Comments on: Stephenie Meyer’s ‘The Host’ Has a Fourth-Grade Reading Level, Microsoft Word Statistics Show — For One More Day With Aliens

By: jnjulian

jnjulian — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:48:59 +0000

While I don’t doubt that Stephenie Meyer’s novel “The Host” has all the literary quality of the side of a cereal box, I’ve found that Flesch-Kindcaid reading statistics can be misleading. Really, it’s just sort of an average of the length of sentences and paragraphs; stories with long stretches of dialogue and minimalistic writing will register a lower reading level, though this doesn’t mean those stories aren’t for adults (Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” for instance has roughly a first grade reading level according to MS Word).

Meyer’s prose is, as you say, lame and redundant. She consistently overuses adverbs and rapes her thesaurus. But I think what makes Meyer’s books so juvenile is that she is clearly a simple-minded writer, doesn’t really know how to tackle complex issues, and consistently uses flat, unlikable characters, expecting us to unconditionally love them as much as she does. (I’m currently slogging through the first Twilight book as a kind of research blog project, and Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are both insufferable.) Meyer’s biggest problem seems to be an incredibly naive and childish worldview, and her writing reflects this.

By: mizzmegan

mizzmegan — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:00:05 +0000

Personally I think that Stephenie Meyer did a job job.

By: 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom

1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 02:08:31 +0000

Sarah –
“Young adult” has traditionally been defined as 13 and up, but that definition seems to be getting looser and looser, partly for the reason you suggested: When a “young adult” becomes an “adult” is often a judgment call.

So a lot of publishers are hedging their bets by, say, serving up “adult” subjects at a much lower reading level. The review I just posted of a book billed as a “young adult” novel, What I Saw and How I Lied, is an example: a tale of infidelity and more, written at an 8-year-old reading level.

Something similar is happening with the phrase “coming-of-age” novel. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is so different from some books that get the label now. (How perceptive of you to make that connection …) I rarely use the term partly because it can mean so many things, I’m not sure it clarifies anything for readers.

A lot of teachers and librarians visit this site, and I’d love it if someone of them would weigh in on your question about when a “young adult” becomes an adult. program. They deal with this issue quite a bit, I suspect.
Jan

By: sarahsk

sarahsk — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:54:46 +0000

Best line: “Maybe I should have run the other way.” If taken as advice.

I love it!

I’m baffled by Meyer’s success, so this post entertained and depressed me. The “adult” part in particular is disconcerting. I’m wondering at what point “Young Adult” becomes “Adult.” Is the distinction based on subject matter, age of protagonist or writing style?

(On a different note, is “Twilight” considered coming-of-age? Because I don’t think it should be allowed in the same category as “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” for example.)