Sunday, March 21, 2010

Harvard Lampoon Parodies Twilight

The Harvard Lampoon has taken aim at Twilight, and the result is pretty funny.  I just found Nightlight at Barnes and Noble last night, and the first few pages were so funny I had to buy it.


Nightlight Delivers Some Laughs

Hardly the first parody of Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, Nightlight does however seem quite entertaining. The opening chapter peels right into some of the weakest aspects of Twilight - the excessive descriptions, Bella's ("Belle Goose") excessive loner-maturity, and the somewhat-overdone social relationships.

That first ten pages nearly had me rolling on the floor at Barnes and Noble.  However, by the end of that first chapter, I'm starting to find the humor itself a little old.  If you really enjoy parody (or if you read Twilight but were bothered by the writing style), then you may enjoy Nightlight quite a bit.

Twilight - Still an Unexpected Pop Classic

If you haven't read Twilight, then I highly recommend it.  As a book, it's surprising how it can pull you in.  As a work of literature, the sentence structure is at times atrocious.  You may even be stunned by how many near-run-on sentences could make it into a book this popular (or any published book).  And this, I think, is all the more reason to take a look.

Unlike some writers I've met, I believe we have a lot of learn from Twilight.  The way Meyer develops and holds the tension of the narrative is impressive.  It made me a somewhat jealous.  As a writer, I know write better sentences, but I don't know that anything I've written would keep someone glued to the kitchen table reading after dinner.


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