A while ago, Lily posted a few diagrams linking
vampires to
christianity in an "I can feel the fires of hell lapping at my heels" fashion ;p. While playing around on amazon, actually doing research for my previous two postings, I found there are multiple novels out that delve into the philosophy behind this culture wave and attach deeper meaning onto the pleasure writings of Stephanie Meyer a tad too much in my opinion.
I find the first book in this segment:
Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of Immortality by Rebecca Housel et al to be mildly interesting. Mind you, I do not think a deeper meaning is tucked within the tween writings of Meyer, but I am willing to be humored. The summary reads:
"Bella and Edward, and their family and friends, have faced countless dangers and philosophical dilemmas in Stephenie Meyer's
Twilight novels. This book is the first to explore them, drawing on the wisdom of philosophical heavyweights to answer essential questions such as: What do the struggles of "vegetarian" vampires who control their biological urge for human blood say about free will? Are vampires morally absolved if they kill only animals and not people? From a feminist perspective, is Edward a romantic hero or is he just a stalker? Is Jacob "better" for Bella than Edward?"
The next two books I will mention concern themselves wholly with the dialogue that parents should enter into with their young girls enfatuated with the Twilight saga and how they can view the novels in a Christian light. This I find amusing seeing as how Meyer is Mormon...but I digress.
Touched by a Vampire by Beth Felker Jones, described by a reviewer as such:
"Beth does a excellent job of examining the major themes of: love, family, humanity, sex, marriage, and violence The Twilight Saga presents. She examines the saga's stance on each of these things with footnoted quotes from each book. She then cross examines each of the books stances with the truth of Scripture giving good real life examples and Scriptural text to support. Each chapter ends with some questions to ask in a small group setting over what was read in the chapter. These sections make this book a great study to do with a group of girls. There's a discussion guide as an appendix to the book as well."
Then we have
Parables from Twilight: A Bible Study by Diane Schantin which allows the reader to:
"discover how passages from the Twilight books and the Bible inter-relate. Included are ten lessons guaranteed to spark great discussion among Twilight fans about their favorite characters and great Biblical themes."
Now I am not in particular poking fun at the Christianity study books listed above, but I can hardly fathom how anyone can find deeper meaning in the Twilight saga than what is literally written on the page. The book is meant for entertainment on a very basic level, reading more into it just weighs it down and makes it unenjoyable. The philosophy behind why vampires have become such a booming trend in pop culture has a place, but not a literal translation of the books themselves. If anyone is interested in these and has read them or disagrees completely with my lack of faith in Meyer's third eye, please feel free to comment. Also these are but a small handful of the books out there in this topic range, if there is one we should check out be sure to send a note! :)
~Helena
"Bella and Edward, and their family and friends, have faced countless dangers and philosophical dilemmas in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels. This book is the first to explore them, drawing on the wisdom of philosophical heavyweights to answer essential questions such as: What do the struggles of "vegetarian" vampires who control their biological urge for human blood say about free will? Are vampires morally absolved if they kill only animals and not people? From a feminist perspective, is Edward a romantic hero or is he just a stalker? Is Jacob "better" for Bella than Edward?"
Touched by a Vampire by Beth Felker Jones, described by a reviewer as such:
Yep you read me right! There is now a cookbook out with recipes for the human-dying-to-be-a-vampire in all of us! Check out Bite at Twilight: Vampires, Forks, and Knives by Gina Meyers and Gina's other cookbook entitled Love at First Bite. (which both honestly look like the same product to me...shrug)
The lengths this pop culture phenomenon has gone does not really suprise me anymore. The reviews I have found say the cookbook is rather juvenile, but would still make a good gift for getting that teenager into the kitchen."Love between a teenage girl and a vampire can be a beautiful thing. Then again, it can get a little ugly. Just ask Stella Crow. Stella is a clumsy but otherwise ordinary girl whose life takes a radical turn the moment she meets Edweird. Though perfect on the outside, Edweird Sullen is remarkably unrefined on the inside. He also happens to be a one hundred year old vampire, trapped in the body of a teenage boy, who has yet to finish high school. Nonetheless, Stella is unconditionally smitten with him. But not everything is rosy in this gloomiest of towns. Edweird's enemies have sworn to put a tragic end to their romance. Against all odds, the bond between Stella and Edweird is nearly strong enough for their love to survive. Most love stories between an impossibly handsome vampire and an ungainly young woman have a magical ending. This one - not so much."
I won't bore everyone with the details since Lily has already introduced the premise of this novel. I will just jump up on my well oiled soapbox and spout my opinion. :)
