With an emphasis in literary criticism. So what?
Oh. Sorry. I guess that wasn’t a complete sentence. My professors always said I’d be a brilliant writer… as long as I had a brilliant editor. (Part of me hopes this is annoying the daylights out of some of you).
….
There is a lot of buzz out there right now about the Twilight series. Aside from the fans, who obviously have high praise indeed for Ms. Meyer’s work, editorial reviews have called her books “Riveting!”, “Exquisite”, and “Thrilling!” “The precision and delicacy of Meyer's writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction.” High praise indeed.
And then there are those who have managed to “torture” themselves by “suffering through all 498 grueling pages” of Twilight, and have called it “predictable at best," "mediocre and embarrassing.” Someone else said, “Edward's portrayal as the monstrous tragic hero is overly Byronic, and Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character.” "It has a plot that could have been tightened, an over reliance on adjectives and adverbs to bolster dialogue.”
Great discussions have sprung up on the definition of what “great writing” really is. Some would argue that good writing expresses a clear point, is tightly structured, believable, grammatically and syntactically correct, substantive, and interesting (etc., etc., etc.). Others would simply ask, “Did it make you smile? Did you enjoy it? Did it make you think? Did it spark a conversation?”
I have my very definite opinions about all of the above on both sides of the argument. For example, I personally don’t feel that the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey, with titles such as The Perilous Plot Of Professor Poopypants, qualifies as quality literature. But I’ll tell you this much… it gets kids reading. READING. And no one can argue with that. (However, if you really want to argue with me about it, I would be more than happy to oblige in the future. Name your seconds.)
In the meantime, I’ll simply ask you a couple of questions…
To those of you who thoroughly enjoyed the Twilight series, let me ask you this… did the book spark something in you? Did it cause you to think? Did it take you to another place for a time? Did it make you feel?
And to those of you who are the experts on what makes writing good or bad, let me just say that life would be dull indeed if everyone felt the same way about everything. So I applaud you for speaking out. This is America, for heaven’s sake. But let me ask you this… are your books on the bestseller lists? Please let me know when they are. I majored in English. With an emphasis on literary criticism.
7 comments:
You know, I can see both sides of this. As one who reads for pleasure I am not really all that discriminating. There are so many different types of books to fit my many moods and on any given day my intellect cound be challenged based on the book that I am reading. But the bottom line is that I am reading! So whatever turns you on, I say, "Go for it!"
As a teacher of learning disabled middle school kids, I have come to feel that since some kids will only read a minimal amount, that amount should be of high quality - no time for fluff and nonsense.
That said, I am pleased indeed that people are discussing the pros and cons and merits and demerits of the printed word - better that than talking about the latest issue of People magazine - which is unfortunately some folks idea of literature!
And I'm certainly looking forward to meeting you!!
Having taken the fewest number of English classes to graduate, I am very unqualified to say what is good versus bad writing. Also, I have never read the series in question.
However, this discussion makes me curious so I may look into one of the books.
I tend to enjoy things that speak to me over those that don't. However, good style is important. I would submit that good writing is a combination of the both, good use of language and good charcters and plot development.
That is my 2 cents worth.
I am so with you on this subject! While I am unfamiliar with these particular books I still have a grasp of the issue. Having worked extensively in an elementary school library, I believe it is imperative to have a wide variety of reading choices availabe to young people. As adults we have so many different tastes for food, decor, fashion and certainly for literature. Not surprisingly, it is the same with young people. It was a sad day when our school district decided "there is too much to be learned and no time to waste" and therefore each library session had to tie into whatever was being taught in the classroom. Big mistake! Far fewer children will be enticed into reading for pleasure. It was heartbreaking to watch library time go from a much needed weekly respite abounding with different styles and subjects, to a structured and linear part of the curriculum. I hung in there less than a year under these circumstances before I quit subbing the four libraries in the district - it was too boring and depressing.
Those adults who read for pleasure, who read to their children, who buy books for their children often don't have any idea how many households are virtually bookless. This is painfully evident in the lack of book stores in my town, a small city with two decent sized univerities and several colleges and a good sized population of educated people. Getting kids to read is the important issue. Nitpicking the texts for grammatical accuracy is for pedants, a group of whom I am not fond.
May I add my own personal grievance - people who want to take Harry Potter out of the libraries because it encourages devil worship. I am especially agrieved by those who hold this opinion having never read one of the books. I have also heard complaints about the grammatical accuracy about these books. Ha, that anyone doing the complaining could write so creatively while dovetailing the immense details beautifully.
This conflict always brings to mind my high school years when Jesus Christ Superstar was written. All my mother's peers were outraged at the blasphamy. My mother, bless her heart, though 40 years older than me, always kept an open mind. And I distinctly remember feeling tremendous pride in her when she said to her best friend, "Oh pooh, Edith, have you even listened to it? It is the same story we all know but set to popular music." I am proud to say I got my tolerance and appreciation for diversity from my lovely mother.
I've gone back and forth in wanting to comment on this, but I guess I'll go for it.
I'm really grateful (now) that my parents didn't have cable in the house when we were growing up. No TV on school nights, limited amounts on the weekends, and in the summer we had to read for an hour for every half hour of TV. I'm lucky that I didn't grow up in a bookless household! (Which was close to impossible, since 6 of the 7 college grads in our family were also English majors. [I am the black sheep as an American Studies grad, but the apple didn't fall far from the tree.])
Anyway. That being said, it would be untrue to say that even though I grew up in a household full of books, I only took advantage of the "classics." We're all guilty of reading what my sister calls "beach literature," and I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with it. I also don't think there's anything wrong with reading People... we've all been stuck in an airport before, and I always want to know about Lindsay Lohan's latest exploits! (Just kidding!)
However, I do have to answer the questions that you posed at the end of your post. I didn't thoroughly enjoy the Twilight series. The plot was good (admittedly, good enough for me to want to finish the third book), but I wish that Stephenie Meyer owned a thesaurus. (Oops.) It didn't necessarily make me think, which is why I would categorize it as "escapist" literature. Many of my professors have attempted to answer this question of "good" vs. "bad" writing, and I think that it's futile. No one's an "expert" because we all have different opinions.
I'm also not sure that I agree that making the NYT Best Seller list is the litmus test for what makes writing good. Popular, yes. Good... sometimes. As this Slate article (albeit a little dated) points out, most best seller lists are mostly used as a marketing tool by publishing houses to, well, make more money. (And then there are some amazing books like Elie Wiesel's Night that have been knocked off the list, even though they are still among the best-sellers... they just want to make room for new books!)
Writing is hard, and getting published is not much easier, so bravo to Meyer for accomplishing that. And bravo for gaining a following. I got published last year and I was so consumed with getting it done and having my friends and family reading and critiquing it that I think I would have died if someone told me that I didn't do a good job. I also had a similar experience with a short film I made for my film class. (But that was a bad film, so I didn't get that ruffled when people critiqued it.)
Anyway, this is turning into a novel. Overall, I shouldn't judge too harshly because I haven't written several novels. But we're all entitled to our opinions :)
(And for the record, I believe that most of my favorite books [including The Catcher in the Rye, Cold Mountain, and The Shipping News] have all made the best seller list at one time or another, and my recent reads [The Road and Atonement] are still holding on strong!)
Well said, Hannah! I agree with you 100%. (And I even read people magazine...and have it bookmarked on my computer!)
i read People sometimes - but usually only other people's copies!
And it can be a good read in an airport or a doctor's office, but it is not literature.
That's my beef - people who can't or won't stretch themselves as they read.
And critiquing isn't bad - it's mostly observations about the work.
I'm reading "Shoot the Moon" right now - Billie Letts of "Where the Heart Is" fame.
That's what I call "good fluff" - no one will say it's "significant" or "timeless" but it is well-written!!
(I'm loving these discussions btw!!)
Maybe we should all read a book and discuss it when we meet! (j/k)
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