The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide

SM: Yeah. You know, and that‘s one of the ones that‘s interesting to me, because Wuthering Heights is not a book that I like. There are characters in it that fascinate me, but, as a whole, I don‘t enjoy reading that book. I enjoy reading the very end of it, and I enjoy reading a couple pieces in the middle, but most of the time I just find it really depressing. When Edward speaks about it, he has my opinion being spoken through him: It‘s a hate story — it‘s not a love story.

The pull between Edgar and Heathcliff is strong — and, you know, Cathy makes the wrong choice. Both of them had something to offer, and she chose the part that didn‘t matter.

Even though I don‘t like to read Wuthering Heights, I think about that part a lot. It‘s one of those things that stays with you.

You could look at Edward and Jacob from one perspective and say: Okay, this one is Heathcliff and this one is Edgar. And someone else might say: No, wait a second. Because of this reason and that reason, that one is Heathcliff and the other one is Edgar. And I thought that was great, because either one could have been the one that was wrong for her, and either one could have been the one that was right. I like that confusion, because that‘s how life is.

SH: And when we‘re reading Wuthering Heights, we‘re reading it from an outsider‘s perspective. From the future looking back. So, as a reader, we know who she should choose. And we see her choose the wrong one, and that‘s why it‘s a tragedy. But with Eclipse we don‘t know who she will, or maybe even should, choose.

SM: Well, in Wuthering Heights we see who Cathy should choose. But we also see the person that she should choose is a horrible person.

SH: [Laughs] Right.

SM: And so, maybe, she should choose the nice guy, but, you know, Heathcliff was who she loved. But, at the same time, was he really healthy for her? What would have happened to them if they had gone off together?

And when I write stories, they‘re very specific — it‘s about this one situation, and one person who‘s not like anybody else in the world. So that person‘s decisions and choices are not a model for anyone else.

SH: Now, this reminds me of something that I‘m really interested in. We‘re talking about who she should or shouldn‘t choose. I think sometimes readers assign a moral to a story, and think that, from the outside, we‘re writing the story in order to teach people how to live. [SM laughs] But I can‘t think about a story‘s moral when I‘m writing — I can only think about whether this story is interesting to me.

SM: And when I write stories, they‘re very specific — it‘s about this one situation, and one person who‘s not like anybody else in the world. So that person‘s decisions and choices are not a model for anyone else. And it bothers me when people say: Well, this story is preaching this, or the moral is this. Because it‘s just a story. It‘s about an interesting circumstance and how it resolves. It‘s not intended to mean anything for anybody else‘s life.

SH: I do think there are some writers out there who are trying to teach something through their stories. And I‘ve read moralizing books that just don‘t work.

SM: Well, you have to be really talented to make it work. You know, C. S. Lewis does it well. I love his books, and he is very much out to put a message into his stories. But he‘s so good that he gets away with it.

SH: I think it‘s really important as readers to expand our understanding of the world, to get really close to characters that are different from us — and watch them make mistakes, or make good choices, and then think: Would I do it that way?

SM: Sometimes people tell me: ?So girls are coming away from your books with this fillin-the-blank impression.? Maybe something like: ?You should hold out for the perfect gentleman.? In which case I could say, ?Well, that‘s a positive message: You should not let people treat you badly. If you‘re dating somebody who doesn‘t put your well-being first, if they‘re being mean or cruel to you — get away from that.? And that‘s a great message: If you‘re with a mean, nasty boyfriend, run away right now. [Laughs]

SH: Right.

SM: But that‘s not the message of the book. Just because Edward‘s a gentleman, and he cares about Bella more than himself — and maybe that‘s something that you would wish for in a romance — it doesn‘t mean that that‘s a message I was trying to write.

SH: On the flip side, if someone comes away thinking that the moral of the story of New Moon is that there‘s only one person who‘s right for you in the whole world, and if they leave you, then life is not worth living…

SM: Exactly! Some things you could take away from books could be turned into a positive thing in your life, but you could also make them into something negative, and that would be horrible. So I think it‘s easier just to look at the books as: This is a fictional account — I wasn‘t trying to teach anyone anything — I just wanted to entertain myself. And I did. I was really entertained. [Laughs]

When I read about someone like Jane Eyre, I say: ?I want to be stronger. I want to know myself so well, and to know right and wrong so well, that I can walk away with nothing.?

SH: I‘m always trying to figure out where the line is with author responsibility. What we write and then send out there is going to affect people‘s lives. But I have absolutely no control about how people will interpret what I write. If readers need to find a moral, or a lesson, in it, they teach it to themselves. And I don‘t think I can control what it is that the readers teach themselves. Do you think that reading does more for you than just provide entertainment?

SM: It does a lot for me — but I don‘t hold the writer responsible for what I get out of it.

When I read about someone like Jane Eyre, I say: ?I want to be stronger. I want to know myself so well, and to know right and wrong so well, that I can walk away with nothing.? I just loved her moral sense. But I don‘t think that Charlotte Bronte meant for me to use that as a guide to life. If you can find something inspiring in characters, that‘s awesome, but that‘s not their primary purpose.

SH: And it can‘t be, or it kills the story. The primary purpose has to be telling the story.

SM: It has to be entertainment.