Twilight (novel series)

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For the cycling race, see Twilight Series.
Twilight
File:Twilight Saga Collection.jpg
A hardcover box set of all four books in the series
Twilight
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
AuthorStephenie Meyer
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreRomance, fantasy, young-adult fiction
PublisherLittle, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published2005–2008
Media typePrint

Twilight is a series of four vampire-based fantasy/romance novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. It follows the adventures of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenager who moves to Forks, Washington, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen.

The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and a portion of Breaking Dawn being told from the viewpoint of character Jacob Black. Midnight Sun, if published, will be a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view.

The Twilight series is popular among young adults, having sold over 40 million copies worldwide[1] with translations into 37 different languages around the globe.[2][3] The four Twilight books were the biggest selling novels of 2008 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list.[1]

Plot overview

Twilight

Main article: Twilight (novel)

Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington to allow her mother, Renée, to travel with her new husband, Phil, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen. She eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family who drink animal blood rather than human. Edward and Bella fall in love, but James, a sadistic vampire from another coven, is drawn to drink Bella's blood. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, Arizona, where she is tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is mortally wounded, but Edward rescues her and they return to Forks.

New Moon

Main article: New Moon (novel)

Edward and his family leave Forks because he believes he is endangering Bella's life. Bella falls into a deep depression, until she develops a strong friendship with werewolf Jacob Black. Jacob and the other wolves in his tribe must protect her from Victoria, a vampire seeking to avenge her mate James' death by killing Bella. A misunderstanding occurs, and Edward believes Bella is dead. Edward decides to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy, but he is stopped by Bella and Alice, Edward's sister. They meet with the Volturi, a powerful coven of vampires, and are released on the condition that Bella be turned into a vampire in the near future. Bella and Edward are reunited, and the Cullens return to Forks.

Eclipse

Main article: Eclipse (novel)

The vampire Victoria (James's mate from Twilight) has created an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and kill Bella. Meanwhile, Bella is forced to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's vampire family and Jacob's werewolf pack join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her vampire army. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's and agrees to marry him.

Breaking Dawn

Main article: Breaking Dawn

Bella and Edward are married, but their honeymoon is cut short when Bella discovers she is pregnant. Her pregnancy progresses rapidly, making her weak. She nearly dies giving birth to her and Edward's half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesmee, but Edward injects Bella with his venom to save her life by turning her into a vampire. A vampire from another coven sees Renesmee and mistakes her for an "immortal child", whose existence violates vampire rules, and informs the Volturi. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses who can verify that the child is not one of the immortal children. The Cullens and their witnesses convince the Volturi that Renesmee poses no danger to vampires or their secret, and they are left in peace.

Main characters

See also: List of Twilight characters
  • Isabella "Bella" Swan – The series' protagonist, teenager Bella is a perpetually clumsy "danger magnet" with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is often portrayed as having low self-esteem and unable to grasp Edward's love for her. She has an immunity to supernatural abilities involving the mind, such as Edward's mind-reading ability. After her transformation into a vampire in the saga's fourth installment, Bella acquires the ability to shield both herself and others from "mental harm" from other vampires.
  • Edward Cullen – Edward is a vampire who lives with a coven of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family, who feed on animals rather than humans. At first, Edward feels a mutual hatred toward Jacob Black because of his love for Bella, but in Breaking Dawn he comes to see Jacob as a brother and friend. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability, mind reading; it allows him to read anyone's thoughts within a few miles radius. Bella is immune to his power as a human, but learns how to lower this "shield" after she becomes a vampire.
  • Jacob Black – A minor character in the first novel, Jacob is introduced as a member of the Quileute tribe. He resurfaces in New Moon with a much larger role, becoming a werewolf and Bella's best friend as she struggles through her depression over losing Edward. Although he is in love with Bella, she initially sees him as just her best friend. In Eclipse Bella realizes that she loves Jacob as well, though this love is overpowered by her love for Edward Cullen. In Breaking Dawn, Jacob finds a soulmate in Bella and Edward's baby daughter Renesmee, thus ridding him of his heartache for Bella.

Setting

The story is set primarily in the town of Forks, Washington, where Bella and her father, Charlie Swan, live. Other cities in Washington briefly appear in the series or are mentioned, such as Port Angeles, Olympia, Seattle and La Push. Some events in Twilight take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised. Volterra, Italy, is featured in New Moon, when Edward travels there to commit suicide and Bella rushes to save him. Jacksonville, Florida, is mentioned first in Twilight and second in Eclipse, when Edward and Bella visit her mother, who has moved there with her husband. Seattle, Washington, is featured in Breaking Dawn when Jacob tries to escape his love for Bella, and when Bella tries to locate a man named J. Jenks. A fictional "Isle Esme" off the coast of Brazil is mentioned in Breaking Dawn, where Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon.

Structure and genre

The Twilight series falls under the genre of young adult, fantasy, and romance, though Meyer herself categorized her first book, Twilight, as "suspense romance horror comedy".[4] However, she states that she considers her books as "romance more than anything else".[4] The series explores the unorthodox romance between human Bella and vampire Edward, as well as the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob, a werewolf.[5] The books avoid delving into provocative sex, drugs, and harsh swearing because, according to Meyer, "I don't think teens need to read about gratuitous sex."[6]

The books are written in first-person narrative, primarily through Bella's eyes with the epilogue of the third book and a part of the last book being from Jacob's point of view. When asked about the structure of the novel, Meyer described her difficulty to pinpoint the premise of the novels to any specific category:

I have a hard time with that. Because if I say to someone, 'You know, it's about vampires,' then immediately they have this mental image of what the book is like. And it's so not like the other vampire books out there–Anne Rice's and the few that I've read. It isn't that kind of dark and dreary and blood-thirsty world. Then when you say, 'It's set in high school,' a lot of people immediately put it in another pool. It's easy to pigeonhole with different descriptions.[7]

The books are based on the vampire myth, but Twilight vampires differ in a number of particulars from vampire lore. For instance, Twilight vampires have strong piercing teeth rather than fangs; they glitter in sunlight rather than burn; and they may drink animal blood as well as human blood. Meyer says that her vampire mythology differs from that of other authors because she wasn't informed about the canon vampires, saying,

It wasn't until I knew that Twilight would be published that I began to think about whether my vampires were too much the same or too much different from the others. Of course, I was far too invested in my characters at that point to be making changes... so I didn't cut out fangs and coffins and so forth as a way to distinguish my vampires; that's just how they came to me.[8]

Themes and inspiration

According to the author, her books are "about life, not death" and "love, not lust".[9] Each book in the series was inspired by and loosely based on a different literary classic: Twilight on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice; New Moon on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet; Eclipse on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights; and Breaking Dawn on a second Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream.[10] Meyer also states that Orson Scott Card and L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series are a big influence on her writing.[7]

Other major themes of the series include choice and free will.[7][11] Meyer says that the books are centered around Bella's choice to choose her life herself, and the Cullens' choices to abstain from killing rather than follow their temptations: "I really think that's the underlying metaphor of my vampires. It doesn't matter where you're stuck in life or what you think you have to do; you can always choose something else. There's always a different path."[11]

Meyer, a Mormon, acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical."[6] Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as gratuitous sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying, "I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."[12]

Origins and publishing history

Author Stephenie Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now chapter 13 of the book.[13] Despite having very little writing experience, in a matter of three months she had transformed that vivid dream into a completed novel.[11] After writing and editing the novel, she signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company for $750,000, an unusually high amount for a first time author; Megan Tingley, the editor who signed Meyer, says that halfway through the reading manuscript she realized that she had a future bestseller in her hands.[14] The book was released in 2005.

Twilight quickly gained recognition and won numerous honors, including:

Following the success of Twilight, Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, the first sequel, New Moon, debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list.[16] After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list.[11] The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.[17] Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day alone, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA.[18] Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective.[19] In 2008, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat.[20]

Future books

Meyer originally planned to write a companion book to Twilight called Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun would be the story of Twilight told from the point of view of Edward Cullen. She stated that Twilight was the only book that she planned to rewrite from Edward's point of view.[21] However, a copy of the first twelve chapters of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the internet in its raw format. Stephenie Meyer has since put these twelve chapters of the book on her website so that her fans wouldn't feel guilty about reading it, but has put the project on hold indefinitely due to her feelings about the situation. She stated,

If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.[22]

Though she has no current plans to do so, Meyer has also stated that if she were to continue writing in the same universe she would write from the perspective of either Leah Clearwater or Renesmee Cullen.[23]

The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, which will give further information on the world of the Twilight series, is due to come out in 2009.[24]

Reception and influence

The Twilight Phenomenon

The wide-spread appeal of the novels and the huge online fan community of the series are often noted,[25][26] and the author and the series' popularity are often compared with J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter.[11][27] Meyer responds to such comparisons, saying: "It's terribly flattering to be compared to her, but there's never going to be another J.K. Rowling; that's a phenomenon that's not gonna happen again", however noting that "you can compare my fans to her fans more easily [than me to her]. I do think that we both have people who are just really really enthusiastic, and will come miles to see you and be involved, and everybody really cares about our characters."[28] The Twilight series' popularity and rabid fan following have grabbed media attention and been dubbed "The Twilight Phenomenon".[29][dead link][30] Fans of Stephenie Meyer are noted to "dress up like her characters. They write their own stories about them and post their tales on the Internet. When she appears at a bookstore, 3,000 people go to meet her. There are Twilight-themed rock bands."[11] Describing the fan following of the books, Phoenix New Times wrote, "Meyer's fandom is reminiscent of Harry Potter mania."[14]

Economically, the town of Forks, Washington, the setting for the Twilight series, has improved due to tourism from fans of the books.[31] The town also hosts Twilight tours, which visit places such as La Push's First Beach, the hospital where Carlisle Cullen supposedly works, and a two-story house meant to portray the Swan residence.[31] In response to plans for the aging Forks High School to be renovated, Twilight fans have teamed up with Infinite Jewelry Co. and the West Olympic Peninsula Betterment Association to collect donations in an attempt to save the brick appearance or the building altogether.[32] According to Megan Tingley, editor at Little, Brown and Company, "Stephenie's fans are rabid, Stephenie has tapped into something very deep in her readers, and they respond on an emotional level."[14]

Critical reception

From critics, the series as a whole has received mixed reviews. While Larry Carroll for MTV Movies has deemed Edward and Bella "an iconic love story for a whole generation",[33] Laura Miller of Salon.com notes that "characters, such as they are, are stripped down to a minimum, lacking the texture and idiosyncrasies of actual people", and says that "Twilight would be a lot more persuasive as an argument that an "amazing heart" counts for more than appearances if it didn't harp so incessantly on Edward's superficial splendors."[34]

Natalie Pompillo of The Philadelphia Inquirer criticized Meyer's writing, noting, "Bella is often struck by Edward's beauty and icy perfection, to the point where I want to say, 'We get it. She thinks he's hot. Move along.' The author loves adjectives, adverbs, and any word that can stretch out a sentence."[35]

Lev Grossman of Time wrote that the books have a "pillowy quality distinctly reminiscent of Internet fan fiction", but still praised the series, comparing it to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter:

People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there...There's no literary term for the quality Twilight and Harry Potter (and The Lord of the Rings) share, but you know it when you see it: their worlds have a freestanding internal integrity that makes you feel as if you should be able to buy real estate there.[11]

The books have also received criticism for alleged sexism for the portrayal of the series's female characters, most notably Bella Swan's obsessive behavior relating to Edward Cullen and the emphasis on his romantic hero status.[34] Meyer has dismissed these criticisms, arguing both that the books center around Bella's choice, which she perceives as the foundation of modern feminism, and that Bella's damsel in distress persona is due only to her humanity.[36]

Film adaptations

Main article: Twilight (2008 film)

A screenplay for Twilight was written by Melissa Rosenberg and has been adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the leading roles of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The movie was released in the United States on November 21, 2008.[37][38] Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion, written by Mark Cotta Vaz, was released October 28.[39]

On November 22, 2008, following the box office success of Twilight, Summit Entertainment confirmed a sequel based on the second book in the series, New Moon.[40][41][42]

Lawsuit

The creators of the Twilight perfume are being sued for copyright infringement by Nina Ricci.[43] The apple-shaped perfume bottle[44] being sold is claimed to be a copycat of a product already released by Ricci in 2006.[45]

References

  1. ^ a b Mary Cadden (2008-01-15). "New star authors made, old ones rediscovered in 2008". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  2. ^ Claudia Parsons (2008-11-20). ""Twilight" publisher sees film boosting book sales". Yahoo!. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  3. ^ Kenneth Turan (2002-11-21). "Movie Review: 'Twilight'". LA Times. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  4. ^ a b Kirschling, Gregory (August 2, 2007). "Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Zone". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  5. ^ Meadows, Bob (September 8, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: Written in Blood". People. 70 (10). Retrieved December 11, 2008. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (August 10, 2007). "Booksellers Find Life After Harry In a Vampire Novel". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  7. ^ a b c Margolis, Rick (October 1, 2005). "Love at First Bite". Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  8. ^ "BookStories Interview with Stephenie Meyer". 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ Horng, Eric (August 19, 2007). "Will New Bestseller 'Eclipse' Harry Potter?". ABC News. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  10. ^ Proctor, Maurine (August 8, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer's Twilight". Meridian. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g Grossman, Lev (April 24, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?". Time. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  12. ^ Mills, Tony-Allen (August 10, 2008). "News Review interview: Stephenie Meyer". The Times. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  13. ^ Walker, Michael R. (2007). "A Teenage Tale With Bite". BYU Magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  14. ^ a b c Irwin, Megan (July 11, 2007). "Charmed". Retrieved 2008-12-8. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  15. ^ Wadley, Carma (May 11, 2008). "Meyer on fire with books". Deseret News. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
  16. ^ "Best Sellers: Children's Books". The New York Times. August 12, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  17. ^ Jacks, Brian (August 4, 2008). "'Breaking Dawn' Sells 1.3 Million Copies in One Day". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  18. ^ Milliot, Jim (August 4, 2008). "'Breaking Dawn' Breaks Hachette Records". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2008-10-18.
  19. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (July 7, 2008). "Breaking Dawn". Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  20. ^ "Sellers basked in Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' in 2008". USA Today. 2009-01-15. Retrieved 2009-01-15. {{cite news}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |authors= (help)
  21. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (November 21, 2008). "Twilight (part 3)" (Video) (Interview). Interviewed by Nicole Sperlin. Retrieved December 12, 2008. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
  22. ^ Meyer, Stephenie (August 28, 2008). "Midnight Sun". Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  23. ^ Weiss, Sabrina Rojas (August 12, 2008). "'Twilight' Tuesday: Stephenie Meyer Answers Your Burning 'Breaking Dawn' Questions". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  24. ^ "Hey Fans - An Update on The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide". thetwilightsaga.com. Little, Brown and Company.
  25. ^ Merrill, Julie (May 1, 2008). "The Twilight Phenomenon". bookstove.com. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  26. ^ Green, Heather (July 31, 2008). "The Online Fan World of the Twilight Vampire Books". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  27. ^ Valby, Karen (July 18, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: Inside the 'Twilight' Saga". Entertainment Weekly (1002). Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  28. ^ Carroll, Larry (April 10, 2008). "'Twilight' Author Stephenie Meyer Sees J.K. Rowling As Kindred Spirit". MTV Movies Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  29. ^ "The 'Twilight' Phenomenon: The Director and Author at Comic-Con 2008". Retrieved 2008-12-8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. ^ Greydanus, Steven D. (2008). "Twilight Appeal: The cult of Edward Cullen and vampire love in Stephenie Meyer's novels and the new film". Retrieved December 8, 2008.
  31. ^ a b Ramirez, Marc (July 27, 2008). "Fans of "Twilight" vampire series pump new blood into Forks". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
  32. ^ Dickerson, Paige (September 12, 2008). "Twilight fans campaign to donate to help save brick building of Forks High School". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  33. ^ Carroll, Larry (April 22, 2008). "'Twilight' Stars Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart Turn Up The Heat To Prepare For Love Story". MTV.
  34. ^ a b Miller, Laura (August 30, 2007). "Touched by a vampire". Salon.com. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
  35. ^ Pompilio, Natalie (August 2, 2008). "Bella drama". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  36. ^ "New Moon: The Story". StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
  37. ^ Weiss, Sabrina Rojas (August 15, 2008). "Did 'Harry Potter' Release Date Change To Avoid 'Twilight' Competition?". MTV. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
  38. ^ Medina, Jed (August 16, 2008). "A Strategic Move? Twilight moves release date to November 21st!". The Movie Fanatic. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
  39. ^ Hoffmann, Sharon (September 30, 2008). "Twilight shopping calendar". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
  40. ^ Martin, Denise (November 22, 2008). "'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon' gets the greenlight from Summit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  41. ^ Associated Press (November 23, 2008). "'Twilight' debuts in No. 1 slot at box office". Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  42. ^ McNary, Dave (November 22, 2008). "Summit announces 'Twilight' sequel". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  43. ^ http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/01/nina_ricci_takes_legal_action.html
  44. ^ http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/product.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302036927&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442193679&bmUID=1232001645774
  45. ^ http://www.mimifroufrou.com/scentedsalamander/2006/05/fragrance_news_nina_by_nina_ri.html

External links

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