Fantasy

Amy Groth ENG 302 Literary Review


 * TWILIGHT REVIEW**

If you ask any teenage girl around the world about their feelings on the hit sensation, //Twilight//, you will get a positive enthusiastic review. The author of this desirable romance novel is a stay-at-home mom, Stephanie Meyer. Meyer had only ever written a couple chapters of other stories that she never got far into. That is until June 2nd, which she says is the exact day she began to write //Twilight//, which without her knowledge would change her life drastically. The crazy story came about all because of a vivid dream Stephanie Meyer’s had on the night of June 2nd. At this time, Meyer was probably unaware but her random dream would turn into one of the most talked about and popular, however, controversial books of the 21st century.

When I first heard of the book //Twilight// being about a gorgeous vampire-ordinary girl romance, my immediate thoughts were that it would be a silly fiction story, similar to //Harry Potter//. Not that there is anything bad with the Harry Potter series, I just had never gotten into those books, figured Twilight would be similar and not be a book I would enjoy reading. Finally, after seeing my two sisters get suckered into the craziness, I gave in and read the Stephanie Meyer //Twilight// book.

I was proven wrong; //Twilight// was absolutely nothing like the //Harry Potter// books. According to Christina Cozzetto’s (2009), “the series has only one thing in common with the //Harry Potter// books, and that’s popularity…//Harry Potter// series is an epic adventure, while the //Twilight// series is, over anything else, a romance.” I have an extreme infatuation with romance novels and melts at even the least bit romantic line, therefore, //Twilight// was right up my ally of interest. After the first chapter, I was completely hooked and had the hardest time putting down the exceptional love story between this beautiful vampire and average girl.

//Twilight// is written in the first person viewpoint of Bella Swam, a shy disaster prone 17-year-old girl that moves from Phoenix, Arizona to the small rainy town of Forks, Washington to live with dad. There, she meets Edward Cullen, a strange and gorgeous boy, and his family who are the same way. They possess an irresistible beauty and grace that draws Bella to them. While Bella feels this strong desirability for Edward, he feels it as well and soon they fall madly in love with each other. However, there is a bloody twist, the Cullen’s are a family of vampires. //Twilight// is a story of Bella and Edward’s flourishing relationship with the standard teenage drama along with many unexpected action filled dilemmas, since, after all, Edward and his family are vampires.

In this generation, you often hear readers comparing Stephanie Meyer’s //Twilight// series to J.K. Rowling’s //Harry Potter// series due to their fantasy stories placed in contemporary times. However, if you observe the two authors writing styles you will find a major difference. I agree with the reviewer, Lev Grossman (2008), who thinks that Rowling’s writing is carefully put together, detail-by-detail, while Meyer’s is considerably choppy. I believe that this is the reason that Meyer’s books are known to be easy reads rather than difficult like the //Harry Potter// books. //Twilight// has less detail, making the story less confusing to readers, therefore producing an easier book to read. I had a hard time reading //Harry Potter// because of the immense detail in the story; I often found myself getting lost and asking myself what was going on, which is why I stopped halfway through the first book. Stephanie Meyer describes herself as a storyteller rather than a writer, acknowledging that her words are not always perfect (Grossman, 2008). Along with a conservative critic, Christina Cozzetto (2009), I would agree that Rowling’s quality of writing and character development is stronger than Meyer’s. Nevertheless, I would still choose to read the //Twilight// over //Harry Potter//.

Although, Stephanie Meyer’s quality of writing is not as strong, I believe that she is able to write in a way that makes her readers want to jump inside the book and experience everything themselves. One of my favorite parts in the book was in the chapter confessions, where she describes the meadow; she left me with a clear image of the beautiful meadow where Bella and Edward laid in the sunlight, she made me want to be there as well. It was the first time you read about Edward’s sparkly vampire skin, which made the moment magical and memorable for me.

What has made the book so popular in this generation is the appealing plot, a touching and compelling love between an ordinary girl and beautiful vampire with a stream of action as their romance turns into a frantic race to keep them alive. This excitement is what makes readers want to keep reading, along with curiosity and interest to what comes next. I had read that //Twilight// has been explained as “a vampire story for people who don’t like vampire stories,” and I could not agree more (Love Vampires, 2005). I never liked the idea behind vampires, just the image they were portrayed as never interested me. My thoughts changed when a new perspective was presented in //Twilight//.

When you think of vampires, the first thought that comes to mind is blood-sucking immortals, right? Well, in Stephanie Meyer books vampires are displayed in a whole new light. She does not portray the cliché vampire characteristics that have been around for many decades. No signs of garlic, death by the sunlight, and bloodsuckers. Instead, she establishes new qualities for the vampire persona. Rather than melting in sunlight, the vampires’ skin simply sparkles, beautifully. They abstain from sucking human blood, only animals for the Cullen’s. Also, each of them is given a magical talent due to a human characteristic they previously had. For example, Edward has the ability to read minds because of his empathy and understanding of others in his human life (Nuvonova, 2008). I cannot speak for everyone when saying this, but this new vampire image that is displayed in the book is what turned myself into a vampire lover.

I have extremely mixed feelings about the book being written in a first person narrative of Bella. On one hand, hearing the story through Bella eyes sparks curiosity in the reader because you do not know any other characters thoughts. You constantly wonder what is going on in Edwards mind and you are left with feelings just like Bella, confused and unsure, which sparks more curiosity. But on the other hand, I strongly dislike the character Bella. I understand that it sounds weird that I am a die heart //Twilight// fan, yet I strongly dislike the person that narrates the books. Christina Cozzetto (2009) from “The Brown Spectator,” expresses hostile feelings towards Bella as well, finding her personality dull and her narrating annoying. Throughout the entire story, I view Bella as a whiney, self-deprecation teenager with little personality. But in spite of that, I kept reading the series because I enjoy the fascinating plot and Edward resistance to her temptation. Those elements are what kept me intrigued in the series, definitely not Bella’s annoying narrative.

This book has many aspects that make it relatable to the readers. For instance, Bella’s self-deprecation is a characteristic that makes her realistic to most readers. What makes us humans is having those moments of self-disapproval, thus readers can sympathize with Bella’s undervalued thoughts about herself. The book is filled with Bella’s bursting emotions; she is constantly breathless or passing out, and her heart is either pounding or stopping (Grossman, 2009). These melodramatics also appear realistic to young adults because melodrama and realism are comparable to them, they experiences these histrionics in their everyday real lives. There is definitely a clear understanding known as to why the //Twilight// series is so popular and why most girls love these books. All girls, including myself, want to find a beautiful, bad boy that has so much love for her that he would risk his life for her protection it is every girls dream. Girls relate to this fantasy, it is that simple.

Despite my mostly positive opinion of //Twilight//, over the years there has been much controversy over the series. There are many negative reviews of this series for multiple different reasons. Negative critics try to inform parents and young //Twilight// fans that the books are feminist, portrays an unhealthy relationship between sexes, and is inappropriate for young adults to read, to list a few. Cozzetta (2008) is one critic who believes Meyer’s story is feminist and hopes that teenage girls do not read these stories and begins to make their moral choices based on Meyer’s story. People are always saying that the books primary audience is directed at teenage girls but I disagree entirely. I read the book for the first time my freshman year at Grand Valley. In my dorm, down the hall were two boys that I was having a competition with to see who could finish the series first, all of us were hooked and constantly talked about what was going on. Therefore, the book does not just interest romance readers but guys that are drawn to books that have a sense of action and dilemma within it. This book also has adult readers, I first heard of //Twilight// from the mom of kids I was babysitting she told me I would absolutely love it. This book interests a wide spectrum of people, not just teenage girls. I am aware that there is a sense of feminism within these books but I think that should not keep parents from allowing their kids to read this book. If readers look closely they will find a significant message that is demonstrated, however, somewhat hidden, in Meyer’s text.

I believe that //Twilight// sends an encouraging message to contemporized American teenagers that read it. Nowadays, whether we like it or not, teenagers are confronted with drugs, alcohol and sex at a young age. In a subtle way, Meyer focuses her books around her own traditional Mormon beliefs. You would not think that a book with the emphasis on these conservative views would draw young adults attention, however, it did, because of Meyer’s subtle effect. Caitlin Flanagan from “The Atlantic Monthly” says the book reveals to teenagers the “erotics of abstinence,” which is what makes Meyer’s //Twilight// distinct from other vampire sex novels. The message is very faint, I will admit when I read the series I did not consider about this. But what got to me to think about this positive message of abstinence was after reading Flanagan’s review. Bella and Edwards sexual tension comes from an extended exceptional behavior of self-restraint. “Just because I’m resisting the wine doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the bouquet,” is a line Edward says while leaning in close to breathe in the aroma of Bella’s bare neck. There is barely any touching between the two; yet, there is this strong sense of sexual tension between them. //Twilight// encourages young adults to restrain themselves, but also acknowledges how difficult it can be to do so. I believe that the abstinence message indicated in //Twilight// is a reason for parents to accept it rather than challenge this 21st century teen uproar.

Overall, I believe //Twilight// to be positive for young adults to read. It shows evidence to the readers that old-fashioned love stories still do exist in these modern times. Laying in my bed, reading this love story, I got to a specific part where I could not stop reading until the story was finished; I stayed up until five a.m. turning page after page, curiously awaiting what will happen next and how the book will conclude. After it was over, I lied awake thinking about it, craving more //Twilight//. I, without a doubt, encourage anyone and everyone to read this book, you will get hooked and never want Stephanie Meyer’s story to end.

[] - Stephanie Meyer's Official Website: Reviews

[] - 10 Positive Things Parents Should Know About Twilight

Citations Cozzetto, C. (2009, July 9). Twilight Book Review. [Review of the book //Twilight//]. //The Brown Spectator//. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from []. Flanagan, C. (2008, December 23). Twilight Saga #1: What Girls Want. [Review of the book //Twilight//]. //The Atlantic Monthly: Review-a-Day//. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from [] Grossman, L. (2008, April 24). Stephanie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling? [Review of the book //Twilight//]. //Time Magazine//. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from []. Nuvonova, //Double Twilight Review – Book & Film//. Retrieved February 23, 20011, from [] Twilight: Stephanie Meyer (2005). [Review of the book //Twilight//] In //Love Vampires//. Retrieved February 23, 2011, from http://www.lovevampires.com/smtwilight.html

Julia Holdsworth ENG 302 Literary Review


 * THE BFG REVIEW[[image:the_BFG.jpg align="right"]]**

We all know of the wildly popular children’s writer Roald Dahl. His magical stories of //James and the Giant Peach//, //Charlie and the Chocolate Factory//, //Matilda//, //The Witches//, and among many others will have a place in our hearts and memories forever. But among these others are many creative pieces that some children have yet to enjoy. One of them being //The BFG// with its dazzling language and appealing characters, children will be consumed in Roald Dahl’s writing.

Sophie is an orphaned child. One night when she cannot sleep, she walks to her window and sees a giant creeping along the street, blowing something into windows. He turns back to see Sophie and grabs her. They end up returning to the giant’s cave home in the desert. After being scared to death of this large being, the giant explains that there is no need to worry; he is the Big Friendly Giant (BFG) who eats only disgusting snozzcumbers. He then describes how he was simply just blowing dreams into those young children’s minds while they were fast asleep. But Sophie learns that she must be careful while she is with the BFG because there are other giants who live in the desert that are twice the BFG’s size and eat children all over the world. Spunky little Sophie knows she must prevent this horrible act from happening so she hatches up a plan to stop them once and for all.

This tale of //The BFG// portrays lessons about toleration of different people, the battle of good and evil, and friendship. Dahl shows how different the BFG and Sophie are in living and what they know about life, but they come together for a common good in stopping the bad giants. This shows children that even if someone is different from them don’t mean that they shouldn’t be accepted. The two come together to stop Fleshlumpeater, Gizzardgulper, Bloodbottle and many other evil giants from taking away and eating any other innocent children. The audience can then take the lesson if they stop judgment and help each other, good events can partake from that.

The most noticeable creation Dahl has established is the sensible nonsense language. The BFG is literate but gets very mixed up with common names and just his speech. With words like “humplecrimp”, “frobscottle”, and “whizpoppers” this reading will be sure to get children excited for the next word the BFG will introduce to them. This introduces the ability for kids to be silly and make up words and names of their own. This speech also takes away from the serious matter of Sophie’s predicament. Names like Bonecruncher and Meatdripper; it’s hard to take your mind off to the actual children that these giants are consuming. “All of this babbling makes this a delightful read-aloud, both for the listener, and for the adult reader who can let go of inhibitions and have fun with the twitch-tickling wordplay. And, while your child is rolling on the floor, if you're not as ‘quacky as a duckhound’, ‘if your head isn't full of frogsquinkers’, buzzwangles, and bugwhiffles’, then you'll soon understand why ‘upgoing bubbles is a catasterous disastrophe’” (Berman). However, because of the difficult, yet inventive, language this is more of a read-aloud children’s novel between children and an adult. Children just wouldn’t be able to comprehend what the BFG was saying and meaning by his words unless they were at about the fifth grade level. Also, this may be a reason that this novel is so unknown. The audience is naturally going to be quite a bit smaller if the adult must pick out for the child or the child has to pick it out specifically for an adult to read to them.

Roald Dahl, with being so known and highly praised, it’s hard to find many flaws. He has learned ways in perfecting his art within Children. Although, this book is also a read-aloud book so it must venture out to hit adult’s hearts also. The being said, this novel does have its flaws. The one being most noticeable is Sophie’s overall plan. It goes along to smoothly. There were no loose ends and the monstrous giants just give in without a fight. To a child, they may not notice this, but if an adult is, they may question Sophie’s strategy. Another problem that I could see for some children is the gore factor. This novel states how the bad giants were “crunching” on children’s bones. Now this may be a bit much for children at that level to handle that kind of description. That’s why it would be helpful if an adult was reading this story to children so they could lower the trauma the child might endure from that gory description. Other than that, children can have fun with this book.

//The BFG// is not alone its words, however. There are many simple illustrations by Quentin Blake to go along with the descriptions of this novel. These illustrations help children visualize what is happening in the story, but not go off on them and forget what’s actually going on in the story. Blake has done illustrations for Roald Dahl before so he is a trusty source for him. Some of the illustrations include those of showing what snozzcumbers are (large pickle looking foods), what the evil giants looked like, and the trumpet instrument that the Big Friendly Giant uses to blow dreams into people’s minds. All the illustrations are black and white and don’t have much detail to them. Dahl was very specific on having the words be more important than the illustrations themselves. The drawings are used much more for back up to the words. Also, there are not pictures on every page. They are much more used for the most descriptive parts of the novel. So sometimes there are even pictures back to back on pages. I think it helps if there aren’t too many illustrations in this novel because it is used as a read-aloud book. With this, parents or any adult doesn’t want to have to turn each page to the child to show the pictures. It would make the reading of the novel much longer than it needed to be.

The entirety of this novel is written in third person. Being a children’s novel, it makes it much more immediate. That being, children can focus much easier. When there is first person, there is usually a lot more intimate talking within the main character (Chapman). This being, there are two main characters in this novel so it would be much more confusing if the point of view was being changed from different characters often.

Roald Dahl being from England has most of his characters from the same area as he grew up in. This may be hard for some children to relate because he mentions Wales and the queen of England in much of his novel. For young kids, they may not understand the country Wales and what these giants mean when they talk about eating children from these countries. However, in many of Dahl’s other novels he has his characters being from England and children have no problem connecting with them. Roald Dahl is mostly known for his unsentimental, dark humor. It is very noticeable in //The BFG// when the evil giants eat children with no problem at all. Dahl has no trouble with describing the morbidity of eating young innocent children and even going as far as to describe what they taste like. This novel was actually an adaptation from //Danny, the Champion of the World// in which one of the characters told a short story about a Big Friendly Giant. //Matilda//, which was written after //The BFG//, shares many of the same aspects as this children’s book. Matilda shares a secret power that helps everyone to be happy and Sophie has a great strategy to change everyone to being happy. It’s all about finding the difference between good and evil.

With that, the main symbolism in this Roald Dahl book is the idea of differences in the giants. The Big Friendly Giant represents a “good adult” and the evil giants represent “bad adults”. In this sense a good adult would be one that challenges children to be lively and silly. A bad adult would be one that prevents a child from being a child. They would just look upon the child and “crush” them for what they are. A good adult would want a child to be creative and in Dahl’s sense: dream. That’s why the Big Friendly Giant is known for putting pleasant dreams into young children’s minds. That’s what a good adult should be seen as: providing dreams for children and helping them come true.

“Children will enjoy this book. Many adults will dislike it. Thus, //The BFG// is a success since it allows children a recognition of the habits, dreams and humor that they alone possess. Mr. Dahl appeals to a child's sense of justice, morbidity and humor. An occasional humorous finger poked at the established habits of the world should harm no one and delight many” (Gordon). This novel will suck children into this fantasy world of giants and the delightful language the BFG introduces. Roald Dahl has done it again with writing a magical story that will remain in young children’s hearts forever. I know it did mine. He is known as one of the best children’s authors of the 20th century for a reason. The idea of this book being a read-aloud book is great for adults and children to bond within its words. Adults will be allowed to be silly with their children in showing the book illustrations and describing the objects in which the Big Friendly Giant creates. If you are a parent or teacher looking for a book your children will love, I recommend //The BFG//. It will surely encourage outside reading of this incredibly great author.

[] The illustrators main website

[] Roald Dahl's main website

Citation

Berman, Matt. “The BFG”. //Commonsense Media//. Common Sense Media, Inc., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. Chapman, Harvey. “First Vs. Third Person Point of View”. //Novel-Writing-Help//. Novel-Writing-Help, Inc., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. Gordon, Ruth. “The BFG Review”. //Roald Dahl Fans//. Roald Dahl Fans, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.