I think one of the hardest things about growing up and becoming an adult is that you are expected to relinquish certain "childish" things. The relinquishing isn't necessarily the hard part. It's the expectation that comes from some unknown societal norm, which is somehow able to enforce the ideas of proper and improper adult functioning. This expectation applies to many things, but I've specifically been thinking about it in regard to literature recently.
My high schoolers have been crazy over this book called "Twilight" for at least the past year. Girls are forever quoting it, referencing it, and alluding to it. Now, it really is a teenage GIRL thing, but it is extremely prevalent within that all too dramatic realm. In hearing so much about it for so long, I decided I wanted to read it to see what all of the fuss was about. I mean, I was pretty much the president of the Harry Potter Holdout Party for years until someone finally tricked me into reading the first book. I've never turned back.
So I read "Twilight". In two days. On my iPhone. (The iPhone part is unimportant to the story, really, I just thought it was cool that I could have a book - or two - or ten in my pocket at any given moment). I didn't like the book, but I did like it. The 26 year old college graduate/teacher in me thought it was sort of poorly written and not imaginative enough to reach Harry Potter quality. But, the dormant 15 year old girl inside me loved it. It's that whole dangerous/bad boy/true love/"Grease" kind of thing that every teenage girl eats up. And I discovered that as I've grown up I haven't left behind my younger years, I've just piled expectations of maturity on top of them and caused them to stop making decisions for me.
I think that's the allure of Harry Potter. I mean, nearly everyone had an imaginative childhood, and when anyone reads something as endearing and different as Harry Potter our 10 year old selves come up momentarily. But not everyone has been a lovesick teenaged girl. And those of us who have, tend to pile expectations of maturity on top of those years first to try and forget all the stupidity and "heartche" that existed within them. So it's understandable that "Twilight" would not be as widely adored and accepted as some fantasy sagas.
Reading the book made me feel like I was in high school again. I liked it as 15 year old Anaka and I couldn't wait to read the next one. However, I found myself embarrassed to admit to anyone, including my husband, that I enjoyed the book in some way. The other thing I found was that I really did want to talk about it with someone, but the only people who had read and enjoyed it were my 15 year old girl students. I really didn't want to take off the 10 years of age difference that I have worked so hard to distinguish over the past year and a half by opening up that conversation.
So that's where I'm left right now. Blogging about "Twilight" to an audience of none and about to read a chapter in the third installment in the series. Maybe I'll cook for my husband or clean the house later in order to get back to my 26 year old self that I'll let rest for the moment.
By the way, go Team Jacob.
My high schoolers have been crazy over this book called "Twilight" for at least the past year. Girls are forever quoting it, referencing it, and alluding to it. Now, it really is a teenage GIRL thing, but it is extremely prevalent within that all too dramatic realm. In hearing so much about it for so long, I decided I wanted to read it to see what all of the fuss was about. I mean, I was pretty much the president of the Harry Potter Holdout Party for years until someone finally tricked me into reading the first book. I've never turned back.
So I read "Twilight". In two days. On my iPhone. (The iPhone part is unimportant to the story, really, I just thought it was cool that I could have a book - or two - or ten in my pocket at any given moment). I didn't like the book, but I did like it. The 26 year old college graduate/teacher in me thought it was sort of poorly written and not imaginative enough to reach Harry Potter quality. But, the dormant 15 year old girl inside me loved it. It's that whole dangerous/bad boy/true love/"Grease" kind of thing that every teenage girl eats up. And I discovered that as I've grown up I haven't left behind my younger years, I've just piled expectations of maturity on top of them and caused them to stop making decisions for me.
I think that's the allure of Harry Potter. I mean, nearly everyone had an imaginative childhood, and when anyone reads something as endearing and different as Harry Potter our 10 year old selves come up momentarily. But not everyone has been a lovesick teenaged girl. And those of us who have, tend to pile expectations of maturity on top of those years first to try and forget all the stupidity and "heartche" that existed within them. So it's understandable that "Twilight" would not be as widely adored and accepted as some fantasy sagas.
Reading the book made me feel like I was in high school again. I liked it as 15 year old Anaka and I couldn't wait to read the next one. However, I found myself embarrassed to admit to anyone, including my husband, that I enjoyed the book in some way. The other thing I found was that I really did want to talk about it with someone, but the only people who had read and enjoyed it were my 15 year old girl students. I really didn't want to take off the 10 years of age difference that I have worked so hard to distinguish over the past year and a half by opening up that conversation.
So that's where I'm left right now. Blogging about "Twilight" to an audience of none and about to read a chapter in the third installment in the series. Maybe I'll cook for my husband or clean the house later in order to get back to my 26 year old self that I'll let rest for the moment.
By the way, go Team Jacob.
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