Stephenie Meyer Breaks The U.K

Being from England, as I so often say it annoys myself sometimes, I am exposed to some of the same things as people from across the Atlantic or a little bit further a field, such as Australia and even places like Spain, but being a small country, there are certain things that we keep very to ourselves and appear to only just be reaching everyone else.

One of them, obviously, is our literature. People such as J K Rowling, Agatha Christie and Tolkien are household names all over the world but there is something strange about visiting places that are actually in the books. For example, I have visited the universities in Oxford where Harry Potter is filmed and my sister is going to the university that is said to have influenced how J K Rowling imagined Hogwarts. Or take Tolkien. On one of my sisters more recent cheer leading excursions that I was forced to go on, we stopped to look around the place that supposedly the Hobbit houses are based on. Everywhere we go here is integrated in literature and I can almost guarantee that some kind of author has written about it at some point.

Also, take our music. Stephenie Meyer dedicated some of her books to Muse, who are believe it or not, Brits themselves. Music is something that defines my country. Almost every single weekend, in every single small village, town or city, up and coming bands play music in clubs, at youth centres or on street corners. It is actually in the air in London.

Okay, the point of my rather weird ramblings is that Stephenie Meyer has broken the UK. It's official. As much as it pains me to admit this, Twilight is mainstream. Ahhhh. I feel like such a sheep. BUT back on topic, when I first read the book, I felt like I was reading part of some forgein world that was so distant from my own, but looking back over the books, I now understand why I, personally, related to them so much.

Take the weather. I think I would be right in saying that it probably rained in Forks today, and guess what it rained here. I totally get the whole WTF do I wear to school now that the sky has decided to drop a bucket of water. Also, the music behind the novel is exactly what is in my top 25 most played. There is some kind of teenage quality about S Meyer that means that she totally relates to almost every single teenager out there 100%, weather they want to or not.

So, I congratulate Stephenie Meyer once again. Well done.

P.S.- I refuse to tell anyone that I fan girl on Twilight. I refuse to be mainstream in public :)

Twilight Frenzy;

Okay, honestly, how many people knew about Twilight before Catherine Hardwicke decided to turn it into a movie?
Not me.
When my best friend first told me about Twilight, I scoffed at a romance book about vampires, even though I was a very big fan of the old show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
I thought the idea of a girl moving to a small town, discovering a family of vampires, and just so happening to fall in love with one of them was cheesy.

But then I read it.
And it was amazing.
I immediatley fell in love with Edward, and Bella, and the Cullen's.
This was early on in 2008, before the frenzy.
I can honestly say that I fell in love with the book because of the writing, and because of the romance, and because of the desperation Bella felt for Edward, and vice versa.

I can honestly say that I knew about Twilight before most people did.
And I can honestly say that I didn't fall in love with it because of the movie, or the actors, or any other factor in those arguments.
I used to love Twilight, so much.
I mean, I used to carry it around like it was my own personal bible!

But then everyone started getting into it.
People who knew barely half of the story claimed they loved it, when they were only halfway through the first book.
It just took away from the magic that I felt when I was reading about the two of them.

Everyone was selling their products, and makin gsuch a big deal out of the movie, when it was the book that I fell in love with.
Don't even get me started on the movie.

Most of the people only like Twilight because they thought the actors were hot, or they thought the movie was great, or because their friends told them about it, and just took their word for it.

It gets me kind of angry, because suddenly, half of the nation began to read Twilight.
And while I think it's wonderful that the book got the attention it deserved, too many people didn't love the book because of the story; rather, because they liked the actors for the movie.

And after that, Twilight, the book, losts its magic for me.
And that makes me sad.
What about you?

Are you one of the many people who still really love Twilight?
Or are you like me?

Quote of the Day;
Damn it, Bella! You’ll be the death of me, I swear you will.
-Edward Cullen

The other side of the pond...

I can almost guarantee that before the movie, in November for you guys and a rather cold December for us Brits, barely anyone had heard of Edward Cullen. Twilight would be hidden in bookshops, not on display in the front like it is now and guess what; after having moaned that no-one understood what I was on about for a year and a half, now everyone is talking about it but I hate it.

I was lucky enough to make it to the premiere in London so I got to see first hand how much it had grown in a year. There were hundreds of girls screaming and singing in a bloody freezing Leicester Square but the point I want to make is there were hundreds of us. Where the hell had they all come from???

Part of me was going, they aren’t true fans, jumping on the band wagon etc. whereas the other half was happy that there were other people out there like me!

I suppose my point of this is to highlight to everyone what a difference the movie actually made here (and most probs all over the world too). Now, ‘Alice Cullen woz here’ is written on the wall of the middle staircase in my school and I actually hear people talking about it. Robert Pattinson’s name is now on the lips of every single teenager, well majority of the female population actually and tbh, don’t we all love it.

The movie itself was buff. Yes I did just describe it like that but for good reason. It wasn’t fantastic, lets all please admit that, but it was fist in the mouthly good. The screening I went to on the day it came out was full of screaming girls, who all owwwwed and ahhhhed all the way through, much to the annoyance of the odd guy or two. Seeing the world we had all imagined on the big screen was amazing and if you loved it, you loved it but if you hated it, lower your expectations for the next one so you don’t get disappointed this time.

So our world is growing guys, expanding and reaching more and more people but do you like it??? Ask yourself that…

Breaking Dawn

Wow. Controversial much? It became quite the uproar in the Twilight community. We all were anticpating the book very much and held it to very high standards. Many people went the midnight release parties or bought it first thing the next day at Walmart. I couldn't reach any of my friends because they refused to do anything else until they had finished their books. Some people dropped everything and read it as quickly as possible while others read it over a couple of days trying to savor the last book.

Some people were highly impressed with it, while others were just confused, and many were just downright dissapointed. While I am one of the people are dissapointed I still respect the book and can see why some people liked the book. Let's start with Rosalie.

Some people loved the fact that Rosalie was finally warming up to Bella and being kind to her. Others were mad that she was using Bella to get the child she could never have. I personally think she was using Bella, but I'm not mad about it because Bella let it happen. Bella knew if she wanted to keep the baby she had to get Rosalie on her side, so that's exactly what she did. It wasn't as if Bella was fooled by Rosalie, she asked Rosalie to protect her child.

The next big issue was of course Bella being pregnant. This caused the most controversy out of everything. Some people loved the fact that they would indeed get a family, while others were saying that it wasn't right. Many people didn't like being convinced that there was no way Bella could get pregnant and then having it happen; it was almost like a slap to the face. Another problem that really bothered me was that it was much too sci-fi. I quite frankly got confused with all the talk about genetics. Also if we truly think about it Bella had just turned 19. I don't care if she is a vampire or not, she simply wasn't old enough.

Another problem (or highlight) was Jacob. Some people loved his point of veiw, while others thought it just complicated the story, unneccasarily. I actually loved his point of view because we needed to understand what was going on in the pack. We needed more insight into the werewolves. They really evolved in this book, if you ask me. Some people loved the fact that he imprinted on Nessie while others hated it. I personally think it is a little sick to be in love with someone and then start going after their daughter. I realize what S. Meyer was trying to do, but I think she should have brought in a new character.

Obviously another big point in the book was the Volturi. I still don't know if I like that whole thing or not. Many people were glad they didn't have a fight, while others were angry. Some felt that they spent too much time reading stuff that led up to this whole battle just to find out that there wasn't even going to be one. I think it just made the whole thing too clustered. I mean really a bunch of strangers came to their house and they were trying to teach Bella how to fight in a ridiculous amount of time.

The last actual point from the book that I would like to mention is Charlie. Some people loved that Bella would be able to stay close to Charlie, while others thought it was too perfect. I just think the whole thing is downright stupid. I mean they have been lying and sneaking around Charlie for three whole books, just for him to find out in the last one! Besides, a big thing in the book was that Bella was different because normal people wouldn't accept vampires and werewolves, but it seems to me like everyone is dealing with it just fine.

Despite all of that I still could have fallen in love with the book. It was the last one of the saga and it was all we were going to get before we were limited to fanfiction. I could have fallen in love with it even with all the stuff mentioned above. What made me not like the book was the lack of love between Edward and Bella. They spent first three books having the romance that everyone dreams of. They were the second coming of Romeo and Juliet. Nobody in a ten mile radius would doubt their love for eachother. Yet in the last book, it was hard to find that connection. Yes, they still love eachother, but it was more of the flimsy love you see in the real world. It wasn't the fairtale standard we were use to. They argued about this and thata and they didn't talk here or there and it kind of wrecked the whole purpose of the book. I had the impression that no matter how young they were or the obstacles they went through that there love would survive, but I sort of doubted that in the last book.

My rant is finally over! If you read all of that, be proud.

Twilight Quote: “Do you have a multiple personality disorder?” – Bella Swan, Twilight pg. 82
I chose this quote because most people would be devastated to have one, Edward should be happy. That would mean his blood lust was a diffrent person and there was a seperate Edward that was in love with Bella.

Vampires v.s Werewolves

Right, I have been set the topic of vampires vs werewolves and there could not be any other topic that is harder for me to think about. I think in general, most people are all for vampires mainly because the way Stephenie Meyer portrays them as the utimate monster you want to become. I mean, come on! Every teenage girl (and boy for that matter) wants to be stunningly gorgeous and have a hunk of a boyfriend. She shows them as having all of that (even down to the fast cars and designer clothes). It only increases our want and to be entirely frank desire to be something that we cannot.

Whereas, the werewolves. They are shown as the roughens. She always describes them as wearing no clothes or shoes which to a huge percentage of us doesn't sound that appealing. We like having smooth undersides to our feet rather than hard hobbit like feet. Also, who always wants to be tired? Don't we all dream of the day when we gain another 10 or so hours? The wolves don't have them but the vamps do! But there is something that Jacob has that I (and this could just be me who thinks this but...) think that Edward doesn't. He has the ablity to understand Bella. He knows when he has pushed it too far and doesn't push it again. I know a lot of people feel major hatred for that werewolf but I don't. I think he stuck to his guns all the way through and never tried to hide who he was or how we felt because, c'mon girls, we all want a guy who is straight with us!!!!

Okay, my rant is over :). Phew.

Qoute of the day: I was stunned by the unexpected electricity that flowed through me, amazed that it was possible to be more aware of him than I already was. A crazy impulse to reach over and touch him, to stroke his perfect face just once in the darkness, nearly overwhelmed me.Bella Swan, Twilight, Chapter 11, p.219