This post was created by Turkeymama. Free blogger service lacks some features, so it would have been hard to find, long story.
Turkeymama said: I have to admit to something and I hope I'm not truly alone with this.In October 2007 I bought this book for a friend of mine. I thought that maybe I would enjoy reading so I bought one for myself as well. I began it, but after a few chapters I just felt that it was about high school immature kids and actually took the book back to the store. It was December when, for some reason I can't remember now, I bought the book again and tried with more determination. That's when I was smitten. After getting "into" Twilight, I went out and bought the next two hardbacks - without confessing to my hubby - and read them the weekend after Christmas.
I still am amazed that these are "teen" fiction. My niece (11 years old) has read them, and to tell you the truth, I'm worried about how romantic they are. My mother and sister have read them. My mother hasn't finished Twilight yet, I don't think...but the dreamy and sweet romantic scenes seem SO personal to me. It feels like we are "watching" things we shouldn't! I'm curious about how others have felt about the most private moments between Edward and Bella.
I'm also interested in how "clean" the relationship is, even with him in her room at night. I'm not all that old, but this part hits my "human" side. I'm curious about whether others worry a little about this part crossing and maybe confusing the bounds of acceptable in a very "straight-laced and virtuous" society?
Another thought - some of my nieces weren't all that "into" the books. I'm going to pursue why they felt that way.
2 comments:
I haven't read many romance novels at all either. And I think at first (it's kind of hard to remember) a few of the things I read had me a little wowed, just because they are very intimate and I haven't read anything that as caught me in such a way. But I enjoy it so much, and ate up every bit of it, and can't wait for more! I can see where you're coming from though, and I do think they're too romantic for young girls. My 6 year old is already asking me when she can read them, and I tell her in about 10 years. I'm finding very mixed feelings from teenagers about them. Definitely different from any of ours, but teenagers do think differently, so I guess it makes sense.
I had the same reactions as many of you. I think SM created these scenes beautifully and tastefully - I don't know many people who could recreate such intimate moments with out including too much information - you know what I mean!
However, when I realized how many teens were reading these, I got thinking - about myself as a teenager, and if I would want my daughter to read these as a teen.
I came to the conclusion that I would not want her to read them until AFTER some serious discussion with me. Mainly because Bella & Edward are very physically close, even though they don't have sex. I mean, I really wouldn't want my daughter to have a boyfriend spend the night with her - even if they weren't doing anything. (For one thing, there are no human boys who have 80 years of practice at controlling their desires). That just isn't a good thing for two humans who have any sort of religious values they hope to uphold.
Furthermore, teens are not likely to understand that it is typical literary practice to condense the time frame in which events occur and relationships develop, in order to prevent the pace of the book from slowing down. Relationships with depth, such as those in TW, are not realized after a few short days, weeks or months. Compounding this problem is the likelihood that teens would focus on the passion between Bella & Edward while overlooking the more realistic components of their relationship. I would worry about the implications this could have on their interactions with others, if they started expecting to “find” a relationship like Bella and Edward’s or came to believe that passion was equivalent to having a deep relationship.
That being said, if my daughter is going to be reading/seeing romantic books & movies anyway (and, most likely, she is), I would much rather have her experience positive and well-balanced relationships, such as those in TW, instead of some of the warped and shallow relationships that are portrayed in many books and movies. We tend to oooh and aahhh over the passion of B&E, but they have so much more. Additionally, Jacob and Bella have a good relationship as well, and in many ways theirs is much more typical - not typically teenage - but still more like how most serious relationships are likely to function. (With the driving each other crazy, wanting to kill each other, and yet still loving each other moments).
So, these are the things I will point out to my daughter, explaining that real life relationships take much more time & experience to develop the depth, loyalty, and complex beauty that is seen in these books. Relationships like these do not come ready-made in the human world - we spend our lives creating them along with the person we have chosen to create them with.
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