To Mr. Dekker:
You are a brilliant writer.
Reading Black, Red, and White, I was (and am) astounded at your ability to weave a compelling plot, create a plethora of flesh and blood characters, and bring it all together in such a way that the reader never stops to realize it’s nothing more than words on paper. You communicate clearly, beautifully, creatively. That’s amazing, and I love it.
So I read Green.
Maybe I missed the memo. Because I wasn’t aware that Green would be “Twilight meets the Circle Trilogy.”
I don’t appreciate an excess of blood and gore, when as much could be accomplished via other means. I don’t appreciate sappy romances between a human and—oh, speaking of which, I also don’t appreciate your efforts to include the descendants of Alucard. I’m not a normal seventeen year old. I don’t have a crush on Edward Cullen and I don’t want to read about his relatives.
It doesn’t really matter to me if Green is yet another literary masterpiece. I was disappointed not with the writing, but with the slow closing of the gap between the Circle books and modern fiction junk. Don’t cater to the Twilight crowd. I’ve read plenty of good books that manage to get by without the inclusion of a vampire.
Sincerely,
Beth Maisano
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Bluejane on 28 Sep 2009 at 1:46 pm #
Your kidding!? That’s horrible! I wasn’t going to read it in case of spoilers, but…
I think I’ll stop at White.
Oh, and I thought your letter was put very nicely.
Out of the Blue:jane
Dunvegan Highlander on 28 Sep 2009 at 2:25 pm #
Yikes. People have been telling me to read his books…and I know I’m throwing the baby out with the bath water…but that is plain scary.
-Nathan Harris
Miss Eyebright on 28 Sep 2009 at 6:36 pm #
Go Beth! It is completely awesome to see young people standing up against worldly expectations. I actually haven’t read any Ted Dekker books yet, but I’m sure I would be disappointed if I had!
Miss Eyebright
Jonhny the..........person on 29 Sep 2009 at 1:10 am #
I was planning on saying something really funny the next time you posted… but then you posted this……so…. this is the best i can do:
Mr. Dekker, “I blow my nose at you!” *contemptuous sniff*
…I hope someone gets that….and I really hope that doesn’t have some sort of double meaning… and this is a totally random post…and this is lots of ellipsis….yeah.
Taylor on 29 Sep 2009 at 12:17 pm #
I’m afraid I don’t know much about Dekker. I’ve heard alot about him, I just don’t know what his books are like.
Blessings,
Taylor
Chris Orlowski on 29 Sep 2009 at 10:20 pm #
I have read Green, and No I did not find it any more gory than Adam or Boneman’s daughter, so if you found Green to be gory you have not read Ted’s other books. As for the vampire reference, Lunatic and Elyon had this started with the character in those, and as far as this Vampire issue not being biblical…are the scabs? It is a book. The characters in the books are fictional, and the themes are there to show a biblical theme. Relax…Ted is not becoming the devil, and I believe he is trying to appeal to the secular crowd, which I think is great. Would you not want the world to read the Circle? I think it would be great. OBTW the Nephallim are in the Bible (most want to forget it was written) Just ask Enoch
Beth on 29 Sep 2009 at 10:35 pm #
Mr. Orlowski–
First, thanks for commenting.
I haven’t read Adam or Boneman’s Daughter, but I’ll take your word for it on the gore. I doubt I’ll be reading either. But I wasn’t basing my statement on the amount of gore relative to Mr. Dekker’s other books; personally, Green was just too much for my taste.
Ah, I wondered if there were more references to this in the Lost Books (I’ve only read Renegade).
I don’t take issue with vampires because they aren’t in the Bible. Why do I take issue? Number one, it’s disgusting (just a personal opinion), and I wonder why include them in the first place. Two, vampires are just…evil. Really no way around it, even if you’d like to take the “Nephalim were vampires” approach. And of course, every good book has to have bad guys. Even evil guys, as with allegorical stories like the Circle. Still, it makes me a bit uncomfortable. I wonder how much evil is appropriate to show or discuss in a book? Obviously, the line has to be drawn somewhere. For me, it’s here.
And from a purely literary standpoint, my picky objection is that Mr. Dekker isn’t doing anything but associating his writing with Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. Vampires are all the “thing” now. Ugh. You’re right, I’m sure it will appeal to a more secular audience—which usually means that somewhere, something had to give ground.
As critical as I sound, I don’t mean to bash Mr. Dekker’s writing. All of this is just what I felt after reading Green. I’m still a fan—just a disappointed one.
Thanks again for commenting,
~Beth
A servant on 30 Sep 2009 at 2:32 am #
go Beth
wow