'Twilight' series pulled from Deseret Book shelves


Hemidakota
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This series is full of many of the values the Church encourages in its young members. In fact, in the last book she refuses to abort her baby, even when everyone around her is telling her she has to. I would think that would be a great message to LDS teens.

I have no problem, however, with DB pulling it from its stores. Perhaps John is right and it wants to focus on a different genre. I don't know, but it's the company's choice.

But the series is not as bad as the article portrays it to be.

Elphaba

Really? Don't you see a little bit of conflict in what you are saying?

If the series is "full of many of the values the Church encourages in its young members," don't you think Deseret Book is being arbitrary or capricious about this?

As a fan of the series, don't you want to know what the reasons for this decision, if any, are?

Kent

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They have their rights as we have ours... my guess is the complaints from people who really did not know what they were talking about... getting all knoted up and judgemental...... I love the books but remember the flack when Golden Compass was new ... I'm not gonna let it bother me ... do not like it though

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Really? Don't you see a little bit of conflict in what you are saying?

No.

If the series is "full of many of the values the Church encourages in its young members," don't you think Deseret Book is being arbitrary or capricious about this?

No.

As a fan of the series, don't you want to know what the reasons for this decision, if any, are?

No.

Elphaba

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Really? Don't you see a little bit of conflict in what you are saying?

If the series is "full of many of the values the Church encourages in its young members," don't you think Deseret Book is being arbitrary or capricious about this?

As a fan of the series, don't you want to know what the reasons for this decision, if any, are?

Kent

Not really. I've never been a big fan of Deseret Book, so I really don't care how they choose to conduct business. I'm guessing they felt the subject matter was not in keeping with the kind of image they want to embrace in days going forward. Maybe they want to convey that feeling that they are primarily a source for LDS-centric themes and church-related products. While it's nice that the Twilight series seems to embrace wholesome values, I understand that at its core the main theme has to do with vampires, albeit vampires who are trying to overcome their base instincts of biting necks and sucking blood directly from humans. Maybe the store, and by extension the LDS Church, feels that their shelf space would be better spent on more gospel-oriented subjects, like the next version of 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'. Whatever their reasoning, I imagine that they feel that this change reflects a shift in what they feel the focus or purpose of their business model should be.

As a side note, this is not the first time Deseret Book has made moves which have been puzzling to the outside observer. Their little spat with and then purchase of Seagull Books comes to mind. Why do they do the things they do? I don't know, and unless you find a member of their board who will go on the record about their decision-making process, I think it will remain unanswered. In the meantime, there are plenty of other bookstores who will sell the books you want to read and nobody will think any less of you for doing so.

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I'm not quite sure what the relationship is between DB pulling the series from their shelves and the appropriateness of the book as a reading material for LDS members...

For me, they are completely independent of each other. I mean, my reading materials are not confined to what is sold at DB, so a book that is not sold on DB doesn't send me a signal that it is inappropriate.

Also, just because a book is written by an LDS author, it doesn't always mean it promotes LDS values. Orson Scott Card comes to mind. I don't see any religious significance to Ender's Game. I mean, it's like watching Steve Young play football on a Sunday...

Or am I completely missing the point of this thread?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Haven't read the book. Saw the movie. Liked it. Probably should be embarrassed to say that as a 35 year old guy. Wouldn't admit to it in some social circles. But that's another story.

I'm glad Deseret Book is doing this. I kind of like thinking of Deseret Book as a place where I can buy books that have the approval of the General Authorities. I don't like thinking of it as a place looking to cash in on people who are trying to feed their souls with the written words of Prophets and Apostles. Not that Twilight is in that category, but I just think there's a proper place for selling books like Twilight and I just don't see Deseret Book as being it. If Deseret Book is going to sell books like Twilight, it would make me feel uncertain that the more religious books there don't contain speculation or innacuracies. Hopefully I've explained already why I feel that way. I'd say Deseret Book is right to limit what it sells in this way.

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I'm glad Deseret Book is doing this. I kind of like thinking of Deseret Book as a place where I can buy books that have the approval of the General Authorities. I don't like thinking of it as a place looking to cash in on people who are trying to feed their souls with the written words of Prophets and Apostles. Not that Twilight is in that category, but I just think there's a proper place for selling books like Twilight and I just don't see Deseret Book as being it. If Deseret Book is going to sell books like Twilight, it would make me feel uncertain that the more religious books there don't contain speculation or innacuracies. Hopefully I've explained already why I feel that way. I'd say Deseret Book is right to limit what it sells in this way.

I agree. Deseret Book should be a place where LDS members can find LDS resources, LDS art, LDS music, LDS books, etc., and not a place where every LDS Tom, Dick, or Harry (or Stephanie) can just peddle their product based solely on their religious affiliation. If the book is doctrinal, great. If it's gospel commentary, great. If it's fiction that includes aspects of LDS and/or religious culture (the Tennis Shoes series, the Work and the Glory series, Jack Weyland, etc.), great.

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Seriously though..how many people would have actually bought the series from DB? Why pay full price when you can get the books at a much lower cost through Walmart or some other discount store?

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You should really read before you make a judgement. This series is so much better than 90% of what they could be reading. Infact, its no more sexual than Sense and Sensibility.

Wait up, I don't remember any hot, pillow biting, bed breaking sex mentioned in Sense and Sensibility... Let me go check again...

As someone who also read the series (ok..i am a guy) I like them..they had cool cars and stuff jk..

Yes the cars were sweet, but I'm waiting until the movie comes out before I drool over the "Guardian". I want to see what they do with it.

In fact, in the last book she refuses to abort her baby, even when everyone around her is telling her she has to.

Oh my ears! SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER! What if I hadn't read it yet?! :P

Then I saw the movie. I loved it,

SUCKER! Wow Elph, I thought you were more of a nonconformist type... tsk tsk!

Read it (them), watched it *shrug* it was ok. Fun for the moment, but not a big deal. No, I didn't buy any of it (I'm even too cheap for Amazon, dvd's seem like a waste of money now days). I've gotta laugh at all this stuff. I just don't care that much. It's like those stupid quizzes on facebook that get popular - can we just get to the next one already?

Edited by Honor
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Yikes! I do this a lot.

However, they now know the bed breaks as well, so . . . we're both spoilers. :P

Elphaba

Psh, mine was more of a teaser than a spoiler and probably got people to go log onto amazon.com (thanks to Loudmouth of course) just to buy the last book! You're welcome Stephanie!

LOL jk, very good point Elphie. Way to call me on my inconsistencies! ^_^

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest dzd-n-cnfused

ok.....i havent read any of them......so i cant say anything really......except that i was surprised that a mormon author, and so many mormon fans were so invbolved in stories about vampires.......and i'm not opposed to the spiritual metaphor.......i was just surprised by the apparent fan base from the all so conservative mormon community

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  • 1 month later...

Not really. I've never been a big fan of Deseret Book, so I really don't care how they choose to conduct business. I'm guessing they felt the subject matter was not in keeping with the kind of image they want to embrace in days going forward. Maybe they want to convey that feeling that they are primarily a source for LDS-centric themes and church-related products. While it's nice that the Twilight series seems to embrace wholesome values, I understand that at its core the main theme has to do with vampires, albeit vampires who are trying to overcome their base instincts of biting necks and sucking blood directly from humans. Maybe the store, and by extension the LDS Church, feels that their shelf space would be better spent on more gospel-oriented subjects, like the next version of 'The Miracle of Forgiveness'. Whatever their reasoning, I imagine that they feel that this change reflects a shift in what they feel the focus or purpose of their business model should be.

As a side note, this is not the first time Deseret Book has made moves which have been puzzling to the outside observer. Their little spat with and then purchase of Seagull Books comes to mind. Why do they do the things they do? I don't know, and unless you find a member of their board who will go on the record about their decision-making process, I think it will remain unanswered. In the meantime, there are plenty of other bookstores who will sell the books you want to read and nobody will think any less of you for doing so.

I agree fully. I've never been a fan of Deseret Book. I used to love Seagull books before they took them over.

Although I rarely shop there these days I have a bigger gripe. I own the gospel link program. My computer crashed a couple of months ago, after I bought a new one I loaded gospel link. Upon startup gospel link wanted to be connected to the web. I gave it the ok and it downloaded a file on my computer. I then opened gospel link and all of the good books were missing. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it three times but no matter what I did all of the good books are gone. I finally had a suspicion that Deseret book had done something when they loaded a file onto my comp. I then got my old, old computer out and set it up making sure that it wasn't connected to the internet. It loaded just fine and all of the books are there. So now every time that I want to use gospel link I have to boot up the antique.

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

I've asked around and no one listens to me. They just defend the church.

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Imon, I've never heard of anyone having that problem. Can you identify what books are missing? I don't use gospel link so I'm not sure how it works, but do they advertise the missing books as being in the program? Just a guess, but a possible explanation for books not being available anymore might be copyright issues.

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Imon, I've never heard of anyone having that problem. Can you identify what books are missing? I don't use gospel link so I'm not sure how it works, but do they advertise the missing books as being in the program? Just a guess, but a possible explanation for books not being available anymore might be copyright issues.

I would have to reinstall it on my computer to see what books are missing. I was researching a certain topic and the books that I no that are supposed to be on there are missing. The only one that I remember for sure was the Journal of Discourses.

Gospel link now is available online only. Now they charge you a monthly fee to use it. When I purchased my version it was a one time fee.

They only explanation that I can see for doing this would be to try to get people to pay the monthly fee and access it online.

I'm still curious to know if anyone else has had similar issues.

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Imon, I've never heard of anyone having that problem. Can you identify what books are missing? I don't use gospel link so I'm not sure how it works, but do they advertise the missing books as being in the program? Just a guess, but a possible explanation for books not being available anymore might be copyright issues.

OK I went and reinstalled it on my computer. The same thing happened. I installed it and opened the program and there are no good books in there. All it is a bunch of free books that you can download from the internet. About 90% of the LDS books are missing.

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I read the first book, it was addictive fun reading, but the message was evil. It was a message of "you can walk to the very edge of things and still be safe - you are strong enough to resist temptation".

Darn tootin' straight we're strong enough to resist temptation. And the edge? The risk? It's a FANTASY story, and there's always risk in any romantic relationship. There's always the risk of a broken heart.

The girl is also a total self-centered clutz who treats her friends horribly IMO. There was a message of "you can be an unloving stuck up prideful clutz, ditch your friends, lie to your dad, and everyone will still love you". Was that harsh? sorry. Plus she makes herself into such a victim! It is all about lust - Edward loves her because she smells good - not out of any respect for her strength etc... She likes him because he's cute - all about lust...

First, all romance starts out with a little bit of infatuation.

Second, Edward wanted to drink her blood because she smelled good, not have sex with her. He became curious about her because he couldn't read her mind, and as he learned more about her he started to care for her.

Third, Bella liked Edward because he was different, like she was, and because he paid attention to her. Why do any of us eventually choose the person we want to marry? Because that person pays attention to us in ways that no one else does.

Fourth, Bella wasn't stuck up, she was a very private introvert who thought of herself rather negatively. If you read Midnight Sun on Stephanie Meyer's site you can better see what Edward saw in her (the mark of bad writing, you have to read extra stuff just to get a better view of the story). She was smart, she noticed things (like his eye color changing), and she was selfless. She moved to live with her Dad to be in a place she didn't to be because she wanted her mother to be able to support her step dad. Oh, the klutz comment was a cheap shot. It's a physical character flaw. ;)

Have you read the rest of the series? The infatuation portions recede and becomes choice.

from "Love Languages"

Quote:

“in love” state gives us the illusion that we have an intimate relationship. The “in love” experience should not be called love

1. falling in love is not an act of the will or a conscious choice.

2. it is effortless, no discipline or conscious effort, instinctual animal nature, not selfless, no sacrifice, no thought or will in it.

3. one who is in love is not genuinely interested in fostering the personal growth of the other person. Our purpose is to terminate our own loneliness and ensure result through marriage – does not focus on our own growth or on the growth and development of the other person, instead feel like you are at the apex of life’s happiness and our only desire is to stay there….

We can recognize the “in-love” experience for what it was – a temporary emotional high, and now pursue “real love” with our spouse.

Real love – a love that grows out of reason and choice, (not instinct) effort, and discipline. We choose to be kind, generous – this is real love.

Twilight was not "real" love.

I completely disagree with the Love Languages assessment of "in love." What the author is talking about is infatuation. Being in love and being infatuated are two different things. Love is many things, but is fundamentally a strong affection for another human being. Romantic love, in other words, being in love is inspired by such affections.

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