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Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host' for the big screen?

The Host, Meyer’s “adult” science fiction-style novel was first brought to us Post-Twilight, so its success in book sales was fairly high. With certain expectations in mind, many fans were put off by The Host. However, at a second glance, even Twilight series fans might be able to draw some similarities between Twilight (or, perhaps more appropriately, Breaking Dawn) and this book.

 

In The Host, we meet “Wanderer,” a little “soul” who has been implanted into the bodies of several creatures throughout her existence. Though she has been to the fire planet, been a bear and a dolphin before, Wanderer has never seen anything quite like Earth (by the way - it's Earth day, so do something nice for it today!). When she comes to being in the form of Melanie Stryder (whose name, might I mention curiously resembles Stephenie Meyer), a fearless warrior for the human condition, Wanderer goes through an evolution. Though Wanderer’s soul might’ve been injected into Melanie’s body, Melanie, however, isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Coming to Wanderer’s cognition in the form of rampant memories at first, then by voice, Melanie brings to Wanderer memories, emotions, and sentiments that they would never have otherwise subscribed to. For instance, Mel is carefully poignant to insert distant memories of her affection for both her little brother Jamie and her lover Jared.

 

The Earth that Wanderer comes to know, however, is quite different than the one you and I live in today. Instead, it is a world wrought with peril for the human race – to the “souls,” it is a pilgrimage of goodness and selflessness; to the humans, it is pure invasion of the body-snatchers. Whereas Wanderer at first imagined her predicament – that of being put into a human body to take away the innate human characteristics of that body and replace it with a good-spirited, deserving soul – Melanie’s memory existence (which, in the typical soul’s scenario, is not an issue as the host body’s cognitions usually dissipate upon implantation) brings Wanderer to seek out the humans and try to make nice with them.

 

To avoid spoiling the story for non-readers, I’ll leave it at that. The themes that commence afterward, though, are very telling of Meyer’s voice in authorship. Number one – she clearly enjoys writing about the wayward heroin who has gone against the grain to satisfy a deeper sense of meaning and respect for those that are different, and number two – her leading ladies usually have to endure quite a good deal (including much physical pain in the case of both Wanderer (“Wanda”) and Bella) before they will see their happy day. Another thing one might derive from a comparison of the two is the fact that love, family and fellowship are all characteristics that are engrained in her characters. On a contextual point, too, the story arc of the two always involves some sort of exciting action sequence that has progressively and systematically been built up to in the course of her use of extended and carefully worded dialogue and setting.

 

Though there are many other potentially extractable similarities between these two storylines, given a fairly objective scrutiny, the emphasis is clear – there are some definite traits of Twilight-style Stephenie Meyer to be found latent in The Host. Moving on, the question might be whether The Host is something Meyer’s fans would like to see brought to the silver screen?

 

With its roots in the desert-area west, we would see a big (not the least bit subtle) change in setting and locale, and from the very beginning, the mood would be quite different. However, as the story progresses, characters like Jared, Jamie, Ian, and others could really make a sensory impression on the big screen that adequately reflects their literary persona. So, I ask you, would you like to see The Host brought to life on the big screen? If so or if not, why? Comment below and let us know!

 

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