The Twilight Series

Vampires. Werewolves. Dragons. Witches. Wizards. Elves. Goblins.

Stuff that nightmares are made of - for some folks. After all, one man's meat is another man's poison.

Not for me though. I'm a sucker for fantasy novels an all things mythical. Perhaps not many people know this, but I've always been fascinated by Gothic creatures, inspired largely by exposure to Gothic Literature during my NUS days.

So no one should be remotely surprised that I lapped up Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series which is all about, well, vampires, humans and the wolves.

I completed reading all four books in slightly over a week. That's an average of one in 2 days.

Did I really enjoy reading the series? Well, yes and no.

The novels were obviously written for teenagers - crushes, love, lust, identity crisis, dates, insecurities etc. I honestly wasn't too intrigued by the simple plot, but was curious about when and how the teenage heroine Bella Swan was going to undergo the transformation from weak, puny human to almost-invincible, powerful immortal. And all for the sake of everlasting love. It's another Romeo and Juliet vehicle with a twist.

The Twilight series spawned the movie which catapulted Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullen, the extraordinarily handsome yet tortured vampire, to fame. (I guess having played the young wizard Cedric Diggory in the fourth Harry Potter movie The Goblet of Fire helped in his preparation for the role in another fantasy film). Naturally, the world now is abuzz with hordes of screaming young girls who're smitten with him.

However, the character in the book I enjoy most is that of Jacob Black: the second-finishing best friend who carries a torch for the heroine. Despite being continuously spurned and toyed with emotionally, the wolf-boy is angsty and fiercely loyal to his loved ones. Plus, I'm also a supporter of the under-dog. (No pun intended).

Although the movie adaptation of Twilight wasn't oscar-winning material, I found it a pleasant experience. Here's the Twilight movie trailer:

And here's the sequel, New Moon. The movie will be released in November 2009:

Looks promising. Having read the books, it's always interesting to watch how the script writers tackle the print-to-screen transition.

Maybe it's just me looking at the academic perspective of things. Especially since I've been hearing talk that I'll be teaching Film in the coming semester or the following one.