Damien.

I abhor these books. They are poorly written and cliche. They have snared the minds of children who should be reading Ender's Game. The same goes for those Gossip Girl books.

Are these pathetic books partially to blame for our majority of self absorbed, annoying vain teenagers? I hate most teenagers. Then again, I hate most people.

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A-L

They catch on because they are easy to read and absorbing. It's really all you need to sell a book, it doesn't have to be amazing or anything. Look at Harry Potter, far from the most amazing series of novels I've ever read yet they are gripping and can be read easily. Also, they are kids books. Books geared towards a certain group of people. In truth, I don't care about how she writes (because I haven't gotten past the first few pages) so long as teenagers are reading. If kids like it, then it sells.

But then again I see your point. It seems that most people don't care about how well written a book is. What matters is if it's entertaining and easy to understand.

Angel101

God, I hate them. They're ridiculous. They only got published because they're marketable to ignorant teenagers who enjoy the angsty melodrama of teen romance. It's sickening.

A-L

What's sickening is how much money the author is making.

SevenWritez

I read the first Twilight so that I could understand the hype. Anyways, there's no angsty teen drama. It's just garbage.

And A-L, the whole "so long as they're reading," line is shit. I don't mean anything against you, but if they're reading shit, they're reading shit. That's not a good thing.

Tiamat10

But better to start out reading shit and enjoying it than reading some great literary masterpiece and hating it. Think about it, if kids are reading Twlight (haven't read it, don't have a friggin' clue what it's about) but they find the act of reading fun, that's so much the better because when they get to the point where they have to read Shakespeare, at least they'll know that not all books are dull and annoying to read.

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JosephB

I tend to agree. Reading something is better than reading nothing. There is always a chance the reader will continue to seek out more shit. However, once the concept of reading for enjoyment is introduced, at least there's a chance a reader will be open to something more worthwhile.
I have no idea what the readership of these books is. I doubt they could have that much effect.

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"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
-- Albert Einstein

"I am really only interested in a fiction of miracles."
-- Flannery O'Connor

Malone

I've never even heard of Twilight. I'm going to go google it.

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mandax

I hated reading. When I was thirteen I read Harry Potter. I loved it and have read all seven. I'm also an English major now. I've just finished reading House of Mirth and I'm reading The Great Gatsby for the second time.

So I don't think Twilight is such a bad thing.

Ilasir Maroa

Anyone who doesn't think Twilight is a bad thing is in serious danger of losing their soul.

I have a friend who says he has to read it (for some reason or another), and I'm praying for him, muchly.

If Twilight was the first book I had ever read, I don't think I'd still be reading; thank goodness it's come much later than my book habit did.

There's more than one, and they're all terrible. They're like the new Hardy Boys, except there's less of them.

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Malone

The Hardy Boys are awesome, blashphemer!

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A-L

Has anyone seen the movie trailer? It looks terrible, but I bet it'll make a ton of money.

JosephB

I think it's silly to have this kind of high-brow, condescending attitude about light fiction aimed at young people. This has gone on since the dime novels of the 1800's. It hasn't destroyed any minds or prevented the writing or reading of great literature.

Yeah, yeah. It may be crap. But I would contend that reading bad writing is better than watching nearly anything on TV, and may actually spark an interest in reading.

But my, aren't we good judges of writing? We can identify that teen books are poorly written!

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"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
-- Albert Einstein

"I am really only interested in a fiction of miracles."
-- Flannery O'Connor

A-L

So long as kids are reading. Hopefully the Twilight series will spark interest in other genres and books. I can't remember the first book that I completed on my own, but poorly written or not it sparked an interest in writing and reading.

SparkyLT

My my my...I got these books for Christmas last year. I didn't enjoy them as much as I had hoped too, and I would've rather gotten something else, but I wouldn't call them garbage. The movie's bound to suck, though...

Anyway...I appreciated a different take on vampires, and I was able to ignore most of the annoying romantic junk. I wouldn't burn the books, but I would sell them at the drop of a hat.

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