Seeing as you two are in different timezones, this probably looks like it's being posted an hour or two earlier than it actually is. I'll let you keep that image; it makes me look more productive... ;)
The Hamster Gods have taken mercy on us and have given us today off school * so I am having a party. Not really. But I AM going in to school at 12 so that we can have a Running Chinese food party before voyaging to the rehearsal for The Crucible! Yeaaah! Unfortunately this means I have to take a quicky quick shower so I can possibly do homework before I leave so I'm not up late doing it tonight...
ANYHOW.
The Hunger Games.
(Obviously, this post has spoilers. If anyone is reading this who hasn't read THG, you may want to stop now...)
I shall start off by saying that, in general, The Hunger Games (THG) does not fall under the category of Book Genres that I Love Forevermore. Dunno, I'm simply not an action/adventure type reader, I suppose. You could argue that Harry Potter and A Great and Terrible Beauty are action/adventure, I guess, but I think THG has more of a science-fictiony feel to it as well.
That said, I did like The Hunger Games. It's just... I didn't love it. Somehow it didn't seem that unique to me. Certainly, it's a good idea and not one that I've read about before.
The actual Hunger Games - the part where they're all thrown into arena and have to try and stay alive - I liked that part a lot. It was very well done and felt quite realistic. However, the "bigger picture" surrounding the Hunger Games didn't sit quite right with me. It was that part that disappointed me, because I didn't feel like it was a very original idea.
The government is out to get us! They want us all to die! They're dictators!
Yes, yes, yes. I know. Thank you for telling me.
Honestly, I would have loved THG so much more if there had been a slightly different reason for the government starting the Hunger Games in the first place. Granted, I haven't read Catching Fire, so maybe there is some outstanding reason that would blow my mind... but I didn't see that in The Hunger Games as a stand-alone novel.
The other aspect of the book I didn't like was pretty much only addressed at the very end of the book: Peeta and Katniss's relationship after the Hunger Games. Peeta loves Katniss? Katniss pro'lly does but is confused? Anger ensues?
AAAAAARGH.
Just once, I would like to see a YA book where there isn't a "who should I fall in love with? Xy boy or Yy boy?"
Not that I hate that part. I don't. Many of my favorite books have that in them.
But it felt forced in THG. Like, "oh, I guess I should stir up some drama between these two! Let's give Katniss a confused mind, which is likely, but then let's give Peeta a typical 'oh how wounded am I' reaction, and let's make Katniss's mouth freeze up the moment she says this. Because that's how it goes down in YA."
No.
I just don't think it WOULD go down like that in real life, after they've been, you know, killing other people for a week or however long it is.
Of course, books don't have to follow real life. Or maybe that IS what would really happen. What do I know? I've never been in that position (thank God).
Still... it irked me a bitty bit.
Pros:
the Hunger Games
Katniss's relationship with Peeta INSIDE the arena
the scene where *spoiler* Rue dies :(
Haymitch! yeaah.
Cons:
Katniss's relationship with Peeta OUTSIDE the arena
The government being creepy and stupid
The last half of the last chapter of the book
Sorry. I feel like this post is disproportionate to how I actually feel about THG, because I really did like it. I guess Alex has already covered the pros of the book, so I'm discussing the cons? I dunno. Whatever.
All in all, The Hunger Games was pretty good, but I have no strong urge to read Catching Fire. :)
How does Katniss feel about the country of Panem? Why does she need to make her face "an indifferent mask" and be careful what she says in public?
Because it's the only way to survive? I think if you've grown up around the Hunger Games your entire life, there comes a point where you have to stop caring so much. With so much cruelty, it'd literally kill you if you started sobbing every time you saw something bad happen.
Still, I think she does care, as evidenced by the berry scene inside the Hunger Games, and the fact that she volunteered for the Games at all.
When Peeta declares his love for Katniss in the interview, does he really mean it or did Haymitch create the "star-crossed lovers" story?
When I was reading this part, I definitely thought it was all a sneaky plot devised by Peeta and/or Haymitch to help the both of them survive. I thought Peeta might care about Katniss a little, but not as lovaaaahs.
However, in hindsight, that may have been true after all. I'm going with: that statement of Peeta's would have been more accurate at the end of the story than at the beginning. (Not that it should have been moved, because where it is greatly benefits the story - just that I think Peeta loves Katniss at the end, whereas at the beginning, he mostly just wanted to survive.)
When I was reading this part, I definitely thought it was all a sneaky plot devised by Peeta and/or Haymitch to help the both of them survive. I thought Peeta might care about Katniss a little, but not as lovaaaahs.
However, in hindsight, that may have been true after all. I'm going with: that statement of Peeta's would have been more accurate at the end of the story than at the beginning. (Not that it should have been moved, because where it is greatly benefits the story - just that I think Peeta loves Katniss at the end, whereas at the beginning, he mostly just wanted to survive.)
Before the Games start, Peeta tells Katniss, " . . . I want to die as myself . . . I don't want them to change me in there. Turn me into some kind of monster that I'm not." What does this tell you about Peeta? What does he fear more than death? Is he able to stay true to himself during the Games?
Yeah, Peeta! So cute you are. <3I don't know about you, but I believe Peeta follows this philosophy of his quite well throughout his stay in the lovely little arena. It tells me that if people in real life think like this (and I like to think that many of us do), then there is hope for humanity after all.
When does Katniss first realize that Peeta does care for her and is trying to keep her alive? When does she realize her own feelings for him? Did Haymitch think all along that he could keep them both alive by stressing the love story? Are they actually in love?
Dunno the exact page or anything, but I think... mm. When she finds Peeta lurking by the stream all cut up and such. *tear* Haymitch is a sneaky little mothertrucker, but in the best way possible. He wanted to keep them both alive, and I think he thought that the loverstory was the best way to do so. He's not stupid, I don't believe he would have expected that story alone to get them through, but it gave them that little edge they needed to pull a victory.
Are they actually in love? Hm... maybe. Depends what you mean by "love." There's definitely something there.
Gale or Peeta?
Don't know enough about Gale at all, so I'm going with Peeta. In that brief little Gale interlude, he seemed more like a friend than a boyfriend, so... I'll stick with that.
Oh geeze. Now I must flee for reals. I hope this didn't make you hate me, fellow bloggers... hehe. ;) <3
* Every time that Halloween is on a weekday, we get November 1st off for a teacher's "professional day" as well. We believe this is a sneaky/kindly way of legitimately giving us a chance to recover from Halloween. What can I say, sometimes MCPS actually does things right! :D
2 comments:
Interesting. I know what you mean about having two boys on the go. My novel doesn't have that. Heh.
And yeah, Peeta was a bit wounded and sensitive, which was irritating.
I never really questioned the validity of the government. I guess in Catching Fire you see more of how it is because they're on tour, and in a way it's kind of comparable to our society. For instance the people of the Capitol drink a potion that makes them vomit Katniss is disgusted that they're so selfish and greedy while the rest of the country is living in poverty and hunger. Kind of like our world. I thought that was interesting.
Another question I just thought of was did you ever think Peeta was going to die? Or Katniss was going to die?
I knew there was a sequel so I figured Katniss would make it out, but I was pretty worried for Peeta at times.
Oh and if you want to answer this other one I thought of :) : Did you think it was a bit graphically violent at some parts? In particular at the end when Cato died? Or did you think that was a necessary element of the novel?
That's all.
(My word verification below is cilly. Hehe. You're cilly)
Haymitch is awesome, and I'll answer in my post. Otherwise this comment will be looooooooong...
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