A Curious Traveler

Book Review "Twilight"

2009-01-12T07:18:00.000-08:00

Alright. So about a month ago I went to see 'Twilight' with my friend Catherine. Apart from a few cringing-ly campy moments, and Kristen Stewart's sometimes inability to act (sorry, just my opinion), I enjoyed the film very much. At it's heart, it's actually a very sweet story. Catherine had read the books and said she enjoyed them, apart from a few quirks such as the author feeling the need to repeat minute details over and over. But overall she said they were page turners. Joanna, another friend, is a big fan of the books. So, it's no surprise that on a quick trip to Sam's Club last week, I saw the paperback at a bargain price and snatched it up. I began reading it that night, and after a little while and about one-hundred pages in, I became so annoyed that I had to put it down. It wasn't until today I was able to pick it up again and finish. Catherine was definitely right about the endless repeating. The same concept of Edward being a god-like creature was repeated on almost every page, just with different sentence structure, and that's just one example. The author, Stephanie Meyer, seems to enjoy making up her own words as well, and even putting them in the wrong tense within her unoriginal sentences. There are plenty of holes and contradictions too in the story. While the plot is overall good, there is no explanation to why the main characters fall in love, other than her blood smells good to him, and she thinks he's hot. And then there were the typos. It seemed like every ten pages or so there was a word misspelled. There are some editors and proofreaders at Hachette Book Group who shouldn't have jobs. The writing itself is dull, not the plot, but the writing. Once in a while 'big words' were thrown in where they didn't belong. No doubt Meyer had a thesaurus close by while writing it, her own vocabulary seems to be very limited. And that fact is proved by the endless appearance of the word "murmur" throughout the book. Half the dialogue she wrote was described in some tense of 'murmur'. Even when the characters were shouting! Allow me to share Dictionary.com's definition of 'murmur'

*ahem*

'murmur' - a low, continuous sound, as of a brook, the wind, or trees, or of low, indistinct voices.

I prove my point.

But. Even after all that, the main character was the most irritating part of the book. Isabella Swan is possibly the most unlikable heroine that I've ever had the displeasure to read the thoughts of. She has a complete lack of respect for her parents (calling them by their first names when they're not around and sometimes when they are), she's rude, selfish, and outright bitchy, not to mention the fact that she's falling down or fainting every few pages. She treats her 'friends' like crap, explaining any nice moment or kind gesture towards them as though she is just indulging them, and she continuously just uses them to 'pass time' and for various other reasons. Everyone annoys her for no good reason. She's also completely unappreciative when anyone she knows goes out of their way to do something nice for her. At the back of the book there was a 'sneak peek' at the first chapter of the next book in the series. It only confirmed my dislike for Bella. All of those unlikable characteristics made an appearance, in just the first chapter.

I'm not going to attribute the fact that I read the book in a matter of a few hours to the fact that I read fast. Catherine was right. Even after all the things that irritated me about it, I was still compelled to turn the page. But after careful contemplation, I think this is due to the general plot and because I was constantly hoping it would redeem itself. The plot in the book is identical to that of the film, but the way things go about happening is very different at times, and of course there were a lot of little things left out. Meyer may have come up with a good outline for a story, but I think she should have sold the idea and let someone write it, who knows how to write.

This is an extremely rare case in which I think I enjoyed the film far more than the book. Bella was more likable in the film, while many supporting characters were more likable in the book with more explanation of their origins and actions.

They're are three more books in the series, and I'm fighting my natural instinct to finish what I started. I'm not sure I can endure much more, but I guess we'll see.

some more recent photographs

2008-11-29T01:57:00.000-08:00

Escuela

2007-11-30T02:48:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness, school is almost over, for the semester that is. I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait! Due to my financial instability, I won't be able to go full time nest semester, which is a definite stressor. I want to be done with Waubonsee already! But on the other side of things, I will have more time to see friends and make pretty things out of yarn. Oh well, I guess overseas exploration will just have to wait a little longer.

rock the boat

2007-06-24T23:48:00.000-07:00

Canoeing! Melina, Joanna and I wanted to do something fun before Melina leaves for Greece on holiday (I'll try not to mention how jealous I am)...(whoops). We decided on (you guessed it) canoeing. Jo lives on the Du Page river, AND owns a canoe, so how kick ass is she?! We were worried that the weather wouldn't allow this little adventure, but everything worked out perfectly. We didn't tip once! Which is a new thing for us, we were expecting to take the splash. Everything was so green and beautiful, and the bug count was minimal. We were all over the place though, because everyone just paddled at will. Altogether it was a really great day, catching up with old friends while enjoying the scenery. It was quite an adventure, we saw snakes, geese, fish, turtles, and a very tiny nun. The nun in particular was interesting. She was on a bridge that we were passing under, and she wouldn't stop waving at us, after a little while we just started to ignore her, couldn't wave and paddle at the same time, maybe she doesn't make it out much.

These pictures made me realize how screwed up and crooked my glasses are, they are so old.

And if you're wondering why I'm not wearing my life vest, Melina is sitting on it.

What Jane Austen heroine are you?

2007-06-21T23:53:00.000-07:00

I stole this quiz from Catherine, good find!!! At first I was surprised at my result, but satisfied none the less. Persuasion is probably my second favorite Austen novel, and thinking about Anne Elliot, she's level-headed, considerate of others, humble, dutiful, smart, and well, altogether pretty awesome!! As Catherine said, "Everyone wants to be Lizzy!" and it's true, that probably would have been my ideal result, but I'm happy being Anne!

more than a midnight snack

2007-06-21T04:47:00.001-07:00

I've come to realize what my very favorite thing is late at night. Chocolate soy milk!!! My recent case of insomnia has led me many times to the refrigerator, and very unsuccessfully I might add, returning with nothing. Until I poured myself a glass of its chocolaty goodness and was happy. And this is exactly what I had for breakfast, with strawberries. I had run into a streak of bad luck the past couple months, every time I've been to the grocery store, no chocolate soy milk. But after 4 days of juicing, I went to the store again, and there it was, smiling at me from the shelf. A well deserved treat after 4 days of torture, but oh well, I guess I feel healthier. I've always been so easily entertained and contented. Lately I've been so jaded from school, that I'm content just to lie in my bed and stare at the ceiling, but I'm not sure if this is a good thing. Hopefully I'll snap out of that soon, but it is such a comfy bed!

I'm Back!!

2007-06-20T23:46:00.001-07:00

Oh, I have been away for so very long. To tell the truth, I forgot about this little blog. I'm here to stay!

pen drawing

2006-02-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

found this recently, and it made me laugh
a pen drawing I did in high school, while I should have been paying attention

[untitled]

2006-01-31T23:24:00.000-08:00

I took the child to the stream
Our toes sunk into the nearby silt
She asked me why we are meant to dream
I told her, To escape our memory and our guilt
To the stream's outspoken voice, we did not implore
But to the fighting cricket's song we did
She asked me why we had such war
I told her, We can never lift man's meloncholy eyelid
We saw the stream reflecting the sunset's hue
Leaning over, we could see the return image of us both
She asked me why once her eyes were blue
I told her, she reflected a world of beauty and growth
Time went on and the light began to dissapear
The child looked to the distance and started to cry
She asked me, Will I see you again? Her eyes full of fear
I told her, Of course you will, I will never truly die

Photographs

2005-12-02T03:39:00.000-08:00

Here are some photographs I've taken and developed within the last year...

A cemetery not far from my house. It looks secluded, but it's actually on a very busy street in a not-so-good area. The tree, shifting the headstones, seems very persistent in continuing to grow.

My uncle's dog Nicki. Not quite true to her breed, she's one of the sweetest dogs I've met.

Many years ago, my parents took very special care of their garden. It was a fairy garden. Although it hasn't been tended in so long, I see that some of it's inhabitants haven't quite quit on them yet.

This is the old oak tree that takes it's residence on the cottage grounds. It's massive size towers over our humble summer dwelling. My great uncle hung a swing from it years ago that has provided summer fun for 3 generations.

Lake Wandawega. The lake on which our cottage community resides. Once crystal clear and beautiful, now overrun with seaweed and leeches. If only they would put a little money into it and restore it back to the way it was when I was little. Maybe when I'm rich...

Rebuilding Burnt Bridges

2005-11-27T02:49:00.000-08:00

Not sleeping being a favorite past-time of mine, I've been researching places in Alaska that appear to be adventurous. My cousin/best friend, Kathy, and I have been talking about spending the summer there with her brother who is stationed in Anchorage. We could get part-time jobs to fund our excursions and just venture around a beautiful part of our country. This all sounds amazing to me, but we'll see if it actually happens, Kathy is much more concentrated on school than I am. My mind has been in the clouds too often to concentrate on school. I thought that I was ready to settle down and go to work, but I'm not. Looking at old pictures of my trips to Japan and the UK, I've realized that I WANT MORE! A college degree today, being the equivilant of a highschool degree 15 years ago, I feel stuck. I know that I would like to get that degree one day, but I just don't feel like it. I feel like this is the time to be adventurous and work my way around the world before I have a job that only lets me do that 2 weeks out of the year. Not knowing what I want that degree in doesn't help either. Sometimes I feel as though everyone's degree should just read "FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF COMPLETING 4 YEARS OF BUSY WORK"