Not Eco-friendly, but Idiot-friendly

Review of Eclipse, by Stephenie Meyer

            Stephenie Meyer’s third book in the Twilight series, Eclipse, includes 600 pages of the normal mythical creatures, plots to end Isabella Swan’s life, petty arguments and drama that would shock a soap opera with its silliness.  (Those troubled by the copious number of pages, fear not.  The text is so large that the book could probably be condensed into 200 pages quite easily.  I think it safe to assume that Meyer is not focused on improving the environment.)  As in the two novels preceding, Bella fails to transform into a vampire, sidetracked by Edward’s pleas and yet another potentially fatal encounter with enemy vampires. 

            The reader must endure an agonizing beginning in which Meyer analyzes and explains.  The author decided it would be a great idea to recap on events which were in the first two books.  She does this in an obvious and painful way that disrupts the flow of the book.  Following a seemingly lengthy first chapter, the book takes on the usual tempo of Meyer’s writing, sluggish and full of dawdling.

            Main characters seem confused on who they are supposed to be, and how they are supposed to be.  Alice’s precognitions are described throughout the series as both inaccurate and “uncannily accurate”.  Edward is said to be selfless, though he in many instances hinders Bella from attaining what she desires, such as a relationship with Jacob, becoming a vampire, and allowing Bella to take care of herself while Edward is gone.  Also, Edward Cullen is defined as old fashioned and gentlemanly, but he flippantly utters obscenities.  However, Miss Swan finally appears somewhat more believable when she has misgivings about her decision to alter her body and mortality.  Also, Rosalie is much better understood after revealing her tale and history and gives Bella enlightenment as to why Rosalie despises her so passionately.  Furthermore, Charlie’s personality is displayed quite well in this novel. 

            Descriptions included in Eclipse are often redundant and extensive.  Meyer seems to believe her readers will possess no common sense and continually leaves no room for her readers to bear the ultra-light responsibility of connecting thought A to thought B.  This is nearly insulting.  Foreshadowing is nice, but most of that which is in the book is much too obvious and nearly gives away coming events.  The article telling of the killings in Seattle at first appears as if a serial killer were in fact the culprit, but many word choices imply a vampire too easily.  When an explication of a situation is not lengthy, it is on the other end of the scale.  For example, the author puts almost no effort in the segment where Alice and Jasper meet, leaving it vague.  The tension between Bella and Jacob in the beginning is evident, albeit the fact that it is not shown in an effective manner and is hard to translate from just words to feelings.  Toward the end of the book, Meyer’s showing of the pain Bella causes Jacob is quite excellent, though.

            Some elements of Stephenie Meyer’s third book in the series feel out of place.  First and foremost being that vampires in the series do not have fangs and that they no longer die while being bathed in sunlight but glitter like pretty crystals.  An excessive amount of reminders that Jacob and Edward are a werewolf and vampire are present, as if the author is terrified that her readers will somehow forget she is not writing about normal people, but supposedly fearsome creatures.  Larger words are in the text.  While a broad vocabulary is a good possession, the words seem ill-chosen and unseemly when thrown in the midst of the rest of the more average words.  Some transitions between settings do not make sense and feel too rapid.  Bella mentions that she was considering a “flood of information” Jacob had told her, although the information was not so abundant.  Imprinting within the werewolf society was claimed to be “the rare exception, not the rule,” but this occurred many times.

            Meyer presented another book in the Twilight series that was much like the two before it.  Her vocabulary improved, though it was poorly employed.  The plot was interesting, though poorly executed.  It is an mildly intriguing, effortlessly read addition to the collection, with a few issues. 

 

Reviews

[ShatteredDreams]

You put words to what me and most of my friends think about Eclipse and the other books. Stephanie Meyer's style is quite poor.
If you haven't read The Host by her, she seems to 'find' her way of writing and it turned out much better than the Twilight books.

[Tracy]

The third book was considerably better than the first two. However, using the thesaurus before sending to the editor doesn't cut it. I get that this is supposed to be young adult fiction, and I want to give today's youth a bit more credit than this, but obviously if you follow the fad you find success.

Stephanie Meyer is a blemish against accomplished writers like Cormac McCarthy, TC Boyle, John Irving, Ross MacDonald, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf.

[she who must not be nam..]

This is a great review, probably better than my friend's (who will pass un-named) reviews. She loves Twilight. She has not yet joined Writers Cafe.
Stephanie Meyer has ruined werewolves and vampires for me!
Who made this a best-seller anyways?
My other friend (who IS on Writers Cafe) wants to kill the person/people who made it a best-seller.