I had high hopes for chapter three. I was well-rested, and it was shorter than the first two. Plus, it began with snow and ice on the ground; with Bella's well-established clumsiness, this seemed like a recipe for something bad to happen to her.
Alas, she managed to drive to school with no problems. But wait -- here comes Tyler's van! It's heading right for her! A few more feet, and I'll be saved from the last 3.9 books!
Wait, Edward stopped the van from crushing her? Damn meddling vampires. Technically, I suppose I don't know he's a vampire yet, but I'm not going to pretend.
This chapter did have one other huge going for it: No lengthy descriptions of every little thing Bella does at school. It was also relatively light on "Bella does boring things that nobody needs to read about," and "Bella whines about how the boys here like her too much." And something happened to further the plot a little! How does all this change my feelings on the book so far?
Banality Index: 13 (-1)
It wasn't exactly exciting, but I give Meyer points for having something happen in this chapter, making it a marked improvement over the first two chapters. If I didn't know the main plot already, I might even be curious about how Edward managed to save Bella, though I still think I'd be on Team Tyler's Van.
Writing Quality: 42 (-2)
This chapter was an improvement, but it still managed to be about twice as long as it had to be. Also, somehow Meyer seems to use a simple vocabulary and still manage to occasionally write sentences I have to read twice to process. It seems like she sometimes wants to write in the same simple, clear style that J.K. Rowling used in the Harry Potter series, while sometimes also being flowery and poetic. So far, she hasn't really succeeded at either.
Will To Continue: 99 (no change)
Nothing to complain about right now. I know what I'm in for, and I know that there's going to be a lot of nothing happening...but for now, I have no reservations about continuing. Onward, brave reader!
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You didn't comment on how it's damn near impossible to comprehend the physical motion of the van!
ReplyDeletereread that and tell me if it's really incomprehensible or just my spatial issues making it seem that way.
No, it's pretty hard to imagine, you're right about that. The van seems to defy the laws of physics slightly, which doesn't help. It's really hard to figure out what angle it's coming from or how it manages to curl around the truck with enough force to scare her again while she's on the ground next to it, even after the truck took enough of the blow so that she could hear "the van folding around the truck bed." That's usually the type of thing that stops the other vehicle pretty quickly. If only Meyer could fully describe the scene, then we might have some sense of what was happening...
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