Today I was in a Chapters, just sipping my cinnamon dolce latte, and my sister comes back from the book section with some disappointing news:
the higher-ups in the Chapters franchise have decided to further the Twilight nation by creating "Edward and Bella's Favorite!" stickers. Their favorite book of the week (or month or however long the vampire couple can stick to a decision) ? Withering Heights.
Yes the classic.
I wasn't sure whether to be happy or completely lose faith in humanity. On one hand, perhaps book sellers are trying to restore young readers' taste? Steer them in the right direction? That must be their excuse. But it's sad to me that they would need to appeal to that side of the population. After reading Twilight how will people react to well written novels?
Don't get me wrong, I've read the series (long before it blew up) and I've been reading for ten years. I may not have graduated high school but in the past five I've graduated from reading Mary-Kate and Ashley books and moving towards some lesser known but well deserving authors such as Ned Vizzini and Jaclyn Moriarty, (and as school progresses: Shakespeare, Ovid and Dante) so I can tell a good book from an entertaining one.
This, my dear reader, is an entertaining book. It keeps you going for a while, it's exiting and you get sucked into the story, but the ideas (if you can find any) are shallow and the characters are stock. The only thing that changes throughout the series is Bella's mortality. As for the thrilling "twists" in the story, well let's just say most readers could tell you from the beginning.
Anyway I've rambled on long enough, you get what I mean: this can't be compared to books that have lasted a century or two- or four. Although some classics may be dull to our (yes me included) generation of video games and superhuman multitasking, there is an art behind literature, it's not meant to be a cheap thrill.
For that I'll save my money and take a trip to the amusement park.
