Teenage Heartaches

I have just been bequeathed the first three books in the “Twilight” series by one of our many guests. This phenomenon has been around for longer than I’ve been out here in Africa and so, due to the fact that I don’t live under a rock and I do have a slight addiction to Grazia magazine I heard about these books when they were made into a film. “Fair enough”, I thought. Teenage literature has its place and it’s not like I didn’t enjoy a good Point Horror or whatever they were called when I read them in my early teenage years.

Then I noticed that people my age were reading these books. Now, I’m a wide ranging and voracious reader but I’d also say I am also a good 15 years older than the intended audience I’d say. I read about people reading them and then my friend emailed to “confess” that she was hooked on them and flying through the books. She also said she was going to send them out to me. I shrugged and thought, whatever, but certainly wasn’t going to reject an offer of free books.

Before she got around to it however our guest arrived. She’d bought the first book as a little light reading for her holiday but with a 7 hour layover in one airport she found herself flying through it and took the opportunity to buy the next two books which have all been passed on now.

I picked up the first one last night because I was tired and just wanted to flick through something easy while I ate and after dinner. And now, I too have to confess that I am finding them strangely addictive. They aren’t wonderful writing, they don’t have a lot of mystery to them when I already know the premise but I think it’s just escapist enjoyment; a throwback to being a teenager. James keeps telling me, “it’s all a metaphor!’ but I don’t think that I care.