"He had liquid topaz eyes, so help me liquid topaz eyes!"
Posted on 01/05/2010 2:32:19 PM PST by Alex Murphy
The more I read this thing, the more appalling it becomes. The lurid adjectives continue, of course, but I will not delay you long with that. It is enough to know that his “dark golden eyes” continue to pierce (p. 208), and his “liquid topaz eyes” continue to penetrate, which is all you can ask of them, I suppose. No need to point out the sexual metaphors here. We are worldly wise readers, we are.
No, let us not get distracted with that. The point to emphasize is how this book trains young girls to lust after the wrong thing entirely. The object of all this irresistible desire is Edward. He is delicious, and it cannot be expected that any girl would say no to him.
And yet, what is he like? This chapter provides a great snapshot of the kind of mercurial personality that excels at abusing foolish girls. Who needs a good cop and bad cop when all you have to do is have one person be wild and erratic? “Sweet talk her one minute and slap the bitch the next. They like that.”
In this chapter, over the course of a very short time, Edward smirks (p. 198), irritation wins out over amusement (p. 206), he is bothered (p. 208), irritated again (p. 209), his voice then goes velvet soft (p. 209), his eyes are gentle (p. 209), he starts to scowl (p. 209), he gets angry (p. 210), and then his “unpredictable mood” shifts again, so that a “mischievous, devastating smile” might rearrange his features—which every masculine reader also wants to do by this point. Then he goes back to “disgust” (p. 213), and his eyes do that “unfair smoldering thing again” (p. 213). Then his eyes go “fierce” (p. 214), he exhales “angrily” (p. 214), and unfortunately, it appears he is “still annoyed” (p. 214). This does not prevent him from, on the next page, smiling “teasingly” (p. 215), and snickering (p. 215). Then one page after that, his eyes are “suddenly furious” (p. 216). He wears an angry expression (p. 217), and glares at Bella (p. 217)—who is the model twinkie for your junior high daughter to imitate. Jeepers.
Off balance, that’s the name of the game. If you want a certain kind of female to do anything for you, and follow you anywhere, keep her off balance. Be moody and unpredictable. Be as erratic as you can be, and blame her for every change. Wobble down the highway, and every five minutes yell at the person in the passenger seat. The astonishing thing is that this really does work, but it only works if your daughters are the kind of girls you shouldn’t want them to be. It only works if they have the kind of parents who let them read Twilight like it was a Nancy Drew book from the fifties or something.
The apostle Paul rebukes the kind of person who goes for this sort of thing. “For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Cor. 11:19-20). A daughter (or a wife) might be attracted to this kind of toying-with-rape lit for several different reasons. First, it might be all she knows—she grew up with and around abusive males. She might think that “this is just the way it is.” And the other reason might be that she is surrounded by passivity, males with all the backbone of a peeled banana, and she is so hungry for something hard that she falls for abuser-hard. Either way, the results are sick and twisted.
The apostle Paul rebukes the kind of person who goes for this sort of thing. “For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face” (2 Cor. 11:19-20). A daughter (or a wife) might be attracted to this kind of toying-with-rape lit for several different reasons. First, it might be all she knows—she grew up with and around abusive males. She might think that “this is just the way it is.” And the other reason might be that she is surrounded by passivity, males with all the backbone of a peeled banana, and she is so hungry for something hard that she falls for abuser-hard. Either way, the results are sick and twisted.
See the prior seven chapters:
Twilight #1
Twilight #2
Twilight #3
Twilight #4
Twilight #5 (A Twofer)
Twilight #6
Twilight #7
My son (he read this) whan asked what it was about, said it was a boring book that starts with “Do I love this guy” and ends with “I think I love this guy”.
In between it’s soft core porn for mixed up teens.
"He had liquid topaz eyes, so help me liquid topaz eyes!"
Alex - I have not read the books nor plan to - primarily because it is just awful writing. And that, I am afraid, you are misconstruing for true metaphors and so on. Just awful, awful writing. Meanwhile the poster on here who wrote the comment about their son’s take on the book - I think I like this guy and I’m not sure if I like this guy is absolutely hilarious!
People like to be distracted and this book is a distraction. I’m far more worried about books that claim to be legit such as the Da Vinci Code. However, people need to be discerning and I do have some serious qualms about all of the attraction to vampires since we are not to have anything to do with communicating with the dead and vampires are, in fact, dead and young girls are being led down a path where they are told that things of darkness are okay.
Your son sounds like he’s got his head screwed on very straight and also has a sense of humor. I’m curious as to his age.
Interesting how this is almost exactly the feminists argument, minus, of course, the biblical references. What I also find intriguing is that other factors in the story are conveniently ignored in the myriad critiques of this book. The male character doesn’t blame the girl, he’s fighting his own desires, his own reality. He’s trying to do what’s best for her and her safety while battling his feelings for her. He’s not human but every critique holds the character, the vampire, to human standards. I do wish that Meyer had penned a stronger female lead but, to be honest, considering the background of the character, she’s what is to be expected. And she grows stronger as the series progresses, although she is still relatively subservient to him.
Most importantly, it’s a story. Not exactly a literary gem but a great story. And if this is the alternative to the vapid and oversexed likes of “The Hills”, Lindsey Lohan, and “Gossip Girl”, I’ll take it.
And if this is considered “soft core porn” I am terrified to know what hard core looks like to the author of this critique.
He’s 22. And what screwed his head on straight was homeschooling and solid Christian friends.
I tried to raise them so they were wise and yet not afraid of the mainstream - seeing where it was wrong, but able to skim off the pleasures that contemporary technology affords us. I let them watch tv and play video games, and yet I read them Proverbs everynight.
If you want a wise child, raise them on Proverbs.
I really hated this book, found it totally vapid and boring. That said, I agree with you.
Since the author of the critique wants to talk metaphors, how about how Bella wants to get bit (have sex) and Edward is totally against it because she doesn’t realize what she is asking for. I also like how in the movie, Edward is being told by Alice to let Bella become a vampire after she is attacked by James. Edward however does not do what he desires, but he makes a choice that he should do what is best for her and in effect “saves her” from becoming a vampire.
A daughter (or a wife) might be attracted to this kind of toying-with-rape lit for several different reasons...And the other reason might be that she is surrounded by passivity, males with all the backbone of a peeled banana, and she is so hungry for something hard that she falls for abuser-hard. Either way, the results are sick and twisted.
Great review. When men give up their rightful place as head of their household, everyone suffers.
How did I get here from there? January?
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