Return of the Living Dead? It’s like, the only zombie movie where they actually say ‘brains!’. It’s a great movie, in that campy making fun of it’s own genre kinda way, it’s definitely not meant to be taken seriously. Also, you know, rated R, has nudity and gore (duh) so YMMV.

Anyway. I used the 'd' word in this...is that ok? : /

Brief summary of chapter 3:

Edward saves Bella’s life; she procedes to whine the rest of the chapter about how it is SUCH a pain in the ass to have people show concern for her. I really get where she’s coming from, I mean here her dad actually told her mother that she was in a life-threatening accident! The insensitive swine! *sarcasm hand*

Edward practically has to put Bella on the rack before he can get a sullen ‘thanks’ from her. Cripes, woman, next time he’ll let the friggin’ car hit you and save half of an Amazon rainforest from being taken up with your pretentious-whine speak.

Bella starts having nighttime-reveries regarding Edward. However, they are not the suggestive kind…No, these are the pretentious, obscure, plot-related kind. Additionally, to her woe, Bella has become a person of exceptional interest to her fellow students, sheep-like peons that they are.

(The above sentences are brought to you by Meyer’s long-suffering thesaurus and my swiftly plummeting IQ.)

Really though, would it kill any of these characters to talk like actual people?!?! I’d ask for some Joss Whedon intervention but I am STILL bitter about Alien: Resurrection, so let’s just say I really hate Meyer’s dialogue. And also, her everything.

So Bella obsesses over Eddy for a while which, even she admits, is pathetic and mildly creepy. Well, ok, she says it’s pitiful. Close enough.

Then we’re treated to a weird scene where Bella tries to push all compassion and empathy away. This was a seriously bizarre scene…she rejects Mike and so is understandably feeling like a bit of a jerk and pities him a little. Now, pity isn’t great, but compassion and empathy are! These are good things to have when you consciously squash someone’s feelings and I’m baffled as to why we are expected to view Bella’s repression as a good thing.

Oh, and now she admits her obsession with the corpse is unhealthy! Welcome to the world of the sane, Bella.

Wait, we’re back to her world again:

“‘It’s better if we’re not friends’….

I’d heard that before.”

Um. From who? She’s never had a boyfriend and apparently not a whole lot of friends either since she left Arizona without referencing concerns for anyone but her mother. (and herself, of course) Maybe even her imaginary friends don't like her wordy, self-obsessed, complaints?

Then, to continue with this lovely picture of an over-dramatic narcissist Bella accuses Edward of regretting saving her life.

Pause.

Let’s analyze this a moment, shall we?

Bella claims that someone who saved her life now regrets it (which is basically saying he wishes she were dead) simply because he doesn’t want to be friends.

Seriously? What. The. Deuce. Pretentious, over dramatic wench! I would SMITE you if ONLY YOU EXISTED! WHY do people think this chick is a good role model? We haven’t even got to the bad stuff yet… sigh

Then, page 76 there’s this sentence…Bella’s talking about fixing up her truck and how she’d touch up the paint job if it had one when she mentions that Tyler’s parents had to sell their van to pay for parts.

As in…is that their only form of transportation? I don’t…why does this not bother her??? She freaks out if people express mild concern but if someone sells their CAR for her it only gets a passing reference?

And let’s ignore the fact that I hate Bella; this is just bad writing. This is why these books are soooo un-Godly long. Because of needless inane crap that’s included for two reasons

1) To help immerse the reader into a blatant self-insert universe.

2)To disguise the fact that these books have ZERO plot. (I mean we haven't even got to the vampire part yet!)

So apparently Tyler has a new car and his family is not destitute, and he asks Bella to the dance. Bella is horrified that 3 guys would dare ask HER to the dance and throws a little fit cuz, you know, that’s what she does.

Page 79 begins Bella’s unbelievably aggravating lists of ways in which Edward is simply divine and SO much better than her. Unfortunately, my give-a-damn is broken.

Bella gripes some more and agrees to give Edward the honor of being her ride to Seattle. The corpse insists upon warning her multiple times that she should stay away from him – while offering a chance to be in close proximity.

And I’m banging my head against the wall at the idea of people thinking this is what a healthy relationship looks like.

Completely unrelated:

My Sobe bottle cap says 'Sunday Night Dinners'...why?

Just getting started

OK, Now that it's mid-term, I finally started to get into Twilight. So far, so good. Much better than a root canal. I do find myself more interested in this as compared to the other stories so far, due to the fact that I have been up to Fork's and knowing the terrain helps relate to Bella. (Rain, Rain, and yes, more Rain).

Edward is obvious a blood sucker, but he has somewhat of a conscience. He has repeatedly told Bella to stay away from him, but as with most people, we are attracted to the things that may be the most harmful to us. 140 down, 358 to go.

Edward Cullen a Byronic Hero?

So, I'm reading the poetry of the "mad, bad, and dangerous" Lord Byron right at the moment, and it occurs to me that Stephenie Meyer may just be borrowing the infamous "Byronic hero" character for Twilight.

A Byronic hero, according to the Bloomsbury Guide to English Literature, is "glamorous, [and] haunted by the guilt of mysterious crimes, which he seeks to forget in violent and dangerous adventure" (p. 379). Well-known examples of this type are Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, Rochester from Jane Eyre, the actor James Dean, the singer Jim Morrison, and even Batman.

Does this sound like Edward Cullen to you?

My pondering on the first few chapters.

In my ponderings I find that the question that comes to mind is how exactly Bella falls for Edward. Bella falls completely head over heels, and a huge personality switch happens as Meyers turns a strong female personality, into the more gothic style of the woman in need of help, and makes this switch far too quickly (within 5 chapters). It is this switch that leads me to the following conclusion as to how it is possible for this to happen, with some amount of logic.

The grounding for my reasoning comes from a few key lines that are said later in the book. As Bella draws closer to the Edwards, when he reviles himself to her as a vampire “I am the ultimate predator, I am made to attract you, designed to draw you in.” Informing her that she will be attracted to him, no matter what, just as everyone else that would be his “prey” would be.

Later Edwards tells Bella that she is his own type of personal “Heroin”; a drug that he can’t get enough of addicting, and craving her, fighting himself constantly to keep from hurting her. This keeps Edward close, and makes him value her must like an addict. These statements lead me to the following conclusion.

In the beginning, both Bella and Edward are in no way interested in each other until the sign were Edwards keeps Bella from being smashed between cars ( a rather intimate moment). After this point Bella begins to think only of Edward, and focus on school, and even her hate of Forks takes a back seat to how much time he takes up in her mind. This and the attention that Edwards pays to her after bluntly rejecting her, and even casting aside any chance of a friendship, shows that they simply took their first hits and were doomed. Handcuffed together in a way, the two grow on each other and become closer than other had come out of need for their drug.

The love that begins in Twilight between Bella and Edward can be seen as having started many ways, from a sexual tension breaking forth between two cold people, to a romantic swept off her feet love story. I beg to remind the reader, that should we take this in the gothic standing though, we see that Bella is attracted to a predator who wants to drain her of her blood, and he, simply can’t get around to it.

Dickens and Twilight???

What the Dickens? Twilight vampire Ashley Greene to play female Oliver Twist

Apparently, Charles Dickens now has a Twilight connection. The actress who plays Alice Cullen is going to be playing a female Oliver Twist in an upcoming adaptation of the novel. According to the screenwriter, it is going to be an "ultramodern" project that will also "combine Dickensian elements with a Gothic backdrop."

So, what do you think Dickens would have to say about this project?  Would he be pleased by such a development, or horrified? And would that depend on whether he's wearing a Dickens-as-author hat or a Dickens-as-brilliant-marketer hat?