Love At First Bite

I saw the movie at the beginning of this year and was less than impressed. After much delay, I finally caved and read the book last week. Just as everyone who'd dared me to read it predicted, I was hooked. Even my husband! blew through it in only three days and enjoyed it. So, we watched the movie together on Sunday and were both TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED. We kept saying, "that's not how it happened in the book." Everyone knows the book is always better than the movie, but this screenplay altered the storyline to a shocking degree by misplacing lines and adding events that didn't exist in the book. I wondered how the author could agree to let her story be so unrecognizably altered?

Since we were hooked after reading the first book, I ordered the next couple from Amazon and to our delight they arrived today. My husband just read the first 125 pages in a little over an hour. He's just gone to bed, so now it's finally my turn. I'm sure we'll both be finished with it by the end of the week. And we're both hoping, that with a bigger budget, the New Moon movie will stay true to the book and not be butchered as Twilight was.

Thanks.

I've been reading Twilight recently and, despite the hype, I found it a real disappointment. I've been told by avid fans that the movie is a watered down version of the book and not to bother seeing it until I'd finished reading. I have read many books that have later been turned into films and I must say that, generally speaking, I prefer the read. I'm an actor so it certainly isn't that I'm against filmic interpretation, it's that I enjoy seeing a world develop through the pages and I find it difficult to compromise that through watching a version of that world on screen.

What I have really struggled with throughout reading Twilight is that the dramatic tension built over some chapters is completely abandoned in the pay-off (Edward in the sun, Bella telling him that she knows his secret and so on). Expecting this unsatisfying notion to carry through into the filmic interpretation, I braced myself for another Da Vinci Code let down. Though there were a few clunky moments and drama appearing from no-where (James hunting), I have to say that the majority of moments that I had anticipated negatively worked far better.

I will persevere with the books, despite Bella's overly long and draining descriptions of how amazing Edward is (you could miss out whole chapters and miss nothing from the plot!)... but I'm definitely a Twilight movie fan rather than a Twilight book fan.

lousisa thomas you are crazy !! im only 11 , im on brecking dawn, and when a saw the movie i was aghast , in the book more happens, and edward cullen in twilight movie , has a square head? , the movie makes the book look like some wird book, but infact the movie SUCKS !!!!!!

lousisa thomas you are crazy !! im onlt 11 , im on brecking dawn, and when a saw the movie i was aghast , in the book more happens, and edward cullen in twilight movie , has a squere head? , the movie makes the book like sume wird book, but infact the movie SUCKS !!!!!!

THE BOOK IS WAY BETTER THAN THE MOVIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU INSANE WOMAN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jacob is awesome and totally HOT

As a 27 year old woman who read all 4 books well before the movie was even a concept I must agree wholeheartedly with your review. After seeing the movie I can't read the book without realizing how poorly written it is. Hearing Kristin and Rob speak some of the lines directly from the book actually made me laugh out loud in the theater. People in real life just don't speak like that! And, just for the record, my favorite thing to do is curl up with a good book and get lost in the story. Sorry to disappoint you, I'm no zombie nor am I 13 years old. I just know what I like and I like the movie better than the book.

Have you even read all the books? Have you even finished the first one? If the anwser is no then you have no right to the comments you put in your article. You made a big mistake by seeing the movie before reading the book. The book, after all is the original story. You saw all the added stuff and then you read the book and was dissapointed because those moments weren't there. In my, and many others opinion, the movie was not good, not the book. plus, what is this crazy talk about sex? there was no mention of sex in the 1,or 2 book. In your article you said you sat in the book store. I don't think anyone could read a whole book in a bookstore, I mean it had to close sometime, right? If you didn't finish the book, which you never said you did, you would have no right to write that stinkin' article. Most books have kissing and stuff, in fact in the teen section at my book store, theres whole books on those types of topics. Why aren't those getting bashed,huh? If you don't have all the proof of your claims, please keep your opinion to yourself.
P.S I have all my proof because i've read your article muliple times and I have read the series and seen the movie.
P.S.S
mia4127 i agree with you totally

I am 60 years old and I can't tell you how many times I have read all of the Twilight Series books! I also saw the film several times. I could not get my brother or husband to see it with me because they said all vampire movies are about, "take me" and chick flicks. Maybe they are right but it's because the book, as well as the movie, was really about desire and romance-and in these times of world conflicts, high unemployment, greed of Wall Street, Madoff, etc. maybe it doesn't hurt to have a little romance with a bite. I love the first kiss scene and Edward saving Bella from James. True, if one did not read any of the books and saw Twilight-one could not truly appreciate Edward's internal conflict, nor fully understand Bella's character. I can't wait for Midnight Sun either. Chesca Fresca

I think that in order to give books the open mindedness and respect they deserve, one should refrain from seeing the Hollywood version beforehand. Films based off of original literary work are infamous for disappointing fans of the written work. On the other hand, seeing the movie before the book sets the viewer/reader up for a let down. If you go into it expecting to read what you saw on the big screen, then why even bother? After watching Pride and Prejudice with a friend, I read the book and realized that my expectations were unrealistic going into the reading. Okay, my point-- authors put everything into writing their stories, and books are wonderful for details and full character development; Hollywood chops the story and casts people in our favorite character's places. For me, it is a situation that leaves me confused. I did not love the Twilight movie-- perhaps because I read the entire series beforehand, and I loved it. I won't bash the film-- there were highlights-- but how someone could slam Stephanie Meyers work and place the overrated movie in comparison honestly baffles me.

Are you crazy? I have always stuck to nonfiction books until Twilight came out. After seeing the movie my 8 & 10 year old daughters bought the books. They were huge & I thought it would never keep my attention. WRONG!! I am on my 3rd time reading the books & it still isn't old. I have NEWS magazines piling up because I would rather be in the fantasy world (with my family of course) than being surrounded by all the crap in real life. I was obsessed with polotis before twlight and my TV stayed on CNN. Not any longer. I carry my "bible" around EVERYWHERE to read it. I run into SOOOO many people of all ages that stop to talk about the book. Stephenie Meyer is the most talented writer in the world!! She has brought so many strangers together in discussion and has put smiles on millions of faces. I am of middle class & don't have spare money lying around. If she were to announce she was coming out with a 5th book (hopefully Midnight Sun) and it was for sale for $200 with no preorders, I would camp out in line for 48 hours & pay the $200.00 without a 2nd thought & with no regret. Please let Newsweek readers see everybody's comments, so the world (not just America) won't listen to Louisa Thomas & they will actually read the book and make a friend in the Twilighter's World. Guarenteed 9 out of 10 women & girls will read all 4 1/2 books in less than a month.

Louisa, why are you taking this movie so seriously, it is just a movie, it is not real. Why can't you just watch it a then ha's it ike eating, once you have eaten that's it.

Wow! See I read the books after the movie. I actually read all four books in less than a 2 week period. I was captivated by the book. Maybe I am more book inclined, because the detail is what grabbed me in the books. I found the book to not resonated the love that Bella felt, but rather a timid girl that was not overwhelmed with a great love that the book portrays. The book described the struggle of craving for her blood, but something about her makes that turn to a human process evoked in the Edward which was dead back in 1918. He was brought to life by Bella. That is what does not resonate in the movie. The movie looked like a mere high school infatuation, not a love that transcends generations. However, I love the movie and do own the 3 disc dvd. I take the movie as a different kind of story. It just didn't hold as much weight as the books to me. Who knows, bay Tristan and Isolde ruined it for you.

The screenwriter and the director of Twilight need to be shot. I'll admit I had no intention of reading the books until a friend insisted we goof off and see the movie. I instantly read the books and fell in love. Subsequently the movie fell to the back of my memory. The books are not Shakespeare by far, but they tell a wonderful, romantic love story. Deep down Edward is exactly what every woman wants. You can rant all you want about Bella being weak and Edward being a stalker, but deep down that kind of love is exactly what we all want. When the DVD was released I did buy it and watched it with horror. They ruined the whole story, left in lines/scenes that are horrible ("This is the skin of a kliller, Bella"?) and left some wonderful scenes and background on the cutting room floor. The soundtrack is pretty decent but other than that I was dissapointed at what the movie did to the book. Proving once again, the books are always better than the movie.

The screenwriter and the director of Twilight need to be shot. I'll admit I had no intention of reading the books until a friend insisted we goof off and see the movie. I instantly read the books and fell in love. Subsequently the movie fell to the back of my memory. The books are not Shakespeare by far, but they tell a wonderful, romantic love story. Deep down Edward is exactly what every woman wants. You can rant all you want about Bella being weak and Edward being a stalker, but deep down that kind of love is exactly what we all want. When the DVD was released I did buy it and watched it with horror. They ruined the whole story, left in lines/scenes that are horrible ("This is the skin of a kliller, Bella"?) and left some wonderful scenes and background on the cutting room floor. The soundtrack is pretty decent but other than that I was dissapointed at what the movie did to the book. Proving once again, the books are always better than the movie.

Meyer's vampire series sucks. No one will ever top the queen of vampire novels -- Anne Rice.

I have to agree with Angeleyes...the books are much better than the movie...period. I was highly disppointed with how the movie was casted, directed and everything else...It sucked. If you are looking for a GREAT vampire series, try reading/ watching TRUE BLOOD.....it is tremendously better, has a great story line, and in the HBO series, Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin have phenomenal chemistry. Forget Twilight.....go over to the True Blood side....

I recall the first time I saw the movie "TWILIGHT" it was Thanksgiving Day of last year. My cousin-in-law came over and talked about how she had seen the movie 15 times (over 21 of course). However I had no idea what would make a person want to see a movie 15 times and then some. It was after I saw then I realized the facination with the movie. Okay I'm a sucker I love the books and I love the movie. Waiting for the New Moon in May 09, guess I'll just have to wait. I felt the acting was good and I understood it. but then again thats just me. After I watched the movie the first time my husband bought me the first book and then two days later I was read the New Moon, after a week an half I read all four books, he he he, what can I say maybe I'm a vampire-lover.