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Twilight – The Book and The Movie

28 December 2008 1 views 9 Comments

Some have told me that the book’s quality far surpasses the movie’s. Some say to watch the movie, then to read the book, so as not to be disappointed.

I’ve read the book - and I’ve hated it. The cover of the book boasts that it’s a “New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, and an Amazon’s Best Book of the Decade… So far”. What bull, I say. Twilight deserves none of these accolades.

IMDB, one of my most trusted movie ratings site, rated the movie 6.0 out of 10, a rating which would never have prompted me to go watch it, had I based my decision solely on that. But I loved the movie.

The novel, Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, is written in a style as profound as Francine Pascale’s in Sweet Valley High. With no sophistication whatsoever, it seems to be targetted at readers of language abilities equivalent to that of a 7th grader. Monotonous in narrative tone, clumsy in descriptive, the book would have been repulsive to me. What saved it, however, was the storyline. I found it intriguing enough to want to watch the movie, in hopes that perhaps, just perhaps, the story might be told in a manner befitting the action-full story it presented.

And indeed, the movie did not disappoint. Although none of the actors will likely receive Oscar nominations for their performances, they have done well to bring out the characters in the book. The sound and light effects, cinematography, screen play (by Melissa Rosenberg), and direction, too, deserve more than just a passing mention.

Set in a small town of Forks in the state of Washington, the director (Catherine Hardwicke) chose to shoot many a scene in the forests surrounding it, and did not go wrong. The forests lent a mystical, mysterious and magical background to the story (but maybe that’s just me) and the little details taken care of brought out the quaintness of the almost-dead town.

The good-looking cast certainly did not hurt the movie experience either. At the beginning, however, they all looked quite different, with the overdone make-up. As the movie progressed, their make-up artistes must have gotten better, and the cast did look better. My favourite must have been Alice, the happy vampire, followed by Jasper, the “new vegetarian”.

Peppered with as many comical moments (“Don’t mind Jasper; he’s a new vegetarian”) as touching moments (“She’s with Edward, so she’s family now; and we take care of family”), Twilight the movie is a must-watch. However, if you are looking for hardcore vampire movies, this might just not cut it. Skip the book, though - no matter what you’re looking for, it’s not worth the time.

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9 Comments »

mintea said:

I think most people forget that the Twilight series *are* aimed at 7th graders. Female teens don’t really need extremely well written, profound books when there’s a ‘sexy’ vampire boy is in the movie. Being marketed at the Young Adult section would have been a big clue as to how good the writing is.

# 29 December 2008 at 9:20 am

daphnemaia said:

Mintea: I must have missed that, since I borrowed it from a colleague. At PageOne, it was placed under Thrillers/Mystery, if I’m not wrong, and that’s, quite honestly, the only book store I’ve visited recently and the only one at which I noticed the book placement at all. Well, I won’t be getting the rest of the books nor be putting myself thru the agony of reading any more of them, then! Haha!

# 29 December 2008 at 9:28 am

nicole said:

the book was great. i feel in love with twilight. and i was so happy to here that they were making it into a movie. went on opening day and everything. but after see the movie i was so socked. the movie had nothing of the book. the movie was awful. i know i hated it. the book was so great but the movie was way to of track of the book

# 30 December 2008 at 12:27 am

aijoe said:

i really love it !!! Imagine having a vampire boyfriend! Super strong, super cool, and super exciting.

# 6 January 2009 at 10:03 pm

Rachel said:

I’m sorry to be rude but i read the twilight saga at 16 and i am in the advanced english course at my high school. my sister (who is also extremely good at english and a better writer than me) and i found stephanie meyer’s writing style to be a perfect portrayal of a seventeen year old girl in love. The twilight books are targetted at young teen’s specifically female meaning that overly wordy and descriptive passage are usually wasted on us. I found both the book and movie to be breathtaking even if the movie wasn’t as good as the books. I found the movie failed to fully capture just how in love the two are. I am an absolutely obsessed fan of Twilight and think your criticisms should’ve been kept to yourself. I honestly recommend you take the time to read the rest of the series as i believe New Moon and Eclipse to be the best of them all.

I’m sorry you didn’t see the beauty in these books. Perhaps you’ve never experienced young love at it’s best.

Rachel xxx

# 18 January 2009 at 2:51 pm

Chaosdingo said:

“…I am an absolutely obsessed fan of Twilight…..”

THERE! I STOPPED READING THERE!

/end

# 18 January 2009 at 6:17 pm

yin said:

“i found stephanie meyer’s writing style to be a perfect portrayal of a seventeen year old girl in love.”

you have GOT to be kidding me. do you meet vampires and werewolves at 17? aren’t you supposed to be focussing on academics and your future at 17 instead of being a boy-obsessed girl on a hormonal rampage?

sheesh. kids these days.

the only thing i have to say about twilight is that, meyer needed to get laid and the book was an outlet for subtle eroticism.

# 18 January 2009 at 11:56 pm

yin said:

P.S Rachel, it’s no wonder you could identify completely.

“I only want sympathy in the form of you crawling into bed with me.”

# 19 January 2009 at 12:01 am

Bron said:

Even though you are saying that a love story, with a 17 year old girl in love, should not have vampires and werewolves to be classified as that, maybe you need to think about the book being a metaphor for forbidden love, and to appreciate it, not to take it too seriously and enjoy the read. And if its not to your liking, Leave others to enjoy.
Personally, i really enjoyed the books, and i read, Alot.

# 19 January 2009 at 7:01 am