Manipal’s finest were at it again with a sensational victory against IITM Dubai. Following their spectacular victory against Canadian University, our college roped in another victory in splendid fashion. It was once again a collective team effort that ensured victory. IITM came close but Manipal never let them grasp control of the match.
Batting first, Manipal University put on 161 for 5 in their 20 overs. Two innings that stood out were that off Surinder (36) and Captain Nigel (40). The rest of the players got into double figures as well but once again could not capitalise on their starts. The batsmen dominated the IITM bowlers throughout. The run rate for the innings was 8 runs per over, which shows the authority of the batsmen. The only bowler who gave IITM any control was Raul with figures of 22 for 2 from his 4 overs.
The Vastness of the Field (Photo by Jeraz Pastakia)
When IITM came out to bat, they tried to look positive from the outset. However, two early wickets pegged them onto the back foot. But, a brilliant 50 run partnership between Zeeshan and Junaid gave them some hope. But, they too eventually fell. Once they were out of the way, our bowlers cleaned up the rest of their batting order with ease. Apart from Junaid (51) and Zeeshan (23), there wasn’t a single player in the batting order who reached a double figure score, the next highest score by an individual was 9. Although they ended up with a score of 146/10 in 19 overs, it was largely due to the fact that Manipal gave away 34 wides and 1 no-ball.
Running Up (Photo byJeraz Pastakia)
It was yet another resounding victory for Manipal. Captain Nigel Rodriguez was adjudged Man of the Match for his all round performance. He made 40 runs with the bat and had bowling figures of 21 for 2 in his allotted 4 overs which turned out to be a match winning performance. The captain truly led by example in this match.
Manipal University now has perfect record with 2 victories from 2 matches. Their next match is against Middlesex University on 26th of October. If they manage to win that match, they automatically qualify for the semi-finals. With the momentum gained from these 2 victories, and the form that Manipal are currently showing, it should be a cracker of a match.
During the golden era of films when celluloid was still young, a masterpiece was created in which the director, producer and the main lead were played by the same visionary -Orson Welles. Citizen Kane is one of the most eminent chapters in the bible of film making. A gripping story line that hints of real life occurrences along with path breaking cinematography by Greg Toland, the film that was released in 1941 proceeded to become a momentous success. The film won the Oscar award for Best Screenplay and was nominated in nine other categories for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Black and White Cinematography, Interior Decoration, Sound Recording, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture and Film Editing.
The story bears a canny resemblance to the life of the newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst. The trials and tribulations of Hearst’s life are represented through Charles Foster Kane, the focal character of the film. It depicts the rise and fall of the power of a charismatic individual who would have gone on to become the Governor of New York had he not been caught in a tangled web of controversies. A publishing baron who tastes the zenith of success through sensationalized stories and yellow journalism has his reputation tainted after his scandalous affair with his mistress which is spewed all across the newspapers. From an influential public figure he is reduced to someone who is abandoned by the world and his loved ones and was made to walk as a mortal without who has fallen from fame.
The movie is a visual magnum opus, a kaleidoscope of thrilling camera angles and images that weren’t successfully attempted before. For a film that was made in black and white, Greg Toland set an example for future cinematographers to follow. He perfected the art of using deep focus and extreme low angles in an effective manner that set a worthy paradigm in American Cinema. Not only was the cinematography unconventional but also the star cast of the film that consisted of thespians from Welles’s Mercury Theatre group who made their debut on the silver screen.
Citizen Kane was a movie that was made ahead of its time. Even today, it is included in every teaching plan for students of film making. Nothing would explain the wonders of impeccable direction and cinematography as this film does. It radiates sheer brilliance and audacity as it caricatured one of the most famous personalities in the history of media. Citizen Kane is a movie that reflects the dream of a 25 year old debutante director, one that went onto become a revolutionary classic.
Officially kicking off Student Hub’s Week of Welcome (WOW) was the movie night, at Grand Cineplex (near Wafi City), on the 20th of October.
It was an exciting and much anticipated event as over 300 students from Knowledge Village and Academic City hustled into the transport provided (at DIAC), and headed towards a night filled with free popcorn and Pepsi.
Ready for the Celluloid (Photo by Megna Kalvani)
Priced at just AED 15, ‘The Final Destination’ the much awaited horror/thriller flick of the year, started at 6pm sharp, keeping the students glued to their seats right from the beginning.
Even though many of them backed out from purchasing the tickets originally, due to the film not being in 3-D, there was a great turnout who left with pleased faces leaving the theatre at 8pm.
Other students also enjoyed the concept of the event- students spending time together at a newly released movie at half price. It was truly a dream come true for the students, especially for those wanting to unwind.
Before The Projector Beams (Photo by Megna Kalvani)
‘I would definitely rate the movie 5/5. It was definitely a good experience, neat crowd and it was a great way of spending time,’ Raghav Babbar, a student at IMT said.
His friend, Ankit Yadav piped in saying, “Yeah, the experience was very nice. We should have events like this often.”
As contented and satisfied students left for their respective buses, the Student Hub had successfully accomplished yet another entertaining event for the students. What better way to welcome new sheep into the flock?
Each year ethnic day is celebrated in Manipal University as a way of expressing our ethnicity and to remember our roots while away from home. This year ethnic day was enhanced by a ‘Rangoli Competition’ that had been organized on 15th October, 2009. The crown was taken by the Fashion department as Ms Javeria Pasha, Head of Fashion Design said in a pompous manner ‘I knew we were going to win’. This was mainly down to their creativity as she also added, ‘It’s about ingenuity and knowing the composition of elements in a design’. Their 89 points, which was enough to beat the Interior design team who finished second by only one point, lay in the use of a prop which was dressed in a heavy Choli with a Dupatta wrapped around her waist and hands raised so as to hold diyas to commemorate the festival of diwali. Although the diyas were never lit in fear of a fire!
Adina from Interior Design was highly appreciative of the competition and said, “It feels nice to get back to our roots, especially on a day like this which is auspicious for us.”
The raw materials involved not just synthetic colours , but also the use of natural grains of various colours (used by the Information Systems Management branch mainly to make their Ganesha) and flower petals such as marigold used by the Biotech department.
The theme of the entire competition revolved around the peacock, the national bird of India. The criteria for judging were: choice of design, colour combination, cleanliness and overall effectiveness. It was judged by various faculty members. As Fashion had successfully met all these criterion, they were declared the winners!
Ms Mutter …Just around the corner New in town, Nice and Round, Seeking pastures that are green Accompanied by a gobbling gossip queen. Frisking around the fields
Fodder is her favourite meal She is Black and white Wait till you catch her sight
With a swish of her tail She attracts the attention of every male Look out for her Our very own Ms mutter.
Animation By Zaheen Hussain
Next week: Ms Mutter describes her adventurous trip to Stargate – the latest attraction in town!
As a final project of the 5th semester, the students of the Print Media in B.A Media and Communications launched a compact newspaper called ImPrint on October 15, 2009. Through this project, we intend to leave our mark as print students before graduating and so, after much brainstorming, agreed on calling the newspaper ‘Imprint’. Megna Kalvani, a fellow student, sheds light on this choice, “We decided on the name Imprint because when separated, the word reads ‘I Am Print’ which symbolizes us, the print students.”
Like every newspaper, this one too has a design team, editors, sub-editors, reporters and photographers. All of us will get a chance at experiencing each of these roles.
A proposal was presented to Dr. Md. Firoz, Head of the Media and Communication Department regarding the project at hand. “I am very delighted to learn that the students of Print Media Specialization are finally coming out with the weekly compact newspaper. I was present for the presentation made by the students and I think that the entire idea is original and innovative. The effort being put in by them is quite laudable,” he said.
The newspaper design is the creative genius of five of our classmates, who volunteered to undertake the challenging task. They were guided by Mr. Sabir Haque, a senior lecturer with the Media department and the Design Coordinator for Imprint. “Very few people today get a chance to speak out their mind. Imprint will give that freedom to the students which they will seldom find outside. Cherish it and let’s try to keep it alive,” he stated.
A lot of creativity and experimentation has gone into the designing of every page. Almost five different logos were designed of which we finally chose a thumb impression as our logo. Blassy Boben, a member of the designing team, announces with pride, “We contemplated reusing the layout of an existing newspaper, but we decided to start from scratch. Now the style is truly ours.”
With great pride we also bring to you ‘Mutter’, our very own comic strip created by Zaheen Hussain, the in-house comic artist. “Think of Ms. Mutter as a combination of Cleopatra and Hillary Clinton,” he says with a grin. Catch the witty Ms. Mutter as she sets out on adventures along with her friends.
Ms. H.S. Shubha, the faculty in charge of the project, is anticipating our newspaper as much as we are. “I am very hopeful that this kind of project will give the students an idea about running a newspaper but on the other hand I am also very anxious. I hope that it will be well accepted and worth the effort put into it,” she says expectantly.
The newspaper is targeted at the students of the Manipal University, Dubai Campus and will be circulated within the university premises. So do remember to pick up a copy of Imprint every Thursday for the next eight weeks and stay updated with the latest in campus news. You can share your creativity with us in the form of poems, artwork or anything else. Your feedback is important to us and suggestions can be sent to feedback.imprint@gmail.com
The Maxtalent cricket tournament got underway on the 7th of October with universities from various Emarats coming together to compete for the Pride Cup. This year there are a record 16 teams competing for the coveted trophy. Our very own Manipal University cricket team got their campaign underway this week on the 11th of October against the Canadian University. Other than Canadian University, Manipal University’s group includes IITM Dubai and Middlesex University.
The match between Manipal University and Candian University was dominated by Manipal for most parts of the game. Manipal won the toss and elected to bat first posting a total of 176/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Surinder and Glickson opening for Manipal gave them a promising start but could not capitalise on their start. Eventually both fell for 13 runs. There were double figure scores throughout the middle order. All the little 10s and 20s made up the mammoth total of 176.
When Canadian University came into bat, they had a daunting task in front of them. They lost their opener Tauseer for 2 runs early on in the innings. His fellow opener, Minhas, made a solid 29. But, unfortunately for them there was no other victories worth mentioning. Canadian University were under pressure from the offset and tried doing too much too soon. By the time they tried stabilising their innings, they had lost too many precious wickets and were just trying to play out the 20 overs.
In the end Manipal won the match by a whopping 73 runs largely due to one performance, that of Rahul Kumar. His brilliant 41 not out and bowling figures of 15/2 off his 4 overs earned him the Man of The Match award, a thoroughly well deserved accolade. Hopefully, he will continue to perform consistently throughout the tournament.
"It was a great team effort and to win the first match in such superb fashion is a real boost for our confidence" - Vinay Mehta
Manipal’s next match is on the 18th of October against IITM Dubai. With the form that Manipal is in, this promises to be an challenging encounter. IITM will be coming off an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Middlesex University and will surely have a point to prove.
The Nobel Peace Prize is not won by ordinary people. It is won by the people who have extended their hearts and hands beyond the pull of their own lives and have put in extraordinary efforts into ‘saving the world’ as one might put it. Started and named after Alfred Nobel, an author, inventor and pacifist amongst other things, this award has been won by the likes of Mother Teresa, Yasseer Arafat, Mikhail Gorbachev and of late (and early as!) Barack Obama!
The point of this award is to felicitate those who truly work towards world peace. It has honored the Red Cross committee three times by now and also the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees twice which explains rather substantially the reasons for Obama’s victory.
The crown has its own long tale of struggle as he is considered perhaps the only World Leader to have made the most honest and conscious efforts in his power in bringing the Arab and Western World together. Obama has his own personal tale of struggle and hence that makes him into just the ‘perfect man’ for a job that requires in-depth insight and conscientious effort.
While working towards ‘hope’, as his campaign tagline went, signaling a better future for the world, his diplomatic efforts are in tightening world gaps based on common value system, which certainly must have roots somewhere in his own personal difficulties and upbringing and his viewpoints on the world, as a result of it.
[Barack Obama being informed of his victory over the phone.
Picture courtesy: www.nytimes.com]
The glory of this victory is such that his efforts are being highlighted in the most traumatized part of the world, as a result of American bombing, Hiroshima and Nagaski and people cheer ‘we hope he will bring us a better future’ and ‘he is the right man for the job’.
As Mr. Hersy a Kenyan cab driver in Indianapolis said ‘he is an intelligent man’ which wasn’t being said because he is from Harvard but because he has got real intelligence which is incomparable to the world’s average intelligence.
Since Nobel Prizes happen to be the flavour of the month, I thought why not cover the story of an Indian. Afterall these are the stories that brim all of us up with pride. And such stories make more sense too since the tale of someone who was born in Chidambram and moved to California, followed by Ohio University and working himself to the ground while researching “ribosome” is a true Nobel Prize Winner.
Ribosome is integral to fighting bacterial infections. Hence, one knows why and how he would get the award for doing research in this valuable field. Ramakrishnan has been felicitated along with Thomas Steitz and Israeli Ada Yonath. He had been working at the MRC Laboratory in Cambridge University trying to develop effective antibiotics for the human body. The Swedish Academy of Science decided to honor him because they felt the most important part of the puzzle had been solved for them.
Ribosomes are extremely important protein producing substances which help fight diseases easily. Ramakrishnan, 57 years old, is a senior scientist who also received a Doctorate in Physics from Ohio University. Infact, when he received the phone call one morning, he thought it was a practical joke and even complimented the other guy on his ‘swedish accent’.
Humbled after receiving such a prestigious award, all this newly awarded nobel laureate could think of was hoping to take such a complicated process forward after working tirelessly on building an ‘atomic picture’ using X-ray crystallography.
For those who don’t know, the Nobel award was initiated by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and that Mr. Ramakrishnan would also win a 1.4 million dollar purse, accompanied with a gold medal and a diploma.
As per the report on www.news.rediff.com, he was so consumed by his passion for science that he accepted a massive pay cut and moved to the all-paid for laboratories at University of Utah. Nicknamed as ‘Venki’ , Dana Carroll , former chair of biochemistry and professor said ‘Venki cared more for the science’ which is clearly seen in his quotation ‘It’s all about loving research enough to make it your life mission’.
Upon his Indian roots, this US citizen says ‘I think it would have been difficult to do my research’ because ribosome research involves use of synchroton x-rays as he also remarks 'my Indian colleagues who use that technique have to travel to France or Japan, and that makes it much more difficult.’ Having said this, Venki is not too outdated on his knowledge over research levels in India either because he remarks ‘think there are not many problems now in terms of research being done in India -- it is only a matter of people wanting to do it.’
His kind eyes and humble smile speak a lot about his personality. His other passion was Carnatic music. Whenever he managed to get some time, he would make it a point to attend a music show. There have been several times when his students have accompanied him on such shows.
Nothing has been left aside to congratulate him on his victory as even vice-chancellor of GU Pramal Trivedi told times of India “Gujarat will always take pride in the fact that Venkatraman studied in MS University in Vadodara,’ which explains more than enough about the length and breadth of his pride.
“Wake Up Sid" is a comedy film about an unmotivated college boy who takes life for granted, until he faces some difficulties in life.Sid (Ranbir Kapoor), is the focal character who studies less and prefers leading an easy life. His priorities are his friends - his camera, his car, his X-box 360. He also enjoys his mother's unconditional love and all of life's luxuries, courtesy of his wealthy father but has no direction in life whatsoever.
Belonging to this generation, many of us are in the same boat where we have no aims in life and tend to treat it like a bed of roses.Many students enter college without any goals in and till the end have the same mindset that they began their university life with. In a way, we all resemble Sid- the carefree and a non ambitious being. Even after many of us graduate, we still seem to be in search of an aim
“I myself have no special goal in life, and am very inconsiderate towards the feelings of my parents. I do not want to think about my future right now as I am enjoying college to the fullest, but after watching the movie, I think life isn’t what we think it always is and someday we need to get serious. And it would be better if I do it as soon as possible.” Says Megha, 21 year old, college student.
[Megha, the 21 year old in search of an aim. Photo Unzeela]
Sid realizes his responsibilities towards life and parents after his failure in college which breaks him down and forces him out of home. This makes him struggle later on, for his dignity and also to make him financially stable. The movie continues to inspire us till the end of it by giving us a glimpse into Sid’s life and yet reflecting the mindset of many youngsters. It brings us back to reality wherein it’s better to change our attitude towards life and dream of a better as early as possible before it becomes too late.
[Mr Hassan Photo- Unzeela]
When asked to a parent about their concerns of their children, Mr. Hassan said “I am a father of two boys studying in high school. I would definitely not force them into doing what they wouldn’t like to do but then they have to know the basic realities of life and should have a proper mindset about their future before it gets too late.”
Sid could not adjust himself to a strict environment of a formal office. He longed for something that would define himself that is an independent and a fun character. This is why he was more comfortable and excited about his job as an assistant photographer. The movie preaches in a rather unique way how being carefree can be the one way ticket to a ruined career.
Wake up Sid is a realistic movie and keeps its audience hooked till the end. It has many heart warming scenes that relate to both the youth and the adults. A must see for those who seek entertainment amongst life’s lessons.
MATHEMATIKA- THE MATH QUIZ is coming back with a bang this October.
Last year an overwhelming sixty-eight teams showed up from which a selection of seven was made. Being the runners up the Media Department grudgingly handed over the trophy to the proud engineering geniuses.
However being a huge hit, everything is being set up to rack your brains again.
The quiz will be held at the auditorium in the end of October. It is designed to be more of a quantitative aptitude test. Based on the fundamentals of math it will comprise of high school and + 2 math.
Every student in Manipal University is invited to participate, rather dared, to be judged whether your math memory is still inbuilt. The invitation is also open to the staff but it’s more informal.
Get your confidence and competiveness with you as the engineering students are all prepared to grab the trophy again.
Public speaking and debates lend a podium for fresh viewpoints and useful opinions, hopefully which will bring about some change. It was probably with this intention in mind that Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) started the initiative of debates involving GCC students on two levels i.e. school and college. There are two languages allowed for the debate i.e. English and Arabic. The debate will consist of a panel of four judges with the finals taking place on 18th and 19th of November. The auditions took place at MAHE auditorium on 1st of October. Mrs. Uma Prasad, the Student Services Officer was present as a judge during the auditions. Here is an interview from her:
Q How were the auditions?
The number of students who turned up was better than most years. Also, the pieces which were read out were good.
Q. What are you looking forwards to the most?
First of all, I am very confident due to the high response. The team is good and we are certainly looking forward to winning more laurels for the college.
This is an interview with Hemal Vaya, the lead speaker of the Manipal Team. Hemal says she is truly passionate about debating. Just the kind of attitude we’d expect from our lead speaker.
Q. How does it feel to be representing Manipal University this year?
It’s always a pleasure and honor representing your university for such a competition. But at the same time it can really be nerve wrecking during the last few days. I am hoping I live up to the expectations bestowed upon me, because this competition is all about representing your entire team.
Q. What are your responsibilities as a Team Speaker?
As the speaker representing the team, I have to put across our view point in a detailed speech along with a visual presentation for 12 minutes. According to our topic this year Ecology v/s Economy, we are aiming at reaching out to the youth. This competition is an extremely important platform to stage Environment Awareness Ideas to the youth.
We also spoke to Ritesh Matlani, a second year media student and a member of Hemal’s debate team.
Q. What viewpoints are you hoping to bring forth and what are you striving to gain?
We are striving towards achieving a balanced eco system. Individually we can do our bit through daily activities. We are aiming for the well being of the environment and frankly speaking if out actions save the environment it will be useful for the economy. This includes water, forests, wildlife and raw materials.
Ritesh also excitedly informed us that his team would like to start activities around the college over a span of next two months. These will be activities on a small scale which will take place to highlight the importance of environment to everybody. He said ‘We would need the entire college to support us in bringing our mission forth. The team plans on highlighting the importance on these issues’. Here’s wishing them all the best in their noble endeavors. Here’s hoping Manipal University once again covets the title for the ninth edition of the EEG debate.
The 2nd Middle East gaming convention was held on October 1st-3rd 2009.
This 3 day event brought together some of the most prominent gaming companies. Assembled at this event which is still in its infancy were game smiths such as Microsoft with its XBOX 360, Sony with its Play station consoles but a notable absentee was Nintendo with its WII. The Microsoft battalion came well oiled and was on a mission. A barrage of titles ranging from just released to soon to be released titles such as Forza Motorsport 3, Halo 3: ODST and LIPS Number 1 Hits.
Stalls were erected in order to promote the product and intricate designs were set up in order to reflect the content of the games. For example the multi platform game “Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2” was set up with as an army barracks with the attendant dressed up in camouflage. A competition was also where the winner would receive a Nissan 370z, competitors would have to battle their way to the front of the lap in Forza 3. Concerts were also held but these were done by players of the new Guitar Hero 5.
A disappointment was awaiting the visitors at the entrance as the highly anticipated “Assassins Creed 2” was only given a meager one console slot. Music was produced from the back of the truck where the boot was laden with music mixing hardware and software. One of the most popular games was “Bayonetta” a game of fast moving weaponry which was punctuated by a voluptuous female protagonist. The usual assortment of football games completed the line up. The final day held a treat for the visitors as free games were given out. The games exhibition was a fitting homage to the gamers of the region.
Institute of Management Technology, Dubai International Academic City is organizing an inter college Gaming Event on the 9th and 10th of October, 2009 for the first time ever. They urge all students to participate and challenge their gaming techniques on an inter-collegiate level. ‘We look forward to the active participation from students’ said Mr. Abinav Bansal, IMT.
Please not that this event is only open to DIAC students. Prizes will be awarded to winners and certificates to all participants.
Gaming Events • Counter Strike (Clan Wars) Team of 5 players + 1 reserve(optional) • Defense of The Ancients (Clan Wars) Team of 5 players
Both events will take place simultaneously. Laptops are allowed for only Defense of the Ancients (Clan Wars) due to technical restrictions. Timings: 11am - 4pm (for both days)
Registration charges: AED 10 per player Registration closes: 8th October by 6 P.M
For Queries and registration contact: Rohit Jain (0556963546 ) rohitjain08@imtdubai.ac.ae or Abhinav Bansal (0556532589) abhinavbansal08@imtdubai.ac.ae
“When life offers you a dream so far beyond any of your expectations, it’s not reasonable to grieve when it comes to an end.” -Isabella Swan
Curiosity was my entire reason for reading Twilight, but that curiosity came from several different sources. One was how the series as a whole has been publicized as the next Harry Potter. Since I love Harry Potter, reading this book thus made sense. And also a lot of my female friends had told me that this vampire love story was really amazing.
Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making the scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar premise, that of a new kid in school, and gets us thinking that this will be yet another realistic young adult novel.
Isabella Swan's move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made, even if she soon becomes the centre of attraction for most of the boys in school. But once she meets the mysterious and attractive Edward Cullen, Bella's life takes a thrilling and terrifying new turn. Bella learns from family friend Jacob Black that legends say that the Cullen family are immortal vampires. Until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in. Edward’s family are all rescued vampires headed by Dr. Carlisle, who has taught them how to peacefully coexist with humans. For Edward's sake they welcome Bella into the family but difficulties arise when James, a tracker vampire who is intrigued by the Cullens' relationship with a human, wants to hunt Bella for sport.
After reading Twilight, it was clear that Harry Potter and Twilight are poles apart. Twilight is a spellbinding gothic love story of a mere mortal and her vampire boyfriend. It is an easy and enjoyable read and is sure to make the readers eager to read the next three novels. It is a story that grabs people in its hold to follow how the relationship between a human girl and a vampire boy could be possible. The relationship is fraught with dangers, so full of the wonderful feeling that heralds one’s first love, yet so impossible, that it does not let you go. Twilight fans cannot get enough of the charismatic Edward Cullen and the pleasant and adorable Jacob Black .Teens and adults alike will love this touching fantasy novel and will surely be engrossed from the first page. You have to take it for what it is, a unique and entertaining story.
Meyer leaves her readers wondering if Bella and Edward’s relationship will stand the test of time. Will Bella move on into adulthood while Edward remains ageless at seventeen for all eternity? You will have to pick up a copy of Meyer’s second book in the series, New Moon, to find out.
I had ignored Twilight until I reached the point where I succumbed to the constant, omnipresent lunacy that had been bombarding me for quite a while now. I gave in only because I wished to see what fascinated the readers to such an extent that they were driven to fervent obsession. I’ve always ridiculed the movie but now I finally saw where that mindless script comes from.
The basic outline of the story is fairly simple – Edward the vampire romancing a teenage girl named Bella. Add to these characters certain traits, like an Adon-isian blood sucking vampire, a constantly whining, trying- hard- to be-emo teenager and the terrifying villain who is waiting to drain Bella’s body of blood and voila! You have countless girls practically worshipping the book.
The book unfortunately for me did not live up to all its hype. One could instantly spot what was missing and the most obvious flaw was that Twilight was written in sheer haste. The concept of the book is not at fault. It is the author’s lack of building up on the concept that reduces the story to what it is. The vampire and human love saga has quite successfully been articulated in the past.
Twilight however was just another run of the mill story. What Stephanie Meyers missed out on was innovation. Had she written the same book with a little more creativity, it would have been acclaimed much more. For instance, books like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings have the same ordinary concept of the existence of a magical world. What makes them different are the efforts put into making the books so novel. J.K Rowling took care to create every spell, every incantation which held its derivation from Latin words and attention was given to the smallest details. Stephanie Meyers failed to do so. And on the few occasions that Meyers does try to make an effort, it makes you wish she had never tried in the first place. For instance, In Twilight, the vampires refrain from stepping out in the sun because doing that would make them sparkle like a DeBeers solitaire. Another defect was the storyline. She follows one measly plot that held no twists. There weren’t any multi-layered or parallel plots that would have made her work at the very least passably interesting. It follows one straight path that is extremely predictable. Twilight was a mundane repetition of certain things. If the adjectives used to describe Edward’s looks and Bella’s constant complaints about gym class were reduced, the book would be a leaflet.
The characters themselves were not properly etched out. Why Bella was always whining is a mystery yet unsolved. Whatever the situation is, she seems to be unhappy. Meyers makes a transparent effort of giving her character a flaw and the best she comes up with was turning Bella into a klutz which does not do any justice to her character. Edward also seemed to be as confused as though he was suffering from a terrible concussion. The only saving grace was the verbal communication that Bella and Edward carried out. However, the expressions described during such moments were such that if imagined within the mind’s eye, a rather grotesque image would be formed. These substantial bits also dragged on considerably and ended up making the reader yawn.
The book largely appeals to those who are in troubled relationships or wish for being in one in which their dream man swoops down to carry them off to another world that is filled with corny, high school love. That is the picture painted by the author. And as if the book was not clichéd enough already, once Edward is done saving Bella from the bad boy (in this case “vampire”), he whisks her off to the prom!
I would understand why this cheesy love story, minus a substantial story line or worthwhile characterization, would appeal to the early teenagers. However as to why adults swoon over the book is beyond my realm of rationalization.
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