Bet Rowling's fans would know better.

[kippurbird]

Ignorance! I love it.

I was following the links and ended up at a U SA Weekend.com article on Stephen King. He mentioned some of his thoughts on various authors including Meyers. In the comments below there's this gem.

Why is he saying that? Btw is he a writer? Well I don't know. But if he isn't a writer that has had books on New York Times bestselling list he shouldn't be talking. Meyer is great, and she has made it better than him. If she wasn't a good writer then why is everyone reading her books? She is great no matter what!!! You can't tell a writer that they suck when they've already dominated some spots on TOP.

Hee!

Comments

[dracorn-adagio.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, RIGHT?

Seriously, how does one not know who Stephen King is and exactly how popular his writing is?

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Love your icon

[smurasaki.livejournal.com]

How can they not have heard of Stephen King?

Sadly, I think even Paolini's fans would know better. No wonder people call them Twitards. *shakes head sadly*

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

One comment that I keep seeing in Twitard comments is something along these lines:

"Oh, wow! Stephenie Meyer is such a good writer! I've never read anything before, but I LOVED these books!"

Understand--I have run across some literate fans of Meyer who (inexplicably) still like the books. But more of the fans seem to be of the sort who never picked up a book before. Terry Pratchett describes that kind of reader in The Fifth Elephant:

It wasn't that he was illiterate, but Fred Colon did need a bit of a think and a run-up to tackle anything much longer than a list and he tended to get lost in any word that had more than three syllables. He was, in fact, functionally literate. That is, he thought of reading and writing like he thought about boots--you needed them, but they weren't supposed to be fun, and you got suspicious about people who got a kick out of them.

I think that's where most of the Twifans and Twimoms are. Belle is a boring girl without much personality, so it's easy for the fans to mentally paste themselves over Bella. It's a very boring story, really--there's no conflict and no actual problem that has to be solved, just a lot of angst and melodrama. The simplicity demands nothing of the Twifans--they do not have to concentrate, deduce or imagine anything. It is simply a wish-fulfillment fantasy of being the perfect girl in love with the perfect boy, and most teenagers are pretty good at concocting those. Look at FFnet if you don't believe me.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

So much yes to this comment.

[kjtaylor.livejournal.com]

Congratulations, you win!

[araine.livejournal.com]

YES!

"Oh, wow! Stephenie Meyer is such a good writer! I've never read anything before, but I LOVED these books!"

Which basically sums up why Harry Potter was a much larger triumph for creating readers than Twilight. Because Harry Potter had the effect of getting kids interested in other books, even if it was horribly fanfic-y at the end.

If Twifans go into any other books series, they are usually romance novels. Which are not much better.

[wariena.livejournal.com]

Funny you should say that. There's an entire gaggle of Twifans in my history class at school, and since reading Twilight they've gone on to read (and love) To Kill A Mockingbird. The world's a crazy place! XD

[araine.livejournal.com]

Huh. Because most of the Twifans I know only went on to read other romance novels about vampires and say that they are also the best things ever written.

[wariena.livejournal.com]

Oh,they still think the Twilight saga is the pinnacle of all that is good and holy. They just happen to think Atticus Finch rocks too.

... please don't ask me how that works. X_X

[ember-reignited.livejournal.com]

Atticus >>>>>>> Edward, seriously. If I ever had the incredible fortune to meet someone that brave, ethical, intelligent, and good with children, I would snatch him up so fast. Sparkling and headboard-breaking might be good for a hormonal teenage fling, if that's the sort of thing you're into, but girls, when it comes to choosing the person you want to spend your life with, always choose the man over the boy. Or the woman over the boy — I endorse that whole-heartedly.

...and now I am picturing a female Atticus Finch. Excuse me while I swoon.

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

Wordity McWord on a Word sandwich. <3 Atticus Finch= my lit-hero. He outclasses Edward in every single way imaginable, not to mention he appears in a book that's about a thousand times out of Twilight's league.

... it helps that he doesn't perform a Cesarian section with his teeth.

[araine.livejournal.com]

WHAT THE-

There are no words.

I am proud of them for liking a good piece of literature, but the comparison, just...

Bwuh?

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

As Gehayi said above, Twilight is the first novel some people have read. Maybe your classmates, having sat through all of Twilight and enjoyed the experience, have discovered that they actually like reading.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[silver-chipmunk.livejournal.com]

Anyone who had even read the article with any degree of reading comprehension should know better. The fact she didn't seems to explain something about the poppularity of Twilight.

[authoressarktos.livejournal.com]

Van Gogh for the win. *focused on icon*

[syderia]

The stupid ! It burns !

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Is he a writer??? Good god.

She is a crap writer that managed, by dint of good timing/luck to create a series that appeals to the fanfic generation. Doesn't mean she's a good writer.

[prototypical]

The stupid is painfully strong today. Ouch.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

I think that just made me lose hope in humanity.

[lenka0602.livejournal.com]

okaaay...

so a book is well written and a quality read only when it has made a NY Times bestseller list? My view of life, universe and everything has just shifted completely.

"Btw is he a writer? Well I don't know."

How can you not know who Stephen King is you stupid teenage sack oh shit! I think the time - space continuum containing this particular person should have imploded because of the obscenely overwhelming amount of stupid.

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

It's even stupider considering that the comment was on an article discussing King's work.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was linked on a Twilight site. "ZOMG this guy totally dissed Edward Stephenie! Attack!"

[arial-vs-lotus.livejournal.com]

my god, my student, who is Korean-born and lives in Seoul and reads English as a second language *knows who Stephen King is!!!* He reads him *IN ENGLISH*. How fucking sad that Twihard fan makes me.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Wow! I have a lot of respect for your student. Anyone who can speak, let alone read, a second language is cool in my book.

[shmeiliarockie.livejournal.com]

Speshul little bunch, aren't they?

If she wasn't a good writer then why is everyone reading her books?

I'll tell you why, little Twihard, but you won't like it. (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C889B504E14888E7)

[araine.livejournal.com]

I am in the middle of watching your videos and I have to say...

I absolutely LOVE how you read quotes from the books! JUST SO MUCH WIN!

[shmeiliarockie.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^__^ That's how I hear Bella's voice in my head.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

May I friend you? You're a genius and your videos give me joy.

[shmeiliarockie.livejournal.com]

Yes, of course. I like having friends!

[dryaunda.livejournal.com]

Whenever I worry about the likability of my Sue I compare her to that schlub Bella and feel much better. ^_^

By the way, would you like me to describe my Sue? I sure would. ;)

[ember-reignited.livejournal.com]

Because I am so going to use that method the next time I worry about one of my characters being a bit too Sueish, I will listen to you describe your Sue. XD

[dryaunda.livejournal.com]

It's big, and I'm not sure anybody else is interested, so I sent you a PM.

[ember-reignited.livejournal.com]

Your hair is gorgeous. It's distracting me almost as much as the sparkles.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I'm flabbergasted. I can go to some backwoods villiage in the deepest heart of Africa where civilization as we know it hasn't touched EVER, they will still know that Stephen King is a writer.

I need a shocked icon.

[dove-cg.livejournal.com]

I have only one question. Did anyone respond to the person who made that comment? Because she/he should really be informed... :D

Also, I love Encyclopedia Dramatica. I mean, I know it links to the same thing (is that how you found that article?) But it's still a great wiki. XD

[lenka0602.livejournal.com]

read ED entry. and examples they listed? beaten with a baseball bat? limbs broken? getting acid thrown on your face, just because you say you are not getting fangasms over something that does not deserve to be called literature? I dont know how many of these are true but damn... and there I thought inheritards were scary

[jacedraccus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm starting to think that next time I hear someone talk about Twilight, I should just punch them n the face to save time.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

No, it went from Metaquotes... to someone's journal to someone else's to the article. Follow the links indeed!

Several people did, you can see in the comments

[ember-reignited.livejournal.com]

This was on Journal Fen's Twilight cornfield. Even better than this were the Twihards who actually had some idea who Stephen King is and claimed he was just jealous because the movie based on her book is doing so much better than any of the movies based on his books did. I shit you not.

[kippurbird.livejournal.com]

Really? Do you have a link to that?

[ember-reignited.livejournal.com]

http://www.journalfen.net/community/sparklefield/20002.html

Enjoy!

Also, the most recent post on that journal features a link to Nutty Madam's response. I haven't watched it yet, but it's sure to be... entertaining.