Why "Vampire Diaries" Makes Me Mad

I am referring to Vampire Diaries the CW series, not the books. When they first announced that Vampire Diaries (henceforth referred to as V.D., heehee) would we made into a television show, I had high hopes for the show, especially when I saw the cast of characters. But, one things has been driving me NUTS lately, so much so that I almost can't watch the show. It involves completely ignoring a major plot line.

One of the major plot lines initially was that the vampires could not go out in sunlight. The Salvatore brothers are able to go out in daylight because they have their magic rings, something Stefan said he hadn't heard of any other vampires having. They even went so far as Stefan taking Damon's ring to keep him trapped in the house at one point.

However, now their little town is being overrun by vampires who seem to be able to prance around in daylight without a worry. Maybe everyone suddenly has magic rings? But I don't see it on their fingers! Am I being too nit-picky here? I feel like in books, authors wouldn't be able to get away with such a huge omission, but on TV it is like, well, that whole no-daylight thing was pretty constricting, let's pretend it wasn't a MAJOR issue. What's next? Will vampires no longer need to be invited in? Will they no longer drink blood? I just keep hoping for the episode that explains it all.

Twilight vs. Vampire Diaries

The New York Post has an article by Ari Karpel called "5 Reasons 'Vampire Diaries' is Better Than 'Twilight.'" It seems primarily concerned with Twilight: The Movie vs. VD: The TV Show. In that comparison, I wholeheartedly agree. I particularly liked the point about how VD has gritty blood-sucking vampires and a strong girl who is actually more than a little freaked out by the vampire revelation. I'd like to add into the movie/tv comparison in favor of VD that (in my opinion anyway) (1) the acting is much better, and (2) while Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson are quite attractive young men, Ian Sommerhalder and Paul Wesley are hotter (also my age). And it has real humor (I'm a huge Damon/Ian fan). As for a comparison of the two books, I liked them both but I did like Twilight and New Moon better than the Vampire Diaries. By Breaking Dawn, though, I couldn't even finish the book (tried twice), so I'm not sure where I come down in comparing the entire series. This isn't based on anything particularly objective so much as my subjective reading enjoyment of the stories. However, I do think the differences point out an important aspect of why vampires are so attractive and enduring---people can reimagine and reinvent them in many different ways that can all work.

"Vampire Diaries" TV Show

According to Variety, the CW has picked up a pilot of L.J. Smith's "Vampire Diaries." I am hopeful and pretty happy since this is my favorite of the vampire series. I'm interested to see how they're going to string this out into an entire series, however. I'm also happy to learn that Harper Collins has ordered three more books!

L.J. Smith Excitement

I really liked reading the reissue of L.J. Smith's Vampire Diaries, so I am super excited to know that (a) she is writing a fifth book, Vampire Diaries V: Damon, and (b) her Nightworld series is going to be similarly reissued. Yay! Read about it all on her website.

Also, I have really liked Mari Mancussi ever since The Great Sartorial Debate™, and I finally read Boys That Bite. We buy pretty much every YA vampire book published since the teens can't get enough, and I usually end up reading them too. Unless your students/teen patrons are not like this, I suggest getting Boys That Bite. It's light, breezy, "chic lit" vampire stuff with lots of pop culture slang and references, but it's a really easy read and very fun. I haven't liked a lot of vampire books since Twilight, despite my best efforts (ie. reading every one published), but this one was, while not the deepest or certainly scariest book, easy to get into and an enjoyable to read.

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

I think I've been reading too many YA vampire novels. I guess I hoped I was hooked on this "genre" after reading the Twilight series. However, none have really lived up to that, and I've only thought they were all mediocre stories. And the other day I was trying to help an English teacher choose indepent reading novels for her class list, and I realized that I was not much help because I hadn't read most of the books I was suggesting to her. If she had wanted teen vampire fiction, then I would have been utterly helpful.

Anyway, I say all this to lead into a vampire book that I actually quite liked. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & the Struggle by L.J. Smith actually had an interesting and non-obvious plot, well-developed characters, and really good suspense. It was dark and not completely high school-cliquish, the way a vampire novel ought to be IMO. I was more scared reading this than I ever was reading Twilight. It's about a human high school senior named Elena who is beautiful and popular. When school starts, a hot, mysterious new boy (Stefan) is attending school with her. Elena is attracted to him and tries to pursue him, after dumping her cute and extremely nice and reliable boyfriend Matt. Of course, Stefan is a vampire who was born centuries before. He is trying to escape the ugliness of vampire life by blending in as a high schooler in small Fells Church, VA. Weird and creepy things start happening to Elena and others she knows. A homeless man is found dead with his throat ripped open, and a girl is almost attacked in the graveyard on homecoming night. Stefan is blacking out when these events occur, and he thinks he is doing it (and so does most of the town). He tries to stay away from Elena because she reminds him of someone he once knew and because he is trying to protect her from himself. But she is strong-willed and their attraction is great, so eventually they succumb to their attraction. But all is still not well! Stefan's evil older brother, Damon, has followed Stefan to Fells Church and is also determined to have Elena for himself.