Out thrifting the other day I came across a set of 4 first edition Twilight books for the unbelievable price of $1 each. There was 1 hardcover first edition, a hardcover first "special edition" with bonus CD and letter, and two first softcover editions. At a dollar each, I decided to buy them. I'm still deciding whether I want to hang on to them or resell them.
Anyway, I decided to give the first book a read to compare it to my cinematic experience with the franchise. There shouldn't be many spoilers here but this post assumes the reader has seen the movies and/or read the books. I thought doing a comparison of the first book and movie would be a fun post.
I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the movie franchise but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the films. As a matter of fact, I wanted to hate it badly. I viewed the films with disdain. The nerve of someone creating cute, sparkly vampire characters that only drink the blood of wild animals! That's the twenty-something-year-old goth me speaking of course.
After watching the first movie though, I changed my tune quickly. IMHO, I think Twilight is in many ways a cinematic breakthrough. I mean think about it... It's a love story, a horror movie, mystery, action and adventure all wrapped up in one neat little package. Not many films or books have been able to cross genres like that. I think the films and the books take the gothic vampire genre in a whole new and very different direction and actually make it work! The cinematography was also very unique with some of the angles and use of lighting in the film series.
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxU_Z9cuKbBNrrSXEB0T9TPndcjcIIzcx7
The book starts off like you're reading the movie. The characters lines, the tone, are all just like the start of the film. This goes on for the first few chapters then things start to deviate from the script a little in the book. As I'm reading, I can't help but envision the characters from the movie as I'm reading the book. I'm not really sure if that's a benefit or not. Some of the book characters seem to have different personality traits from their movie counterparts as well. So it's kind of cool watching the characters develop from the author's perspective and not the film directors'.
As I continue reading, the book deviates further from the movie script with the introduction of different characters like Jacob. This gives Bella's character a bit of a different dynamic and gives her a bit more of an outcast kind of vibe in the book. It also gives her dynamic with Jacob a much different perspective. The movie makes Jacob out to be more of the pursuer of Bella's affections whereas the book paints the picture of Bella as the initiator of flirtation but then we find out, she's just manipulating him in the beginning.
So, I couldn't finish the book. I got about halfway through and it was just too much of a young adult love story. It was cute but it just got to be too much. Maybe it's because I'm 50-something years old and reading a book for tweens and young adults. I also think Stephanie Meyer weaves a great story, but I'm just not a huge fan of her writing style. IDK, what it was about it, but I don't enjoy reading her novels. This was actually the second time I tried.
I remember a friend loaning me her book because I couldn't wait for the movie release to see if Edward turned Bella into a vampire. Same thing, I got about halfway through and couldn't finish it. Ironically, this is something I rarely do. I generally finish what I start, especially when it comes to books. I'm chalking it up to the subject matter and her writing style. Which is weird because I have such diverse tastes in reading.
With that said, I enjoyed the movie franchise. Millions of people globally will disagree with my opinion of her writing style too. I mean according to Wikipedia:
"As of November 2011, the series had sold over 120 million copies worldwide with translations into at least 38 different languages around the globe."
Those are serious numbers! I'll chalk it up to I'm becoming a cranky old man.
I will stand behind what I said about the movies though. The Twilight series of movies were created with actors that weren't super famous or well-known at the time. The movies were entertaining, and for the genre, something new and different in my humble opinion. The cinematography was incredible, the acting OK, and the plot and storyline completely different from anything before it. I get why the movies were so successful. It was a great story, and Hollywood really made it come to life.
I suppose the movies were just as sappy in the love and romance department. (sorry for sappy, but it was sort of how I felt.) However, the action sequences and mystery of the plots balanced out all the sappy teenage romance.
In the end, I think that "Twilight" the movie series was a cinematic masterpiece and cutting edge, breaking many genre boundaries. "Twilight" the book series, just wasn't for me. I get it, it's a great story and if I was 40 years younger, I probably wouldn't be able to put the book down either . I'm glad they were all best sellers though, because otherwise, the franchise may have never made it to the big screen.