Somewhere after stubbornly listening to everyone I know command me to
read this Hunger Games series and my (exasperated?) friend Maddie resorting to personally putting the first book in my hands, I
found I had broken the cardinal rule of teen self-help books and caved
into the peer pressure. Yes, my reader(s), I, the queen of Brit Lit
Snobbery, have read The Hunger Games trilogy.
What to say? What to say?
Well, first of all, being the aforesaid Brit lit snob, I am a confirmed hater of dystopian fiction. "Hate" may actually be too tame of a word. My society has enough problems of its own; why should I get wrapped up in some novel whose setting is the bleakest and most depressing the author could come up with? Whenever I finish one of those books, I walk around in a gloomy existential fog for a few days. So imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was my psychological equilibrium intact as I read The Hunger Games, I was actually enjoying it. It has a little bit of everything - adventure, insight, romance, etc. I felt my elementary school self (the one that totally geeked out while reading The Hobbit) resurfacing as I watched Katniss survive in the arena. But - not going to lie here - I also loved all the girly sections when Cinna would show up with one of those amazing dresses Katniss got to wear for interviews and such. (ahh!)
I like how Katniss isn't the cliche warrior-woman heroine - she's strong, but still a girl. Yeah, she can hunt and butcher with the best of them, but an Amazon she is not. As the series progresses, her vulnerability becomes more apparent instead of less so, which, while not exactly the most inspirational outcome, is the most realistic when you take into account all the things she goes through. I also didn't mind her constant wavering between Gale and Peeta, maybe because I could understand her relationship with the former, at least in the first book. She's 16, and is still pretty naive about the guys, so of course she's not going to know how to react when the two in her life decide to fall in love with her. And it was fun following her reasoning throughout the series - getting to see Katniss think things through (and not having all the answers) kept her down to earth.
The plot was pretty good too. I'll confess, I spent the first book smugly guessing what was going to happen next (and was right in my prediction of Rue's death - come on, you knew it had to happen!), but overall was impressed by some of the twists and turns I encountered. I can understand why some dislike how Collins sent Katniss and Peeta back in the Games in Catching Fire, as it did seem a bit of a repeat of the first book, sans the novelty; however, I think it was the necessary spark to get the revolution going. I guess my biggest problem with the plot is in Mockingjay. The ending seemed a bit rushed - you can't really tie up 3 books' worth of loose ends in 5 pages. And I don't like Collins' use of Peeta's character in it. In the preceding books, with all the references to his rhetorical abilities, he seemed destined to be the one who would rally the troops in the inevitable rebellion. Instead, he spends the first half imprisoned offstage, and the second recovering from psychological trauma. Lame.
Speaking of Peeta..........oh my. I'll just admit it right now. I have caught Peeta fever. Peeps, he is up there with Edward Ferrars and the Student in the Canterbury Tales. Yeah. I'm going to risk sounding like a fangirl here, but I really was defenseless against his wittiness....and kindness.....and loyalty. I was totally crushing on him after he pretty much brought down the Capitol during that interview with Caesar Flickerman in Catching Fire. The sad thing is, convinced that such a character is too good to survive, I literally spent the entire time reading the series devising scores of random possible deaths for him. It was only when I hit the last 5 pages that I came to a screeching halt and finally remembered to exhale.
ANYWAYS, I could not write a post about the trilogy without mentioning how I love all the classical imagery and allusions to be found in it! Half the characters have Roman names (Plutarch, Caesar, Seneca, Cinna, Cato....), which makes me want to whip out my history books and see if there's a connection between the characters and the people they were named after. Then there's the fact that the series is based on the famous Greek myth of Theseus and the Labyrinth. And how the Games are inspired by the gladiatorial competitions. As I read all the parts taking place in the Capitol, I felt like I had entered a futuristic Roman Empire.
I was pleasantly surprised at how thought-provoking these books were, aside from the obvious kids-shouldn't-kill-eachother message. Collins definitely has a lot to say about the culture we live in, throwing in a rather preachy reference or two to Panem's predecessor. I'm convinced the Capitol was inspired by California (blame it on my Midwest upbringing). There are the ethical dilemmas which made me ask myself what I would do in such a situation, which all center around - how do you preserve your humanity in a place like the arena?
So, in the end, I guess people are right - the series is one that anybody would like reading. Even British Literature supremacists.
What to say? What to say?
Well, first of all, being the aforesaid Brit lit snob, I am a confirmed hater of dystopian fiction. "Hate" may actually be too tame of a word. My society has enough problems of its own; why should I get wrapped up in some novel whose setting is the bleakest and most depressing the author could come up with? Whenever I finish one of those books, I walk around in a gloomy existential fog for a few days. So imagine my surprise when I realized that not only was my psychological equilibrium intact as I read The Hunger Games, I was actually enjoying it. It has a little bit of everything - adventure, insight, romance, etc. I felt my elementary school self (the one that totally geeked out while reading The Hobbit) resurfacing as I watched Katniss survive in the arena. But - not going to lie here - I also loved all the girly sections when Cinna would show up with one of those amazing dresses Katniss got to wear for interviews and such. (ahh!)
I like how Katniss isn't the cliche warrior-woman heroine - she's strong, but still a girl. Yeah, she can hunt and butcher with the best of them, but an Amazon she is not. As the series progresses, her vulnerability becomes more apparent instead of less so, which, while not exactly the most inspirational outcome, is the most realistic when you take into account all the things she goes through. I also didn't mind her constant wavering between Gale and Peeta, maybe because I could understand her relationship with the former, at least in the first book. She's 16, and is still pretty naive about the guys, so of course she's not going to know how to react when the two in her life decide to fall in love with her. And it was fun following her reasoning throughout the series - getting to see Katniss think things through (and not having all the answers) kept her down to earth.
The plot was pretty good too. I'll confess, I spent the first book smugly guessing what was going to happen next (and was right in my prediction of Rue's death - come on, you knew it had to happen!), but overall was impressed by some of the twists and turns I encountered. I can understand why some dislike how Collins sent Katniss and Peeta back in the Games in Catching Fire, as it did seem a bit of a repeat of the first book, sans the novelty; however, I think it was the necessary spark to get the revolution going. I guess my biggest problem with the plot is in Mockingjay. The ending seemed a bit rushed - you can't really tie up 3 books' worth of loose ends in 5 pages. And I don't like Collins' use of Peeta's character in it. In the preceding books, with all the references to his rhetorical abilities, he seemed destined to be the one who would rally the troops in the inevitable rebellion. Instead, he spends the first half imprisoned offstage, and the second recovering from psychological trauma. Lame.
Speaking of Peeta..........oh my. I'll just admit it right now. I have caught Peeta fever. Peeps, he is up there with Edward Ferrars and the Student in the Canterbury Tales. Yeah. I'm going to risk sounding like a fangirl here, but I really was defenseless against his wittiness....and kindness.....and loyalty. I was totally crushing on him after he pretty much brought down the Capitol during that interview with Caesar Flickerman in Catching Fire. The sad thing is, convinced that such a character is too good to survive, I literally spent the entire time reading the series devising scores of random possible deaths for him. It was only when I hit the last 5 pages that I came to a screeching halt and finally remembered to exhale.
ANYWAYS, I could not write a post about the trilogy without mentioning how I love all the classical imagery and allusions to be found in it! Half the characters have Roman names (Plutarch, Caesar, Seneca, Cinna, Cato....), which makes me want to whip out my history books and see if there's a connection between the characters and the people they were named after. Then there's the fact that the series is based on the famous Greek myth of Theseus and the Labyrinth. And how the Games are inspired by the gladiatorial competitions. As I read all the parts taking place in the Capitol, I felt like I had entered a futuristic Roman Empire.
I was pleasantly surprised at how thought-provoking these books were, aside from the obvious kids-shouldn't-kill-eachother message. Collins definitely has a lot to say about the culture we live in, throwing in a rather preachy reference or two to Panem's predecessor. I'm convinced the Capitol was inspired by California (blame it on my Midwest upbringing). There are the ethical dilemmas which made me ask myself what I would do in such a situation, which all center around - how do you preserve your humanity in a place like the arena?
So, in the end, I guess people are right - the series is one that anybody would like reading. Even British Literature supremacists.
