This one has been kicking around for a while. I've held off because both I didn't want to say more negative stuff about Twilight than I already have (considering how large a rip-off it is of one of my favorite authors) AND because I wanted to see if any dictionary would really change its definition of the whole "SAGA" word used so freely in the movie titles of all the Twilight books.
But every dictionary, even in its most LOOSE definition of saga states that it is a story based on the GENERATIONS of a family in a slow, leisurely fashion. Basically the day-to-day happenings of a family through the great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, children, etc.
Twilight is in no way, shape, or form, a saga. It's not. It's about maybe 3 years in the lives of vampires, werewolves, & this ridiculous human chick who can't decide whether she wants to be one of either faction or dead. There aren't generations of any sort in the books unless you count the HIGHLY marginalized parents & grandparents who show up in almost NONE of the story to give GOOD advice which is routinely ignored, as well as the one baby who really defies all kinds of rules of reality to be born instead of ripping apart her mother in utero.
Which I suppose makes this a rant because every time I hear the phrase "The Twilight Saga" I cringe & want to write 100 emails. But that accomplishes nothing because people will love Twilight regardless of the fact that it is misrepresented, an amalgamation of stolen ideas from another author, and completely full of bad writing. Ah well. C'est la vie.
But Twilight is still not a saga. And I'm VERY glad there are STILL no sparkly zombies.
Wow -- I had never noticed the misuse of "saga" until you (so eloquently) pointed it out! Although I've read them all, and enjoyed reading them, I completely agree that they're terribly written and not very good books. The one thing that I do applaud the Twilight books for, is that they turned a lot of non-readers into readers (same as Harry Potter did, although HP is much, much, MUCH better than Twilight - not even in the same category in my opinion). And for that I have to be thankful for the Twilight books. I befriended quite a few people on Goodreads who self-proclaim that they weren't readers until their teen years, at which time they read the Twilight books and then never looked back!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted this. I never really thought about it but you are right. I loled at your picture :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing that out, really. I enjoyed the books, not the movies but I never knew 'Saga' was being used wrong. Interesting, and good to know :)
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about that, Melissa, but I had heard that too. That people were becoming readers because of Twilight. I suppose, as a proud member of the book nerd herd, I forget that not everyone who does read just naturally enjoyed it all their lives. So I suppose I can semi-forgive Stephenie Meyer for her minor writing ability in light of her major ability to get people reading!
ReplyDeleteI'm also a card carrying member of the book nerd herd -- I totally agree, it's hard to imagine someone NOT loving to read. I keep telling my husband that I will just die if our future children don't love to read as much as I do. I mean, that's why we've been building a library all these years!
ReplyDeleteI agree, I've never thought it qualified as a saga either!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Twilight fan but the series has done wonders. Reading was SO ''uncool'' in my school when I started 6 years ago and then Twilight came along and by the time I left that school, EVERYONE was reading! Not just Twilight but all sorts of books. And Twilight started it all off and made reading a ''cool'' to thing to do.
Hahahah :D Yes, Twilight is definitely not a saga. Margit Sandemo writes sagas, Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote sagas, many other authors write sagas, but not Stephenie Meyer. At the time when I read the Twilight series, I did not know any better (it was years, years ago when they first came out), and couldn't care less. I enjoyed them in the most mindless, pure-entertainment, guilty-pleasure fashion. I hate the movies, but I liked the books, no matter how ridiculous and shady the plot :) But calling it a saga is just plain weird. Not to mention incorrect!
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