The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Out & About

JESSICA BROWN

I am a believer - I have seen the light - or the darkness, rather.

On the long trek to Jacksonville, Fla. only a few weeks ago, my friend nonchalantly told me to begin reading "Twilight" - the latest fantasy novel series whose cult following has now exploded into legions of obsessed teenage girls (and their mothers).

I, a 20-year-old college student, have proven susceptible.

I have fallen down the "rabbit hole," as my friends call it, and have become enthralled with the fantastical story line that fuels my daydreams but extinguishes my hopes of finding a suitable boyfriend.

"Twilight" is far from some depressing Gothic novel mirroring Dungeons & Dragons, it is a full-blown, knock your socks off, passion to the highest degree, love story.

The author of the series, Stephenie Meyer, has simply struck gold with a young-adult novel that reaches so many people on so many different levels.

Yes, it is just a love story, and yes it is about a creepy parallel world full of mythical creatures, but the escapism it creates is absolutely addictive.

The main character and the apple of every girl's eye is Edward Cullen.

Meyer has created the perfect male, topped with unbelievable physical strength and mind-reading abilities that make him able to shock and awe the coldest of hearts. He undoubtedly becomes the unattainable man every girl wants.

Add to this fact that the main female character, Bella Swan, is decidedly ordinary and clumsy. It's too easy for all of female middle-America to identify with her.

When words on a page can make your heart jump, your nerves tense or your eyes well up - that says something about the power of Meyer's craft.

She has described her writing process for the novels as writing a screenplay, picturing every scene as clearly as a film.

She fully grasps a colorful writing style to set the scene, and Meyer has mastered the art of depicting every facial twitch, longing glance and heart tremor with such emotional complexity that it instantly brings readers into each of the character's sentiments.

For an author to be able to recreate the sensation of falling in love is reason enough for me to fall down the rabbit hole - and I won't be the only one down there.

- Jessica Brown is a variety writer for The Red & Black.

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