Love You to Death

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I REVIEWED Eclipse, the third book in Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series in September last year. The book was preceded by Twilight and New Moon. To cut three big, fat books short: Teenager Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, a sexy 150-year-old vampire who looks 17, fall in love and grope for pages on end. You would think that Meyer couldn't possibly have written close to 2000 pages on just human-vampire lust, but to hear the fangirls talk you'd think she had. You wouldn't be entirely wrong either to think that that's what most of Meyer's teenage fans love about the series.

At a book discussion group I facilitate, the 13-year-old girls were swooning over Edward. One of them told me that a friend of hers had whited out the name Bella in Eclipse and replaced it with her own so she could fully indulge in a fantasy relationship with the romantic, dreamily good-looking undead hero. It's came as no surprise that the girls were unimpressed by Bella's other love interest, Jacob Black, a native American shapeshifter - most Malaysian teenage girls I know prefer white boys. I'm not sure if, in this case, their partiality had anything to do with the fact that Jacob shapeshifts into a giant wolf. I mean, it's all very well having a boyfriend who hunts deer for nourishment (Edward and his family drink the blood of animals not humans - they're funny that way), but do you really want one who sits by the fireside gnawing on a bone?

Anyway, the fourth and final book of the series, Breaking Dawn (Little, Brown, 754 pages, ISBN: 978-0316032148) was released in Malaysia on Monday (Aug 4). In Eclipse, practically the whole time Bella's with Edward she's trying desperately to get into his pants and he spends the whole time trying to keep her out of them (yet he creeps into her bedroom and shares her bed on a nighly basis - like, duh!). At the end of that book, he's convinced her to marry him so that they can do the deed with a clear conscience!

So, what do you think would be uppermost on the minds of teen fans when they pick up their copies of Breaking Dawn and rush home to devour the book? I admit I too was pretty curious about this vampire-human shagging lark. Now, Edward fears he will kill Bella with his, erm, enthusiam (he doesn't know his own strength, poor dear) so he'd prefer to do the wild thing with her only after he's made her a vampire: her strength will match his then and, hey, she'll be (un)dead anyway so no worries, huh? But that Meyer woman, it turns out, has another trick up her sleeve. Bella wants to experience the delights of the flesh as a human. She wants to delay being turned into a vampire so she can have a real honeymoon. Good lord, talk about perverse, and I'm talking about Meyer. For three books, she has Edward advocating abstinence before marriage, and then she has him still fighting Bella off even after she becomes Mrs Cullen!

Well, given how Edward eventually does give in to Bella, there doesn't seem to be a reason for delaying the "action" apart from the desire to prolong the suspense. This isn't just when it comes to the consummation of Bella and Edward's marriage. Later in the novel, the family has to prepare for an attack by the Volturi (self-appointed watchdogs of the vampire world). The Cullens are accused of a misdeed that may result in them being executed and they spend pages and pages discussing the situation, re-hashing ad nauseum the same facts and arguments and getting ready for possible war. In the end, the confrontation ends with a whimper that if, like me, you tend to skim pages, you might miss altogether. The book is full of this sort of endless exposition ending in anti-climax. Meyer's characters take a long time to state their points of view. The purpose, one supposes, is to increase the suspense, but Meyer overdoes it - the action (or rather inaction, because her characters do so prefer talking to doing) is drawn out for so long that the reader loses interest - whatever curiousity that is aroused in the first place gives way to irritation and impatience, and by the time a resolution is reached, the response is simply, "Oh, god, I waited all that time for this?"

If you read the reviews on Amazon, there is an obvious split between fans who are really disappointed and fans who are gushing like burst pipes. Although I've never been a fan, I was prepared to be amused and entertained. Instead, I am rather disturbed (creeped out is a more accurate description) by several plot developments and the portrayal of Bella. Discussing my concerns in detail would give the story away so all I'll say is that I worry about the sort of messages teenage girls will receive from Breaking Dawn. The book raises some very serious questions, but the way they are handled and "resolved" make me wonder what Meyer's attitude towards these issues is.

The book group I mentioned above will be discussing the book in September and I'm really curious to hear what the girls (and one boy) have to say about it. I definitely intend to talk about all my doubts - I hope they won't beat me to a bloody pulp with their copies of the book!

So, what next for Meyer's fans? Well, of course there's the movie (of Twilight, the first book), due to be released in December. The trailer is really something, especially the bit where Edward asks Bella, "Are you afraid?" and she answers, breathlessly, "I'm only afraid of losing you."

Meyer is currently working on Midnight Sun, a novel about Edward (picture the stampede to the bookstores!). On her website (www.stepheniemeyer.com), the author says that the book started as a character development exercise and that she decided to develop it further because Edwards deserves to tell his story. She says: "At first I was planning to post it all here on my website, but I changed my mind for two reasons, the most important being that Edward's version is much longer than Bella's—Edward over-thinks everything. I'm not even half way done, and the page count is near three hundred." Oh dear. Well, if you're curious there are links to the first chapter on the website.

If December is too long to wait for your next dose of Edward and Bella, there's always A New Dawn, a collection of essays about Edward and Bella. They're written by authors of young adult fiction, like Megan McCafferty and Linda Gerber, and pretty much just sing the series' praises so don't expect any literary criticism or discussions about the sociosexual questions posed by author (however unintentional they may be).

And if your Bella-Edward itch still needs scratching, there is fanfiction. If you happen to be one of those fans who doesn't like what happens in Breaking Dawn, writing your own conclusion to the couple's romance might be the way to go. In fact, the beauty of fanfiction is there never ever has to be an end to the story.

Pauline Baynes 1922-2008

Pauline Baynes, the illustrator of C. S. Lewis's Narnia books, died on 1st August.

She was 86.

For many she will live on because of the iconic images she created for Lewis's series, in particular (for me at least) that evocative picture of Luch and Susan frolicking with Aslan (on the cover of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and the one (in the same book) of Lucy walking through the snow with Tumnus the Faun (left).

In fact, Baynes illustrated books many other books by other authors, including J. R. R. Tolkien, Rumer Godden and Helen Piers. I was surprised to discover that she was also responsible for the cover for the first paperback edition of Richard Adams's Watership Down. That's one cover I remember distinctly from my childhood - I didn't know she was the illustrator until I read about her her death on Brian Sibley's blog.

Sibley also wrote her obituary in The Independent.

Books for All Babies

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

By DAPHNE LEE

ABOUT a month ago, I had the good fortune and pleasure of "meeting" a librarian by the name of Rashidah Begum. Like so many first-meetings in this day and age, it happened online when Rashidah emailed me about an exciting programme she is involved in.

"Every Baby a Book" was launched in July 2007 by the Penang Public Library. It brought together two ideas: to produce a durable children's book from cloth and to provide every new baby in Penang with a book, in the hope of nurturing a love for reading.

This programme reminds me of "Bookstart", a British project that aims to provide every baby in Britain with free packs of books in order "to inspire, stimulate and create in children a love of reading that will give them a flying start in life". "Bookstart" is run by Booktrust, a British charity funded by the Arts Council of England, and supported by British booksellers and publishers. The official website stresses the importance of showing that "books are fun!"

It's marvellous to think of a similar programme being launched in Malaysia. The Penang Public Library certainly has the right idea in targetting children from the word go and in involving parents in their efforts. Research shows not just the benefits of exposing children to books and reading from an early age, but also how children thrive if they are read to at home by their parents. I guess nothing beats sharing an activity with loved ones in a familiar and safe environment.

Unlike "Bookstart", "Every Baby a Book" is based on a single book that has been developed specifically for the programme. It is A4 in size, with a horizontal (or "landscape") layout. The material is a synthetic blend, silky and smooth in texture. There are all together 11 leaves (22 pages), inclusive of the books' covers.

Owing to the book's size and the thinness of the material, the reader has to rest the book on a flat surface to turn the floppy pages easily. Babies and toddlers would probably use the floor, although tiny fingers might lose their grip on the slippery fabric.

The book opens with a short introduction to the programme. This is followed by instructions on how to use the book. The actual content (that would be used by children) fills 10 pages and comprises "alphabets", "numbers", "colours and shapes", "I", "coconut tree", "fruits", "hibiscus", "fish", "animals" and "computer".

Each concept or subject is introduced without the use of text, only pictures. It is up to parents and care-givers to expand on the basics provided by the book. The "parents' guide" includes tips on how to do just that.

Rashidah mentioned to me how important it was, to those involved in producing the book, that it should feature Malaysian content. Hence, I suppose, the inclusion of "coconut tree" and "hibiscus", which otherwise might seem arbitrary.

Also, there are pictures of bananas and durians in the "fruits" section. Only bananas and durians. This, I feel, is going too far in the other direction, no matter how tired you are of reading about apples, oranges, peaches, pears and plums.

One of the things that worries me about this programme is how there is very little in the book that actually stimulates a child's imagination. If all we need are letters and numbers, arranged in a row, one might as well write them out oneself (on cardboard, if durability is an issue). As for the pictures, they are presented in an abstract manner, floating on the page, unrelated to a story, not even part of a scene that might be used as a basis of a story. The guide suggests what parents might say about the pictures, but would your child apreciate being told what the five petals of the hibiscus symbolise? Well, yes, if the hibiscus was part of a story, but not, I think, apropos of nothing at all.

I think the aims and objectives of� the "Every Baby a Book" programme are admirable. It really is an excellent idea to get parents actively involved by holding training sessions and workshops that show them how to read to children. I do, however, have reservations about the book produced specially for the programme and wonder if it could be replaced with a selection of books that are better suited to capturing the attention and interest of children.

Authors and illustrators whose lifework is writing and drawing for the amusement of children are the ones who are most qualified to produce books that will encourage a love for reading. While I am passionate about promoting reading, and I can see how sincere the Penang Public Library's intentions are, I feel we would fare better if we used the works of "experts" like Margaret Wise Brown and Rob Campbell, Eric Carle and Maurice Sendak to further the cause.

I wrote to Rashidah about my concerns and in her reply she said, "I would like to emphasise that the programme is the first of its kind here and I would like to consider it an evolving programme. This means that the approach, and even the content may change as we get feedback."

That a programme such a "Every Baby a Book" even exists in Malaysia is heartening and I applaud the Penang Public Library for its vision and effort.