I've been trying my hardest to get into Stephenie Meyer's The Host. I just can't seem to get motivated to read it. I usually fly through books if I have the opportunity, and this one has been sitting in my living room--virtually untouched--for weeks. When the Twilight saga came out and everyone started reading it, I was able to get through it relatively quickly. Probably because I was bound and determined not to have anyone ruin it for me by overhearing something they were discussing at work. And almost everyone I knew, across the board, had devoured the series and loved it. SOOO much.
I found myself (and I hope my sister doesn't disown me after this) somewhat underwhelmed by the rambling, somewhat overly romantic stylings of Ms. Meyer. Dare I say it, my belief wasn't even suspended! Darn right that vampire was fictional. Not even my fiance waxes poetic the way Edward did. What saved the story for me, I think, was the modern setting. If she had opted to set her story in the past the way most of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire novels had been, it would have felt utterly anachronistic. Ms. Meyer's sensibilities in terms of character-driven thought processes are firmly planted in the here and now.
The Host is, unfortunately, in a futuristic setting. She's still writing like Twilight, but this book centers around a bunch of alien-infested human hosts and the possibility of the last few un-infested hold-outs. The setting is different, but the overly romantic verbal posturing is still there. My hopes aren't too high that I'll be able to breeze through this one: no one else I know is reading it, so I don't have any real reason to speed my way through it.
Hopefully somewhere in there will be a decent plot and some good action. For right now, these first 90 some-odd pages are a real slog. And I still have another 500-plus to go. I'll post my findings once I figure out whether I like this book or not. And I will finish it, regardless.
I haven't been motivated to read at all lately. I was even dragging through Jen Weiner's "Little Earthquakes" and I usually devour her books. Of course, this one was all about having kids and not as romantic. But I don't think I'd be in a flowery mood, either. I know what you mean about being annoyed by Edward. It occurred to me that Edward is an embodiment of the teenage girl fantasy. Especially in the way he wants to know EVERYTHING about Bella, and while overcome with violent desire for her, is able to restrain himself out of adoration/love. It reeks of my naive and conflicted pubescent fantasies. I think this element had more to do with the series popularity than Meyer's writing style. I was on team Jacob, myself. The whole cold flesh thing really creeped me out. Well, I guess I'm done rambling on your blog. :)
ReplyDelete