Twilight - Love it, or Hate it?

[magellan]

I tried to read it, but i put it down when i came across this sentence:

The desk was manned by a woman wearing glasses.

Since then i have been wondering if wearing glasses would have been a good career choice for me...

[mangosta71]

Now, can someone please explain how it's possible to grow two extra chromosomes because you've been bitten by a discoball? And how is it viable? Aren't you supposed to suffer from some serious malformations if you have extra chromosomes?

I suppose, theoretically, it would be possible to implant cells with extra chromosomes. But to do so you would have to simultaneously inject the nucleus of every single cell in the subject's body with them. Or pump them with something that's so genotoxic that large pieces of their chromosomes break off and, rather than forming micronuclei that are subsequently flushed out of the cells during mitosis, somehow remain inside the membrane.

Realistically, no, it is not possible. But they do suffer from serious malformations! They sparkle if sunlight hits them! The horror!

Incidentally, 24 pairs is how many chromosomes several other primate species have. Chimpanzees in particular. And if you look at the karyotype, it's remarkably similar to ours. Just a deletion here, a transversion there, and bam.

[Lord Seth]

I tried to read it, but i put it down when i came across this sentence:

The desk was manned by a woman wearing glasses.

Since then i have been wondering if wearing glasses would have been a good career choice for me...

Uh, at the risk of sounding stupid, what's wrong with that sentence? "Manned" seems an odd verb in that context, but I'm not sure how the sentence is so bad it would make you stop reading.

[Sholos]

Well, it's a passive sentence, so a possible improvement would be:
"The woman manning the desk wore glasses."
OR
"A woman wearing glasses manned the desk."
OR
"The woman at the desk wore glasses."

Any of those would have been considered better if you're one of those people with a hatred of the passive construction.

[Avilan the Grey]

Well, it's a passive sentence, so a possible improvement would be:
"The woman manning the desk wore glasses."
OR
"A woman wearing glasses manned the desk."
OR
"The woman at the desk wore glasses."

Any of those would have been considered better if you're one of those people with a hatred of the passive construction.

Actually I prefer the original sentence to any of these, particularly the last one is bad because we can't tell if she's just sitting at the desk, or is actually manning it. Of course I have no hatred of the passive construct. Or even any knowledge what a passive construction is.

[Sholos]

Actually I prefer the original sentence to any of these, particularly the last one is bad because we can't tell if she's just sitting at the desk, or is actually manning it. Of course I have no hatred of the passive construct. Or even any knowledge what a passive construction is.

A passive sentence is one where the main subject isn't actually coupled with the main verb. Example: "The ball was thrown by the man." An "active" version of that sentence would be: "The man threw the ball."

I don't have too much a hatred of the passive construction, either. It's just that the American (perhaps other countries as well, but all I know for sure is American) grammar system teaches that they're bad. For some reason. Mainly that the subject of the sentence isn't doing the action. I don't know why that's necessarily a bad thing, though, especially if what's being done to the subject is more important that what's doing the action.

I agree that the last sentence is worse, now that I think about it, but the other two would probably be considered improvements.

Now, this particular sentence isn't all that good because the desk in question isn't exactly important. It's a desk. Whoopy. The woman is the subject we're supposed to be paying attention to, and the sentence makes us focus on the desk instead, casting the woman in a less emphasized role. That's not good.

[magellan]

I don't know why that's necessarily a bad thing, though, especially if what's being done to the subject is more important that what's doing the action.

I agree that the last sentence is worse, now that I think about it, but the other two would probably be considered improvements.

Now, this particular sentence isn't all that good because the desk in question isn't exactly important. It's a desk. Whoopy. The woman is the subject we're supposed to be paying attention to, and the sentence makes us focus on the desk instead, casting the woman in a less emphasized role. That's not good.

Exactly. If you use passive you better have a reason. Don't make me wonder why she needs a desk to wear her glasses. ;)
And "manned by a woman" is a mixed metaphor.

[PhoeKun]

And "manned by a woman" is a mixed metaphor.

And yet the term "womanned" seems so incredibly awkward.

edit: it's actually not a metaphor of any kind, but that's neither here nor there.

[magellan]

Hmmm .... ok according to http://www.thefreedictionary.com/manned

manned
Adjective
having a human staff or crew

So since a desk can't have a staff or crew manning a desk is a metaphor (unless you use it as a raft).
Ok, maybe it isn't a mixed metaphor, just awkward :)

[Milskidasith]

Overall, I'd have to say I hate Twilight. Between the horrible and shallow themes, the meh quality writing, (it's not fanfiction, but it's certainly not good) the incredibly stupid (and at some points nonexistant) plot, and the total disregard of science*, economics**, history**, and all the other stuff Myers BS'd instead of researching, I just couldn't enjoy it.

*We all know the scientific errors; getting pregnant from venom, getting hard without blood, being able to move while having skin harder than diamonds, being ice cold (It's like doing it with a popsicle!), etc.

**One man was rich because he was a banker. During the Great Depression.

[Trai]

I hate Twilight with a burning passion. It might seem unusual given that I am an eighteen-year-old girl and the target audience, but I read the first book (and have knowledge of what happens in the others) and found them awful.

The writing was terrible. To be clear, I read the book against my will-- it was chosen for my school's book club, and as President I had to read it. I'd already started it once before on my own, as a fan of vampire novels, and thrown it down in disgust.

Stephenie Meyer has acknowledged basing her stories on classics and such-- Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, etc. I'm also a big classic fan, and Austen and Bronte are much better and much more immortal than Meyer will probably be. I dream of the day when no one will have heard of these books.

I also think that the relationship between Bella and Edward runs heavily towards abuse. He tells her what to do and she meekly submits to his wishes. She has NO interests besides him and marries him right after graduating, without giving a thought to college or a job because heck, his family's rich...

[Nameless]

I was a vampire once!
…
Except I didn’t drink blood, I drank beer.
…
And I didn’t eat human flesh, I had tofu.
…
And I didn’t twinkle in the sun, I burned.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I thought you people might enjoy this
Even as a Twilight...fan is too hard a word. Er.
Even as a Twilight-semi-fan, this made me lawl.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That was brilliant!

[tribble]

I was a vampire once!
…
Except I didn’t drink blood, I drank beer.
…
And I didn’t eat human flesh, I had tofu.
…
And I didn’t twinkle in the sun, I burned.

so you're an albino?

EDIT: the main problem with passive tense is that it's wordy and it feels stuffy. this is why the sentence in question feels so dang awkward.

[Lord Seth]

I was a vampire once!
…
Except I didn’t drink blood, I drank beer.
…
And I didn’t eat human flesh, I had tofu.
…
And I didn’t twinkle in the sun, I burned.

Reminds me of the end of Chester A. Bum's review of Twilight ...which I can't quote for you because the video won't play for me at the moment. But he said something like that near the end.

[Elfin]

HATE.

Haven't gotten past the first few pages... and I'm not going to.

[MichelleLBC]

I love, love Twilight.

[LurkerInPlayground]

I suppose, theoretically, it would be possible to implant cells with extra chromosomes. But to do so you would have to simultaneously inject the nucleus of every single cell in the subject's body with them. Or pump them with something that's so genotoxic that large pieces of their chromosomes break off and, rather than forming micronuclei that are subsequently flushed out of the cells during mitosis, somehow remain inside the membrane.

Realistically, no, it is not possible. But they do suffer from serious malformations! They sparkle if sunlight hits them! The horror!

Incidentally, 24 pairs is how many chromosomes several other primate species have. Chimpanzees in particular. And if you look at the karyotype, it's remarkably similar to ours. Just a deletion here, a transversion there, and bam.

People.

Magic.

It's so obvious. Rambling about extra chromosomes raises more questions than it answers and hence is no answer at all.

Repeat after me. Magic.

[zeratul]

As a lover of vampires and werewolves i find what i know of this book to be a travesty. We need more good modern vampire related stuff like 30 days of night to bring back the terror with vampires and get the romance bull**** dissociated with em in my opinion.

[Sholos]

People.

Magic.

It's so obvious. Rambling about extra chromosomes raises more questions than it answers and hence is no answer at all.

Repeat after me. Magic.

That'd be a perfectly fine explanation if the author hadn't said that her creations worked with modern biology.

[Avilan the Grey]

As a lover of vampires and werewolves i find what i know of this book to be a travesty. We need more good modern vampire related stuff like 30 days of night to bring back the terror with vampires and get the romance bull**** dissociated with em in my opinion.

I don't know... I have never found any interest in purely monstrous vampires. They become just another Bug (like Alien, or Aliens, depending of if we do it "alone and stalking" or "mass of creatures"). I prefer them somewhere in the middle. Thoughtful. Evolved personalities. And definitely not human.

...Incidentally I find I really like Trueblood.

[Avilan the Grey]

That'd be a perfectly fine explanation if the author hadn't said that her creations worked with modern biology.

...Yeah. Because they do. Not.

It could work with Biology!*, but not with biology.

*A subclass of Science!

[LurkerInPlayground]

Also, am I the only one who goes berserk when hearing fangirls who declare it "t3h best b00k seriez EV0R"?

I saw an interview where the actor who plays Edward actually expresses that he doesn't like the book; pretty much because he thought Bella has a Mary Sue romance.

Now he's harassed by fangirls all the time. To the point that he was hit by a car once on account of it. To the point that they try to break onto any set that he's working on and disrupt the filming.

So chances are no: You're not the only one annoyed by it.

Oh hey, there's the link:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article...wilight-series

[Cristo Meyers]

I saw an interview where the actor who plays Edward actually expresses that he doesn't like the book; pretty much because he thought Bella has a Mary Sue romance.

Now he's harassed by fangirls all the time. To the point that he was hit by a car once on account of it. To the point that they try to break onto any set that he's working on and disrupt the filming.

So chances are no: You're not the only one annoyed by it.

Oh hey, there's the link:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article...wilight-series

The more it sinks in that he's probably going to regret choosing to do this series the less he bothers to hide the fact that he thinks the books are garbage and that the fans scare the hell out of him.

It's about the most (read: only) entertaining thing about the whole mess, books and all.

[Miss Nobody]

I saw an interview where the actor who plays Edward actually expresses that he doesn't like the book; pretty much because he thought Bella has a Mary Sue romance.

Now he's harassed by fangirls all the time. To the point that he was hit by a car once on account of it. To the point that they try to break onto any set that he's working on and disrupt the filming.

So chances are no: You're not the only one annoyed by it.

Oh hey, there's the link:
http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article...wilight-series

I knew he doesn't like the books and that he is harassed by fangirls, and that he got hit by a car because of them, but now they're disrupting the filmings? Insane fandom is insane...

[Kalbron]

That interview is hillarious though, considering he correctly pings Meyer as insane.

[dexxus]

After reading this article : http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article...wilight-series
although I'm a lover of Twilight series..but I haven't read any books ever
since.. the movie made me love the story.. that article had given me the idea
that the story was based on Meyer's dream..

But in general, I think the story is nice..we Filipinos were really in to
romance and love stories that is why, we get to love "Twilight"..

[andrewmoquin]

I have no lots of ideas about vampires and it makes me think what really on the twilight why people get crazy to it. It really invades the mind of the many and even oldies get fascinated with it.

For me, I also use to love it and because Stephenie is one of my favorite author. Though the movie is just plain but there's still on it, maybe romance and the tandem of the two star, that's why people get crazy over it.

[Fan]

{Scrubbed}

[Lord Seth]

Honestly, I feel like I should read the series just to see if it's as bad as people claim. Of course, the last time I tried that was Eragon, and I was pretty much ready to give up when I reached the third chapter.

Of course, Twilight is of the romance genre, something I'm not really that interested in unless it was written by William Shakespeare, so I'm not sure I'd really be a decent reviewer; it would be like asking me to review a sports video game, something I'm not that interested in and thus wouldn't be a fair reviewer of. My sister's a big fan of the series, and told me that it's more for girls so I wouldn't like it, so...

Uh, what was the point I was trying to make in this message? Oh yeah, I was saying that Shakespeare is awesome.