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lliira Something I didn't mention in my last post: Bella describes Edward's hair as both "bronze" and "reddish-brown."
This is something made of bronze:
And this is someone with reddish-brown hair:
I have no idea what Edward's hair color is, though it has been explicitly stated three times.
We have spent five pages on descriptions of the Cullens. Now Bella is in class, and Edward (whose eyes are "coal black") is acting really weird.
Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat.
She can tell even though he's sitting down? Wow, Edward must be well-endowed.
Edward apparently hates having an erection and blames Bella for his discomfort. He gives her a "hostile, furious" look. Then, when she sits next to him, in the only empty seat in the room, he leans away from her as far as he can. She smells her hair, to see if she smells bad, and we learn she uses strawberry-scented shampoo. Figures. I have nothing against anyone who likes sweet, fruity scents, but I dislike them quite a bit. It's yet one more thing about Bella that irritates me. Because at this point, everything about Bella irritates me. It's unfair, but I don't care, because she just spent pages obsessing over aloof pretty pasty white people while not bothering to try to learn the names of people who were being nice to her.
I guess Meyer succeeds in getting emotional reactions out of the reader, at least.
Edward hates Bella so much for turning him on that he spends the entire class with his hand "clenched into a fist." (24) Bella notices his arm muscles. She glaces at him surreptitiously throughout the class, and he glares at her again.
After class, Bella's about to cry because Edward is so mean. She says she cries whenever she's angry, and I sympathize. I used to do that too. Then a "cute, baby-faced boy" named Mike introduces himself to her (25). They walk together to gym class, and he talks about himself the whole time. Bella thinks he's the nicest person she's met today. I don't know why she considers Jessica less nice than Mike. Maybe because Jessica isn't a cute boy.
Then Mike loses all the points he's gained with Bella by talking about the fact that he noticed Edward was a horrible jerk to her. How dare Mike notice things! Bella is terribly embarrassed by this and doesn't want to talk about it. Mike flirts with her a little bit, so she smiles at him even though she's irritated with him. Ugh. Bella, I'd like you better if you told Mike to piss off, even though he's been nothing but nice to you. At least that would be honest.
Forks High School has uniforms they give their students for gym class. Again -- was Meyer homeschooled? The Gym (yes, capitalized) teacher's name is Coach Clapp. Nice, Meyer, real nice. Bella suffers from watching people play volleyball.
Remembering how many injuries I had sustained -- and inflicted -- playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated. (26)
Bella walks to the office after school is over to turn in some kind of paperwork. Guess who's there? Edward Jerkface Cullen, Mr. Charm himself.
As he talks to the secretary, his voice is described as both attractive and like velvet. And here is a sign of Bella's oddness:
he turned slowly to glare at me -- his face was absurdly handsome -- with piercing, hate-filled eyes. (27)
If someone treated me the way Edward has been treating Bella, and capped it off by looking at me with hate, I would not think he was handsome. I would think he was ugly. He's pasty white, he has very dark circles under his eyes, he can't decide what his hair color is, and he thinks he has the right to go around glaring at strangers for no reason.
Bella is so upset that she almost cries while driving home. I can understand that. It's disturbing when someone reacts to you so cruelly, especially when you have done nothing to them. And while a lot of people have been nice to Bella, the first day in a new school is stressful. I wish Bella tried to cheer herself up with the fact that out of the whole school, only one person was an asshole to her -- but I would understand why that wouldn't cheer her. Edward's hatred of her is scary. Our brains prioritize threats for good reason, and Edward is a definite threat.
That brings an end to the first chapter, and what a depressing chapter it was. Creepy Charlie, hateful Edward, and Bella complaining about absolutely everything the whole time, especially herself. The chapter was only 28 pages long, but felt like at least double that. It took me days to get through because I had to keep taking breaks. This is not an easy book to read, and Meyer's writing style doesn't help -- it's too passive and sometimes ungrammatical. It would be less noticeable in a more lighthearted book, but this kind of Sturm und Drang requires a skilled touch. Meyer is no Brontë.
This is something made of bronze:
And this is someone with reddish-brown hair:
I have no idea what Edward's hair color is, though it has been explicitly stated three times.
We have spent five pages on descriptions of the Cullens. Now Bella is in class, and Edward (whose eyes are "coal black") is acting really weird.
Just as I passed, he suddenly went rigid in his seat.
She can tell even though he's sitting down? Wow, Edward must be well-endowed.
Edward apparently hates having an erection and blames Bella for his discomfort. He gives her a "hostile, furious" look. Then, when she sits next to him, in the only empty seat in the room, he leans away from her as far as he can. She smells her hair, to see if she smells bad, and we learn she uses strawberry-scented shampoo. Figures. I have nothing against anyone who likes sweet, fruity scents, but I dislike them quite a bit. It's yet one more thing about Bella that irritates me. Because at this point, everything about Bella irritates me. It's unfair, but I don't care, because she just spent pages obsessing over aloof pretty pasty white people while not bothering to try to learn the names of people who were being nice to her.
I guess Meyer succeeds in getting emotional reactions out of the reader, at least.
Edward hates Bella so much for turning him on that he spends the entire class with his hand "clenched into a fist." (24) Bella notices his arm muscles. She glaces at him surreptitiously throughout the class, and he glares at her again.
After class, Bella's about to cry because Edward is so mean. She says she cries whenever she's angry, and I sympathize. I used to do that too. Then a "cute, baby-faced boy" named Mike introduces himself to her (25). They walk together to gym class, and he talks about himself the whole time. Bella thinks he's the nicest person she's met today. I don't know why she considers Jessica less nice than Mike. Maybe because Jessica isn't a cute boy.
Then Mike loses all the points he's gained with Bella by talking about the fact that he noticed Edward was a horrible jerk to her. How dare Mike notice things! Bella is terribly embarrassed by this and doesn't want to talk about it. Mike flirts with her a little bit, so she smiles at him even though she's irritated with him. Ugh. Bella, I'd like you better if you told Mike to piss off, even though he's been nothing but nice to you. At least that would be honest.
Forks High School has uniforms they give their students for gym class. Again -- was Meyer homeschooled? The Gym (yes, capitalized) teacher's name is Coach Clapp. Nice, Meyer, real nice. Bella suffers from watching people play volleyball.
Remembering how many injuries I had sustained -- and inflicted -- playing volleyball, I felt faintly nauseated. (26)
Bella walks to the office after school is over to turn in some kind of paperwork. Guess who's there? Edward Jerkface Cullen, Mr. Charm himself.
As he talks to the secretary, his voice is described as both attractive and like velvet. And here is a sign of Bella's oddness:
he turned slowly to glare at me -- his face was absurdly handsome -- with piercing, hate-filled eyes. (27)
If someone treated me the way Edward has been treating Bella, and capped it off by looking at me with hate, I would not think he was handsome. I would think he was ugly. He's pasty white, he has very dark circles under his eyes, he can't decide what his hair color is, and he thinks he has the right to go around glaring at strangers for no reason.
Bella is so upset that she almost cries while driving home. I can understand that. It's disturbing when someone reacts to you so cruelly, especially when you have done nothing to them. And while a lot of people have been nice to Bella, the first day in a new school is stressful. I wish Bella tried to cheer herself up with the fact that out of the whole school, only one person was an asshole to her -- but I would understand why that wouldn't cheer her. Edward's hatred of her is scary. Our brains prioritize threats for good reason, and Edward is a definite threat.
That brings an end to the first chapter, and what a depressing chapter it was. Creepy Charlie, hateful Edward, and Bella complaining about absolutely everything the whole time, especially herself. The chapter was only 28 pages long, but felt like at least double that. It took me days to get through because I had to keep taking breaks. This is not an easy book to read, and Meyer's writing style doesn't help -- it's too passive and sometimes ungrammatical. It would be less noticeable in a more lighthearted book, but this kind of Sturm und Drang requires a skilled touch. Meyer is no Brontë.
