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why is twilight so popular?
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I guess the romance aspect appeals to a lot of readers. It basically got started by word of mouth; someone read it, liked it, and told a bunch of people about it, those people liked it and told people, etc. I personally don't know anyone who just walked into the library, saw it, and decided to check it out. Everyone I know heard about it from someone else. I personally am pretty much indifferent. I think the writing is okay, not spectacular, and the storyline is well enough, but not amazing. So basically, it's the romance that makes people like it, plus the fact that I guess people like reading about hot sexy guys vying for the main character? I dunno.
With all the exposure of the latest movie, I've started to think that the story is more or less just a drawn-out fantasy. I read the books some years back and for the life of me I can't recall what got me so excited to read them in the first place. Surely there were supernatural romance books before it, but I can't quite figure out what made the Twilight series special enough to launch this trend. In the end I guess it was just luck really.
I honestly think the haters out there is part of what made it so popular. I can't tell you how many people I knew who told me that I just had to read the books, not because they were, but because they were hilariously bad. I also think a lot of the biggest fans are ones who hadn't been exposed to the demon lover, paranormal romance genre before. The story is pretty average for the genre, but for someone who hasn't read the scores of books out there that are just like it, it can seem very unique and romantic. Plus Meyer is a good story teller. Her ability to hook an audience is impressive.
If nothing, I think Twilight is really entertaining, whether you are making fun of it or worshipping it. For a while it appealed to me a lot, but as time went on I started to see its flaws and then it began to annoy me...and now I can't really remember why I liked it to begin with. I think the concept of a perfect, rich, smart, hot guy proclaiming his undying love for you is what got to a lot of people xD. (when it comes to love between vampires and humans...I prefer Buffy and Angel xD)
Well for me it's really about the love story. At least that's what engaged me. I started reading cause my brother who only reads comics read the 3 books in 2 weeks. I was like - Oo - and started reading when he finished.
Well, I personally don't think Huse of Night is all that great. But it's your opinion! And I completely agree with you about the wanting the type of romance they can't have.
I personally think it has something to do with this generation of readers. The vampire diaries came out a decade before twilight, but it never gained the popularity twilight has now because I think many readers then were not into (or ready for) that type of genre just yet.I think Buffy, Charmed, Harry Potter and all the other paranormal books, tv series, and movies set the stage for a generation that is so intrigued by the paranormal that by the time Twilight came out, many people felt it was such an original twist on a classic star-crossed love story.
I for one am not a twilight fan but I don't hate it either.
I just think it's success all had to do with timing. If the Twilight series was written in the 90's and the Vampire Diaries were published in 2005 instead, it would be the Vampire Diaries with a cult-following instead.
Rian wrote: "when it comes to love between vampires and humans...I prefer Buffy and Angel xD."oh yea, buffy n angel all the way! =D - actually, i started preferring spike at the end, but anyways...
now i think it's prob just luck n ruthie's rite. i've heard it said that harry potter's genius and twilight's just luck. =P wish i could get me some of that luck. =)
yeah, I don't really know that luck is THAT powerful, guys.I didn't care for star wars, don't understand why it's so popular- did they just get lucky?
I think twilight is so popular because the way the love story is written, you feel you are the characters, and the love between two such different people in differnt world yet the same world is so hard, so you feel like your craving it. Then suddenly you can have it, and the romantic side of edward protecting bella is every teenage girls dream. The fight for their love is extraordinary, that's just my opion on why i love it so much.
I have to admit that I LOVE the Twilight series. Now I am well aware that these books are in absolutely no way literary genius! However it is like losing yourself in one huge marathon of Degrassi with vampires in it! For those of you who do not know what Degrassi is, it is a TV show about High School kids and their amazingly entertaining drama (the slogan is "it goes there"!). When I read the Twilight series I am able to just loose myself in the books because even though the series is chalk full of drama, it's drama that is so rediculous and fun and that would never happen in my actual life so for the duration of the series I am able to forget completely about my own problems and drama and just focus on Bellas! Now you could say that this is true for any good book but I disagree. for me the mark of a truly amazing book is its ability to make me feel- my life, new conflicts, concerns, hope etc. With Twilight readers can just escape those feelings (unless they are at the same maturity level and mind frame as Bella and co.) and enter High School again and for those of us who have just about zero enthusiasm about their own High School reunion this is the perfect way to experience and enjoy those petty moments again and really experience the rediculousness of those over the top emotions that Bella, Edward, Jacob and all of us over the age of 20 have felt! So, no Twilight will never be considered a great work of art (at least not to me) however I have read it 3 times and I'm sure I will most likely read it another 3 times in my lifetime and enjoy it to the fullest every single one of those times! As long as you're not hoping for something along the lines of To kill a mocking bird or even Harry Potter and you go into reading Twilight with the hopes of just having fun and escaping your own life then you should be able to see and feel why so many people love Twilight!
Kirby wrote: "yeah, I don't really know that luck is THAT powerful, guys.I didn't care for star wars, don't understand why it's so popular- did they just get lucky?"
i luv star wars! haha but yea, you're prob rite. i guess it's personal taste - i tend to not like luv stories/chick lit... =P but then again, i really liked wurthering heights and romeo and juliet. maybe only tragic love stories for me, then?
now that i think about it, meyer's success prob has to do with being able to grab the chick lit, romance, And urban fantasy markets. plus, luck in having the rite timing - i noticed she hit it big rite when the publishing world was clamoring for more urban fantasy.
and i'm wondering why other paranormal romances aren't as popular?
I think it's popular because vampires are trending right now, and usually pretty hot. But yes I do think that all the people who dislike it just builds the popularity. I do personally, love Twilight. I have all the Barbie dolls. But there's no problem with that because I'm in middle school. And I think people thirsted for more of the romance. I know that many people who read this were probably quite jealouse of Bella. I mean, yeah, she has a hot vampire who repeatedly proposes, and an average werewolf who is falling head over heels for her. Also, she's 17, her hormones are raging, creating a great deal of drama in her love life. She forever popular at her new school, and just starting with a clean slate, that is soon to be covered in (hot) monsters. You just get so lost in the books, you begin to look everywhere for your vampire! And once Edward first proposes, you know right off the bat they're getting married, so then you're hooked. People just like it! Gosh...
It's an engaging story.
yeah, REALLY engaging...
maybe some people are hoping they will keep bella dead in the movie just to spice it up. that would be an intresting outcome. :D
It's a Mary Sue story, of course it'll be popular. The heroine is portrayed as extremely average, but only from her own point of view. Everyone else in the books thinks she's exceptional. What 'tween and teen girl isn't going to absolutely adore that?
And the older readers get hooked by the timelessness of the romantic story - who hasn't fallen in love and dreamed of never aging, of never losing that 'just fallen in love, everything is new/bright/fantastic' feeling? The Twilight Saga steeps us in it. When we stop reading, we remember our own 20+ years of marriage and ho-hum lifestyle and wish for a little bit more of the story.
No, Meyer isn't a fabulous writer, but she is an exceptional story teller. And I wonder if she'll end up with a reputation like another fabulous story teller's, Stephen King, in twenty or thirty years. Or if she'll disappear and never be heard from again once the craziness surrounding the series fades, rather like J.K. Rowling....
Irene wrote: "maybe some people are hoping they will keep bella dead in the movie just to spice it up. that would be an intresting outcome. :D"well, if that's even a possibility, I sure as hell am not gonna go see that one in the theater (not that I go to movies anyway, but still...)! can you imagine the riot? teenage girls would probably burn the place down! *shudder*
IUHoosier wrote: "It's a Mary Sue story, of course it'll be popular. The heroine is portrayed as extremely average, but only from her own point of view. Everyone else in the books thinks she's exceptional. What..."
J.K. Rowling isn't really forgotten. I bet Stephenie Meyer will go out in 10 yrs, if that. In several yrs, girls will look at Twilight and wonder why everyone went crazy over it. It's OK, but I want to kill Bella and most of all Edward. Plus she's not that great of a writer. I guess people like it cause they envy Bella, but I would never envy somebody so unambitious and stupid and boring
What appealed to me was the paranormal and romance aspects. I've never been a fan of fantasy/scifi/paranormal fiction and so when I read twilight it was the first time I've ever read something of that genre that engaged me.I don't know how exactly it became so popular, but it reignited the vampire genre and people cannot stop talking about it.
i have a feeling that if jk rowling came out w/ another book, it'll become an instant ginormous bestseller - like that picture book she came out w/ a couple yrs ago. #1 all over the place, at least in the UK. so i don't think rowling's out of the game yet.personally, i feel doubtful about twilight's durability as a series, but then again, i didn't like it. =P i can't fathom what would drive zillions of girls to extremes like mobbing bridal stores to try on bella's wedding dress??? just insane to me:
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/twiligh...
For some reason it appeals to the teen audience (and some older ones)I better let Twilight fans handle the explanation because I don't get it either.
Twilight gives what we all want, a dangerious love that destiny tears apart. But it also supplies a outside force (James) who threathens Bella's life. Edward oblivously care, and people seeing this care makes them want the book more.
For teenagers who are reading about paranormal stuff for the first time will find vampires,werewolves and Edward-Jacob-Bella drama fascinating. It had a good romance and i still remember being delirious reading twilight saga.
twilight, i think, is popular because it's so addictive and entertaining. i love the movies and the books.
the answer is quite obvious...... PEOPLE LIKE IT!
IUHoosier wrote: "It's a Mary Sue story, of course it'll be popular. The heroine is portrayed as extremely average, but only from her own point of view. Everyone else in the books thinks she's exceptional. What..."
i really love her writing because she's so expressive.
When I found out about Twilight, I was really excited. I've read all the books of the series (except that one about Bree Tanner), and at the time I really loved them. I was 12. I read each book in a weekend: I started on fridays and by sunday I was finished.I think the story is very catchy, when you're just thinking about the story itself, but when you really open your eyes and re-read it in another perspective, it's crap. I think the story is just really about some teenage fantasy Meyer must have had. Bella is just stupid, Edward doesn't make sense most of the times, and I would like Jacob if he was a guy I met on the street, but in the story he's just weird. No offense.
And another aspect I found out recently: the grammar is really bad in the original edition. The one I read, a translated one, is fine, because the translator corrected the grammar, but I don't really get how the woman wrote thar bad if she has a degree in literature or something.
Summarizing, the story is not that bad, the book is easily read and it's entertaining, but its whole point is really really stupid. It's just popular because of teenager fangirls, like the one I was at the time I read it, 4 years ago.
Because They Are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) <3 <3 <3 <3
I always thought it got popular after the movie was released.I didn't even know about it until the movie came out and I bet I'm not the only one.
Everyone was going mad about it, so I thought, I'll give it a go.....And I honestly thought it was great.
I can't really defend the series....as I believe that it boils down to preferance and the phrase 'each to their own'.
All I know, is that I couldn't put them down and they kept me thoroughly entertained.
I can admit that Bella is an idiot!
Anyone with a half mind can see that.
And yes, there are flaws. But at the end of the day,
I like Twilight and people CAN tell me why I shouldn't until they're blue in the face.
But it won't change my mind.
It is definitely NOT the best book series ever.....and anyone who tries to say it is, hasn't read many books and need to broaden their reading range.
But if people enjoy it....then other people should accept that and quit trying to understand 'why'.
Don't you think?
I personally found the Twilight series extremely appealing when i first read it which was like 4 years ago and i still think it's an amazing series. I think what attracts me to these kinds of book is the love story. I read tons of vampire books (my favorite books) all the time and if there isn't a love story in it i find it boring. Living forever with the love of your life, the one person that makes you complete is what i think everyone wants.
the reason why twilight is so popular is because of how wonderful Stephanie Meyer can create some brilliant characters and how amazing the actors/actresses are. i love urban fantasy/romance books because they inspire me somehow.
Leslie wrote: "I personally found the Twilight series extremely appealing when i first read it which was like 4 years ago and i still think it's an amazing series. I think what attracts me to these kinds of book ..."i agree because i have read all 4 books and they were very appealing to me when i read them. the characters are so brilliantly believable and have different pasts, which i think is incredible. can you imagine how to read people's minds, have strength, speed, and the ability to resist people's blood.
Yeah their super powers or "gifts" also are appealing.
Thanks, Leslie. I would love to possess all those wonderful gifts, especially being able to predict the future, would be a great thing.
I like the relationship between Edward and Bella. I would give anything to find love like that. I wish that Edward was real so I could marry him. I love him so much.
Because it's easy to read. :)
T.L. wrote: "Rian wrote: "when it comes to love between vampires and humans...I prefer Buffy and Angel xD."oh yea, buffy n angel all the way! =D - actually, i started preferring spike at the end, but anyways...."
Hypothetically speaking, if I got killed and returned as a vampire, I wouldn't be okay with killing people to obtain nourishment. My conscience won't allow it. And I also believe this to be true for most people. So I find it hard to stomach the theory that there are only 5-6 vampires who feel that killing people is bad.
Whereas, buffy the vampire slayer's theory about the soul being taken away at the time of conversion, is much more easy to digest. There is a reason why Angel gave up human blood. Twilight? Bogus.
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fans, defend the series and share your reasons for liking twilight below. haters, if the series is awful, then why do you think it's so popular?