Twilight….and others
How about some book reviews? I’ve read a few good ones lately…and some that I just shake my head at.
Eat, Pray, Love–Elizabeth Gilbert
This book has gotten a lot of hype and prominent bookstore placement…based not on good writing but likely a great publicist. It’s rare for anybody to be able to flit off around the world with a wad of money when they feel that life has become too difficult. No, most of us experience tragedy (tragedy we have not caused, unlike Gilbert), and we have to muddle through. She doesn’t acknowledge this or approach her writing with any recognition that yes, there are worse things in life than the problems she creates for herself. I couldn’t even finish this book. Awful, awful, awful, yet so popular. The impression I get of the author is that she is overwhelmingly, unshakably amused by herself. She’s like a spoiled child who has been doted on and therefore expects others to automatically love her and agree with her skewed self-pity. “Don’t you HATE that I had to give up my Manhattan apartment and my nice big house in the suburbs??” Ugh–pass.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly–Jean-Dominique Bauby
I read The Diving Bell and The Butterfly while trying to read Eat Pray Love…the books are like night and day. Someone with no real problems going all to pieces, and someone who has lost everything and remains optimistic. Diving Bell/Butterfly is about the editor of French Elle magazine, who has a massive stroke at age 43 and winds up in almost complete paralysis and a diagnosis of locked-in syndrome. He communicated by blinking his one eye through the alphabet, and transcribed an entire book in this fashion. His words are hopeful, imaginative, and heartbreakingly beautiful. I highly recommend this one–they also made a movie of it, which was only “ok.”
We Thought You Would be Prettier–Laurie Notaro
I actually picked this one up at the grocery store for a dollar. Looked promising and funny. I like writers with their own brand of off-beat humor. I was kinda put-off from this one immediately. The humor was forced, the situations were exaggerated, and I felt like this author was one of those people who lurk around with a notepad and pencil, poised to capture anything they deem remotely interesting so they can write about it. Kinda pathetic. I can appreciate this book in small doses, and at 4 a.m. when I can’t sleep and am semi-delirious and EVERYTHING is funny. Even if she is an unlikable narrator who talks too much about how she thinks she’s overweight. It’s like the comic strip “Cathy,” in essay form.
Twilight–Stephenie Meyer
I had passed up Twilight several times before my awesome former roommate, Amy, recommended it. I wasn’t disappointed to find that there are many reasons why this book is so popular and appealing. I couldn’t put it down! Its tone is sweet and innocent, its plot is a pretty original spin on a common subject: vampires. I was amazed that this author had anything new to say about vampires, and impressed at the new angles she thought up. Edward, the vampire boyfriend of the main character, is all but perfect. Protective, sweet, beautiful, strong…he’s like a Disney prince charming for girls over age 8. My only criticism of Twilight is that some of the fat could’ve been trimmed. It’s a large book, and the focus for much of it started to seem mundane when you were about halfway through. Day after day, tedious detail after detail about everyday life…that’s not why we read. We read to get lost in a story. The action really picks up for the last half, and overall it’s a great read. I just picked up the sequel, and there are two additional books in the series just waiting for me. Twilight is still by far the best-reviewed of the four, so I’m not holding out really high hopes for the others. I’ve always been a sucker for series lit though…I get very attached to characters and always want to know what happens to them next. And YAY! Twilight the movie is coming to a theater near you in just a few short months. The trailers are out and it looks like the movie will do justice to the book. I can’t wait!