As Rebecca promised, I finished Hunger Games in a little over 24 hours. This was, in part, because of the fact that I couldn't leave my apartment this morning since a water main broke in front of our house causing a massive sink hole and the road to be closed. But really, Hunger Games kept me riveted, and even after I was able to navigate away from home, I didn't leave until I had finished and went out to buy the second and third books.
I will start by saying that in the Young Adult/ Tweenager Fantasy/Fiction/Series genre I am, and will always be, a happy and proud Harry Potter fan. I have also read the Twilight series, and generally enjoyed it, but never to the point that I love HP. Hunger Games falls in between the two on my enjoyment scale. Perhaps it's that I have aged out of the intended audience, whereas I read HP in my prime Tween / Teenage years, but I just don't think HG, or Twilight for that matter, holds the same... ahem.... magic. I found the romance in HG to be my favorite part of the book (by the way, I'm a HUGE Peeta fan!). It was refreshingly sweet and believable compared to the Twilight series. However, it lacked the subtlty and humor of romantic relationships in the HP series. Katniss's denial and seeming lack any ability for self-reflection in her relationships is what irked me the most. For someone who is so developed in so many skills, her utter lack of sense of self and others baffled me. In order to survive, people need to be able to clue into the thoughts and feelings of others. Katniss's ability to do so was extremely lacking. Because of this, I found myself getting frustrated that HG is written in the first person. It seemed to dumb the book down because Katniss herself was being so dumb!
Other than these complaints, I thought the book was marvelous. Not only was it a riveting story, the number of cultural references, the subtle mockery of American society, and the unrestrained violence help the book appeal to an older audience. Hopefully the next book will not disappoint!
- Miss. H.
Which part made you think she was clueless? That she didn't realize how Peeta felt and why he did the things he did? Or others? I thought she was pretty savvy about the other competitors, but not so much with Peeta and Haymitch.
ReplyDeleteI still haven't made it to BN, but I'm headed there tomorrow as an end-of-week treat!
-Rebecca
Also, here's a question about the violence. Do you think it's too much for kids? I know some people (teachers/administrators) who were worried about kids' responses to all of the death, but I don't know a single kid who gave it a second thought. I really liked how she didn't glorify the violence. It was very matter-of-fact.
ReplyDelete-Rebecca
It bothers me that Katniss is completely clueless about Peeta and Gale's feelings, and also about her own feelings for them. She constantly says she doesn't have time to think about her feelings, but she must know what she feels - feelings are not something one needs to think about; they're simply what one feels. She did figure out the other competitors well in the first book, but in the second, again, she is clueless about why the others want to protect her and Peeta.
ReplyDeleteI finished the second book yesterday and was SO disappointed in the ending. I thought it was a great cliffhanger, but the way Katniss found out about the rebel effort was a total cop out. The author spent about two paragraphs explaining the entire reason behind the competitors actions in the games. It was as if she was given a page limit and had to squeeze all the information, the entire resolution of the whole novel, in the most concise and boring way possible. What happened to the denouement?
I don't mind the violence. Anyone complaining about the violence should check out what 8 year olds are playing for video games. I taught a bunch of kids this summer (8 years old) who play Call of Duty and Modern Warfare, which definitely glorify the violence. As you say, Collins isn't glorifying the violence; if anything she's sending the message that the violence in the games is reprehensible.
I'm re-reading Catching Fire now, and I think it's better the second time around. Now that I know where the story is headed, I am paying more attention to the emergence of the rebels and the love triangle. Not having started the third one yet, I don't know where Katniss's heart ultimately lies, but I'm realizing that the relationship with Gale is more complex than I initially perceived it. I think that I was so pro-Peeta that I brushed off Gale as a romance roadblock. I'm still a Peeta fan, but I have more empathy for Gale this time around. I think (hope!) that she has to end up with Peeta in the end because he is the only one who truly understands how she has been permanantly altered by the games. But I'm not as anti-Gale as I used to be.
ReplyDeleteAlso, something I had forgotten about but was reminded with the re-reading was the many references to ancient Rome. Obviously the arena echoes gladiators fighting to the death, but how about Finnick Odair as a Mermillon? Or the practice of stuffing oneself and vomiting so that one can continue eating (when they're at the banquet in the capital)? (That practice may not be entirely historically accurate, but it's a pretty pervasive myth.) I feel like Suzanne Collins must've been pretty well-schooled in sixth grade history.
In general the depth and breadth of references, especially modern but also historical, never fails to amuse me. I think that's part of why the story keeps adults so entertained.
-RDW
It's interesting that you say that about ancient Rome - there's a passage in the third book that likens Panem to Rome, so I think you may be onto something!
ReplyDeleteCastor and Pollux, the cameramen? When Haymitch (I think it was him) explains how their new government will be a republic, modeled on the republic in the history books? Something's definitely up with Rome. Any other governments you're reminded of? I'm trying to figure out if there's a contemporary war parallel going on. There's also something funky with Coin and District Thirteen. Socialism?
ReplyDeleteI'm on page 184 and about to stop for the night, but I am loving Boggs. When he told Gale, "well, we just saw Finnick Odair in his underwear..." I laughed out loud.
-RDW