On Being Literary

So I recently read the entire Twilight Saga. Yes, all four books. Indeed, the well over a thousand pages. And I did this within a week. 

I tell people I read the books in order to be able to bash them, which is kind of true, but it is also true that I read them because I really wanted to know what happens to Bella and the Cullens. Usually, I pride myself on not reading 'unliterary' material. I like to think I read good books, which at the same time are good literature, and deal with things worth dealing with. Still, I read all of the four books in the series termed 'a gripping vampire love saga'. This title alone would normally be enough to keep me far, far away. In reality, I was actually secretly reading, while my husband was talking to me, and also when I was on the toilet. And I never do the latter. 

Initially I wanted to read the books, because I could see all my American friends listed as reading them on their facebook profiles. Also, South African dstv simply does not compare to the television I had gotten so used to, the Mexican Sky. Thus, I've really been reading a lot in SA. Long story short, when the books hit SA, I bought the first one and after finishing that one in a day, I bought the last three the following day. I actually had to go to two different bookstores to get the last three. Desperate, huh? 

"What is so wrong with these books that she has to gripe about them on her blog?", Edward murmured, or possibly Bella cringed. Repetition, total flatness of the characters, and unimaginative expression aside, my real issue with the saga is that the books are mainly meant for, and widely consumed by teenage girls. Hence, the books are not simple bubblegum for the adult brain, but they are in fact moulding the minds of this often very susceptible, young audience.     

I read some of the Twilight reviews that commented on the books teaching abstaining from premarital sex, and while I think this is not a horrible message to pass onto any teenage girl I severely disagree with the way the books convey women as behaving in their marriages, or any male-female relationships for that matter. I simply hate the fact that a potentially strong, intelligent, self-sufficient, and confident protagonist is made into a cooking, cleaning, clumsy, constantly-in-need-to-be-saved-by-the-men-in-her-life, never-smarter-than-a-man rag doll, who is never satisfied with herself, and doesn't think education is worth anything. This is my problem with the books. This is my problem with me reading these books. The books should immediately incite a snarl or a hiss from me, or at least make me cringe, not read in the toilet. 

I guess this post is me snarling, hissing and cringing. Hope this makes me feel better. Soon.