I am rather surprised by the scene choice–in talking with others who've read and loved Divergent, our shared expectation overwhelmingly seemed to be that Roth would pick either "capture the flag/ferris wheel" or "the fear landscape." She mentioned both of these scenes as possibilities she considered. On further reflection, I'm thinking that the fear landscape scene wouldn't have given much insight into the relationship–I think Tobias would have told us alot about himself but very little about hi

I am rather surprised by the scene choice–in talking with others who've read and loved Divergent, our shared expectation overwhelmingly seemed to be that Roth would pick either "capture the flag/ferris wheel" or "the fear landscape." She mentioned both of these scenes as possibilities she considered. On further reflection, I'm thinking that the fear landscape scene wouldn't have given much insight into the relationship–I think Tobias would have told us alot about himself but very little about his feelings for Tris. Maybe, maybe not.



I will admit that I didn't love this scene. It seems to fall short of the quality of her writing in the novel. I am interested in the idea that Four had decided to leave Dauntless and become Factionless. Didn't see that coming, but it fits his character. His character until Tris shows up–once again love turns the world on its ear. My favorite part of the scene, knowing absolutely that Four meant what I thought he meant all along when he snears at Tris that he's fed up waiting for her to figure "it" out. Love me some Four...



5.12.12-So. Originally, I gave this three stars, but I've just revisited it after reading and rereading Insurgent, and now I think I really do love it. Five-star love it. This aspect of Roth's writing continually impresses and gratifies-it gets better the more I read it. Each successive reading reveals new depth, and this, I think, requires more than skill with words. She strikes me as such a "thinking" writer. In her blog–post about this scene, she commented that she really spends more time in Tobias's head than she realized and that writing the scene in his voice turned out to be less difficult than she had imagined. This is what I mean. She "spends time" in her characters' heads, and her writing has a quality in consequence that it could not have otherwise. That it could not have if the story relied merely on action and plot sequence. There's plenty of action, to be sure, but character drives the story. Grand.