8mm
Posted on 08/09/2008 12:41:57 PM PDT by wagglebee
A little over a week ago, the literary world was lauding novelist Stephenie Meyer, a Mormon stay-at-home mother, as the new J.K. Rowling amid the excitement surrounding the release of the fourth instalment in her "Twilight" teen fiction series, "Breaking Dawn."
Today, the bestselling book is the subject of a backlash that's prompted a group in the United States to organize a "return your book" protest.
On Amazon's U.S. website, a group of readers, led by a one-time bookstore employee, is urging former fans to return their copies of "Breaking Dawn" in order to deprive Meyer of royalties.
Employees of the Borders bookstore chain in the U.S. have reported that some copies are being returned by indignant readers. A representative of the Chapters-Indigo chain in Canada, where the book sold 100,000 copies last weekend, could not immediately be reached for comment yesterday.
"Seriously, folks -- don't burn your copies of the book, return them," wrote the protest organizer, nicknamed Baby Strange, on Amazon.com. "I think Meyer's fans would send a much more powerful message if, instead of a book-burning tour, they staged a book-returning tour."
What's the beef for readers? Some are complaining about Meyer's portrayal of her heroine, Bella, as being disturbingly desperate to hold on to her new husband, Edward the vampire. Others are taking issue with the book's focus on Bella's unexpected but post-marital teen pregnancy, while still others see an off-putting anti-abortion message in "Breaking Dawn."
About half of the Canadian readers weighing in on Amazon's Canuck website aren't happy with Bella's behaviour and the turn of events in "Breaking Dawn."
"Not only is this girl seriously melodramatic and clumsy, she's the most weak-willed and pathetic character ever written," wrote a 28-year-old Canadian fan named Claire R.
"She has said numerous times that she would simply 'die' if Edward ever left her. It's like her entire life revolves around him. What are you trying to tell young women, Ms. Meyer . . . don't girls have enough self-esteem problems already? Should they really be reading books about a girl who has no life outside of her boyfriend, a girl who readily admits that she would die if he were to ever leave her?"
Another Canadian reader, Annette from Vancouver, said she hated the way "Breaking Dawn" focuses on Bella's pregnancy.
"I think most readers would have settled for maybe a surprise pregnancy at the end (or something to that effect if Meyer really wanted a baby in this story), but the fact that it swallowed the whole plot just plain sucks," she wrote. "I was extremely disappointed with the fourth book. I want my money back."
Book industry observers say Meyer's entire "Twilight" series owes much of its success to its avid online following of young female readers, and many of the complaints about "Breaking Dawn" can be found on blogs and websites.
Some readers are taking issue with the anti-abortion allegory in "Breaking Dawn," an unsurprising element considering Meyer has described herself as "really, really religious."
Barbara Cartland is (was, she's dead now) the world's most popular romance author for about 82 years. Charlaine Harris is a mystery author who also has a series about vampires.
Wow, lots of hate in this thread.... I’ve read the first three books, but not Breaking Dawn (at least not yet). I do object to the series, but mainly because the main characters for the most part seem incapable of developing healthy relationships, and because Meyer’s writing is mediocre at best - she’s overly cutesy, she repeats herself excessively, and most of the characters are pretty one-dimensional.
As far as the spiritual side goes, it’s really dozens of times better than the Clique, Gossip Girl, or anything else aimed at teen girls I’ve seen recently. The ‘good’ vampires refuse to ‘eat’ humans (they refer to themselves as ‘vegetarians’), and the character that started the whole ‘vegetarian vampire’ thing did so because he was a pastor’s son, and as such believed in heaven, hell, that he had a soul, that it was immoral to kill other humans, even for his own survival, and all the other ‘good vampires’ came to that conclusion their own way. In a strange twist, Meyer’s vampires aren’t repelled by crosses, and as such the father-figure in the vampire family has one from his father’s church in his study. In addition, Edward refuses to have premarital sex with Bella (although, partly because he’s afraid of hurting her), he believes he has a soul and is in heaven at one point, etc, etc.
So, in the end, I think the biggest danger that any girl with her head on straight would have from these books is thinking that Meyer’s writing is anywhere near ‘good’.
I wonder how much the book sales will increase due to this "boycott." I wonder if it will come close to the increase in business experienced by establishments after they have been been put OFF LIMITS by the Provost Marshall.
I think there might be more problems with the book than the author's faith.
I also read Terminal man. I forgot that. I didn’t read Andromeda Strain this time, I think I read it a long time ago, and I saw the old movie, which was pretty good. The new movie I didn’t like, and it also seems I might have missed the end of the movie, and didn’t even know it.
why do they care if it’s pro-life? i thought they were pro-choice... isn’t life one of the choices?
Returning books to Borders for a refund after you’ve read the book? That makes Borders a library doesn’t it?
I work a few stores down from a Barnes & Nobles - haven’t you ever noticed there are more people sitting in the chairs the stores provide reading books than there are in line to purchase them?
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