I can report that I actually FINISHED this book (more or less) on time, so that was a good start. It was my first foray into Vampire culture (books, films, or TV) but (dun dun dun) would it be my last?
Well... possibly. The Vampire Diaries didn't convert me to the vampire cause or convince me it's an exciting sub-genre, that's for sure. If I hadn't been reading this for book club I would have put this down after a couple of chapters, and never picked it up again. Which is ironic, as it definitely gets more exciting towards the end.
My main beefs with it were that I found it unconvincing (not to mention worrying) that a 17 year old girl would fall deeply in love with a boy she barely knew. I felt it romanticised unhealthy relationships. The teen/vampire crossover has always made me a bit uncomfortable, the use of blood-sucking as a metaphor for sex, and here it was stomach-churning at times. I would rather them have had a normal sexual relationship than this well, perversity doesn't seem too strong a word. [Also, given the risk of hepatitis and HIV, I'm surprised this new
edition didn't edit out a scene where a group of girls become "blood
sisters". Irresponsible, or what?] If it hadn't been a teen novel, it might not have bothered me so much. But when there are so many great YA novels which promote a healthy attitude to female sexuality, why anyone would read outdated stuff like this is beyond me. (It was written in the early '90s, which explains a lot.)
Worst of all, however, I found the prose rather... purple. I probably would have thought it was well-written when I was a teenager. Now I found it overwritten in the extreme, like the worst kind of romantic fiction ("Elena felt passion surge through them like summer lightning, and she could sense the answering passion in Stefan. But infusing everything was a gentleness almost frightening in its intensity." Blah blah etc.)
Plus, it had one of those endings that goes straight into the start of the next book, which always annoys me - I think each book in a series should be complete in its own right. AND there were hardly any diary entries in it at all. Pah.
Book club questions:
Did you read the book (or have you seen the TV series)? What did you think?
Have you read/watched other vampiric culture? (True Blood, Stephanie Meyer's books, Charlaine Harris's books, Anne Rice's books or the film adaptation of Interview with a Vampire, etc.)? Did you enjoy it/them?
How do you feel about the vampire/sex metaphor? Is there any way in which it empowers women? Do you feel uncomfortable about younger teenagers reading about bloodsucking?
Are you willing to put up with not-so-great writing if the plot of a book is great, or is great writing at the heart of fun reading?
Is there anything else you'd like to add? I'd love to know, even if you totally disagree with me! :)
