Artistic License Geography: Difference between revisions
Correcting the "west coast of Brazil" example.
Sophrosyne (talk | contribs) (Correcting the "west coast of Brazil" example.) |
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** She also seems to have forgotten that, yes, the Pacific Northwest does have a summer. A very sunny summer. It could go all of July and August, and sometimes September, without being completely overcast. Do the Cullens go on a three month camping trip every year? Not to mention that most areas in the Pacific Northwest aren't under complete cloud cover all day.
** Meyer was working from a grain of truth. Thanks to the Olympic Mountains blocking clouds coming in off the Pacific, Forks is beside a [[The Other Rainforest|literal rainforest]]. Forks really does get a lot of rain, even compared to the rest of Western Washington State. Grain of truth or not, however, it's still a nasty stereotype about a geographic location that came from inadequate research. Simply googling "Rainiest Town in America", which is more or less all Meyer did by her own admission in the introduction, does not adequate geographic research make.
** Regarding the infamous "west coast of Brazil" line...although everyone remembers the line, it never occurs in Meyer's work. The actual phrase from ''Breaking Dawn'' is: ''The taxi continued through the swarming crowds until they thinned somewhat, and we appeared to be nearing the extreme western edge of the city [Rio de Janeiro], heading into the ocean.'' That last word is what has led to so much confusion. Meyer was wrong; the western site of Rio ''doesn't'' lead to the ocean, because the Atlantic Ocean is the southern border of Rio, not the western one. However, Rio ''is'' bordered on the west by Sepetiba Bay, as can be seen on the map [http://www.rio.com/practical-rio/rio-de-janeiro-map on this site]. And Sepetiba Bay does feature a lot of day cruises to nearby tropical islands. Sailing from Sepetiba Bay to a private island is within the realm of possibility. So Meyer should have had Bella say "bay," not "ocean"--but she did not create an entirely new Brazilian coastline.
** Also referring to Lake Union as "Union Lake", not unreasonable...if you're only ever seen a map of Seattle. Actually there are multiple problems with Seattle geography. The shady part of town that Bella visits in the last book is vaguely reminiscent of some parts of Aurora Ave. but doesn't come close enough to any real part of the city to be believable.
* In ''The Terror of Blue John Gap'', the narrator at one point travels from the eponymous cave (which of course is a source of the semi-precious stone Blue John) to Castleton in Derbyshire, some 14 miles away. In reality, Blue John is found only in the vicinity of Castleton, a roughly 3-mile radius. Maybe this one is also [[You Fail Geology Forever]].
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