It's really kind of a half-meta nod, because we really haven't established how Bella is narrating this story. It doesn't have a convoluted framing device like a Henry James novella, it's not a diary, and Bella never makes references to future events, unless you count the preface. So it's hard to know what the blank pages are really supposed to signify; my working theory is that we are literally seeing inside Bella's head, and this is her extremely articulate stream-of-consciousness. And when Edward, leaves, her mind just goes blank. Like the way we don't feel extreme pain until later. I knew a guy who once got hit in the face with a basketball and fell backwards into the wall of his school gym. The next thing he knew he was sitting in class two hours later, and his head suddenly started hurting more than it ever had before. He started screaming. He had no recollection of how he had gone from the floor of the gym to his subsequent class; his mind blocked it out protect him. Which is sort of what is happening here, I think. I'd never really given a thought to the existence or nonexistence of narrator-logic in the Twilight Saga before, how have you been interpreting it? Or have you?
Previous entries can be found in the directory.
16 comments:
I've always presumed she was narrating the entire thing from a future date, and perhaps consciously aware of the fact that she has an audience. I mean, it is in the past tense (mostly, but some of those broken incidents might just be little inaccuracies; hard to say with her). Given what we know about Bella (and Meyer), it isn't impossible to think that, perhaps, she is narrating it from a future moment and is just so inclined to include dramatic tension by not alluding to the future. Aside from the fact that she must be alive (or undead, I suppose, given the series), we don't really know much about what could happen, regardless of the ability we have to guess. I have a theory about Breaking Dawn as well, but I'll wait till you reach that to talk about it.
On this note, though, might I recommend a manga to you. Sort of a weird narration device going on there. It's Junji Ito's "Uzumaki", a three volume horror comic that is quite... interesting, to say the least. When you think about how the manga opens and how it ends... well, it is pretty insane. When you find the time, you should read it. It's pretty short, maybe a two or three hour read for the whole series.
Well, you've got me interested in that Manga, though I have never read one before. Perhaps I will check it out.
I get weird about gimmicky narration, because then it is like, that movie Frailty or something. There has to be some "narrator reveal" thing that invariably seems ridiculous. The book ends up becoming about the narration. Bella is such an unobtrusive narrator, or at least she was, and that was nice. New Moon is kind of a book about Bella's internal shit, so I guess it makes sense that along with the navel gazing comes some narrator gazing.
It is interesting to think about it that way-- a shift in narration style to accommodate a shift in subject matter/tone. I think it works as that. And I mean, Bella is not done drawing attention to herself. Next time we will discuss the tone poem that immediately follows this meta-narrative moment.
I actually liked that little trick, too. The breakup scene, despite so obviously being a break-up-to-make-up (my least favorite plot device ever), and its aftermath are so well done. But I never considered that SM was making conscious choices with Bella's narration. I got more of the feeling that she was writing through Bella, and since Bella has retreated inside herself, so has the narration. I still don't believe that Meyer is the kind of writer who worries about how she wants to communicate her story, her writing seems very naive (in a good way, I think) and pure, in the sense that she isn't concerned with literary showmanship. I think that she may have some devices and literary hooks in mind, but she seems like more of an intuitive writer than one who agonizes over structure and form.
It is interesting that you chose the word "unobtrusive" to describe Bella. Now that Edward is gone, Bella is coming out to be a presence in the book. I hadn't looked at it that way before and it speaks very much to their relationship at this point. But again, I don't know how much of this is intentional on Meyer's part.
Maybe I give her too little credit, but I wonder if maybe you are giving her too much? Or maybe it is more enjoyable to look at critically if you do approach it the way I think you are. (Maybe I am misreading what you are saying, too.) Maybe I could say maybe a few more times?
yeah, maybe I shouldn't respond tonight, when I just got back from my brother's concert, at which Ford bought the first $1000 worth of booze, but whatever.
I think you are right that S. Meyer is coming from some kind of pure, unaffected place...it's like she's never even fucking HEARD of David Foster Wallace! It's kind of great in a way!
The brilliant "form" moments in Twilight always seem unintentional... I think intuitive is the perfect word to describe it, actually. So this whole deal with the blank pages isn't so much a betrayal of Twilight's structural purity so much as it is an affirmation of S. Meyer's outsider-ness.
I don't know, maybe I will have something more coherent to say later, when I have not been drinking so much whisky (thanks, Ford!) but your comment strikes me as rather profound, Rosanne!
And some of you have been e-mailing me all confused about this post, so I will say: highlight it!
I agree that it seems as though Meyer doesn't put much conscious thought into things like writing style and narration issues. However, she does say on her site that she has an English degree, so its not like she's unaware of these things. I think she genuinely just doesn't think about it; she just writes as it comes to her. I mean, it's already established that these books seem to be lacking in detailed editing in general, so why would there be a conscious analysis of style by her or the editor? And, really, the simplicity does work with this story. It's a simple story told by a teenage girl, so it doesn't really need all the fancy dressing.
I'm also a fan of the blank pages. I'm not entirely certain that her conciousness is blank, though. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but she does reference things that happened during her "lost" time. I see it more as only being half-aware. It's like when you take a lot of cold medicine or you're drunk and everything is hazy and you're not really in the moment. You hit that spot when it wears off and its like you just woke up. You can remember what you were doing, but it's more like a dream than actual life and the details are often mixed up. This section is also why I'm not totally sure how to interpret the narration. I could almost agree with the "extremely articulate stream-of-consciousness" but then there are moments where it seems as if it's a future Bella looking back while trying to seem as if she's in the moment. Though, I'm not entirely certain that it's intentional. Maybe I'm being overly-critical, but again, I think its simply a case of Meyer not really considering her style or narrative mode and accidentally creating narrator issues, rather than doing anything purposely. She's more of a "story teller" than a "writer" which works for her.
Oh, I agree that the blank pages definitely represent her fog, Kim, that sort of lost time that comes when you are deeply depressed or grieving. You know that you are doing things, but those things don't have enough meaning to break through your state. And I wasn't intending to say that Meyer was completely ignorant of literary tradition, by any means. Just that she seems to have written this entirely from her heart without using conscious structure or form decisions, but just letting the story come out.
At any rate, I am honored that you liked my comment last night, Z, but I am afraid it was probably the corporate sponsored whiskey talking.
I think I was being a little hyperbolic about saying her mind was blank. I agree, it's blank-ish. Don't worry about spoiling the next few chapters of this book by the way-- I have read ahead. I mean, don't go crazy, because I know that some people are just reading this blog and like, not even reading the books at all, so I guess I don't want to spoil it for them. Although it seems like a really weird way to read a book. To each his own!
Yeah, you have no idea how conflicted I felt about that whole corporate-sponsored event. I mean, my brother was getting money, so that is good, and I we getting free, expensive booze until the tab ran out, so that was good, but like... fucking Ford? It felt dirty.
No, you shouldn't feel conflicted! Ford was going to spend that money anyway, they may as well spend it on someone who deserves/appreciates it.
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that you thought she wasn't aware of literary tradition, Rosanne. I was just using the fact that she *should* be aware of them given her background, but seems to ignore them to back up my point. I was also typing that before I was fully awake, so I'm surprised it made any sense at all.
wait, when i look at this post all i see is a blank white box, with the directory link.
don't try to keep me from participating, zac!
OH. nevermind.
i'm not a very critical reader, so i have never given any thought to where/when bella is narrating from. she doesn't ever seem to have any insight into herself, her motivations, the conclusions to be reached, which seems to indicate that wherever she's narrating from is pretty close to each incident. as opposed to "little did i know that..." it's all confused and overwhelming for her all the time. she hasn't sorted stuff out in her head yet, as a narrator. sort of like she's writing journal entries the day after or something. the feelings are immediate.
stephie meyers' intuitive writing style something of an inspiration to me. i wish i was able to silence my inner critic and just let the writing happen, instead of the constant chatter about rules and stuff. i don't know enough to be DFW (not dallas-ft worth) but i'm too aware of what i don't know to be stephie meyers, i think.
i thought about writing some fan fic about esme's transformation today. will i do it? UNKNOWN.
Oh, do it, do it! I would love to see some Esme transformation fanfic. Edward's reaction when Carlisle brings her home is totally "what's she doing here? What was wrong with just the two of us?" You know he's a jealous pouter.
I would also really like to know more about Alice before she was turned. I might be up for trying my hand at that one. Z, have you already done that and I missed it?
The closest I got to writing about Alice pre-transform is that fan fic called "Holland, 1945."
I might have to go back and do something like that because I have had NO FUNNY IDEAS for fan fic lately. Bella's inner turmoil is not conducive to that. But we'll get a lot of Jacob soon, and so I can do like, "Jacob Paints A Fence" or something. All my fan fic for New Moon is just going to be chapters from Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn with the names replaced. Sub Tom Sawyer for Quil and Huck for Jacob. Done.
And also, can we say Dallas Ft. Worth when we really mean David Foster Wallace from now on(today's post notwithstanding)? That way we can avoid like, attracting David Foster Wallace people, who will get all up in our shit and likely be condescending.
You do realize Twilight is GN form now, right? Although it's visually repulsive to me, I took notice of it at Borders.
So reading this from my computer is the best way to go, since from an iPhone, it looks like I was trying to load content I couldn't load (especially when the title says meta-enabling). Once I read what you posted, however, I gave you a nod of approval. Clever. I see what you did there, Zac.
Also, this is the only way I'll ever read the Twilight saga, so thanks for that. I can't wait until you read Breaking Dawn: Necrophiliacs Gone Wild!
I really hated the blank pages. To me it said "I have nothing going on in my life without a man." Seriously, 4 months and nothing worth mentioning? I just wanted her to get it together. He's just a guy.
It also annoyed me because it breaks the normal narration of this book, which I still don't know what that even is. This only would have worked for me if the whole book was written like a journal.
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