I was all set to post this blog about The Hunger Games trilogy today, but Susan beat me to it.
Come on over to her fabulous blog - Inkspells
No need for me to blog it when she's already started a discussion, right? Except I can't help it. I have to say something.
This series is AMAZING!
The reader in me is SO grateful to Suzanne Collins for a book that recaptures that "Don't talk to me, I'm reading" feeling. That "read under the covers with a flashlight" because I can't put it down feeling. That "need to recommend it to everyone you meet" feeling. Even that "need to blog about it even though someone else did" feeling. ;)
The writer in me wants to know WHY it works that way.
What amazes me about Hunger Games is that I can analyze it as a writer without losing any of the reading pleasure. That's rare for me.
I was discussing Hunger Games with a friend via email last night and she suggested that the writing puts her completely in the world of the story. I absolutely agree, but HOW and what else?
First of all, despite the subject matter which sounds harsh, The Hunger Games is extremely readable. You don't feel like you have to work at it; you're just absorbed into the story. You immediately want to root for Katniss against terrible odds because she's had such a hard life, she was so heroic in taking her sister's place, and she doesn't think of herself as anything extraordinary. Then there are all the little jabs of tension. In Book One, every time you get lulled into what is happening, there's a reminder of what's really ahead and how she can't trust anyone. By the time you get to the actual games, you're already completely captivated by the story. Forget putting it down then.
And of course there's the love triangle (verdict still out for me on that one).
Hunger Games reminds me of a cross between Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and the TV show JERICHO (that dystopian theme) with maybe a little Lord of the Flies influence. But it's so much more than that.
So have at it, if you will. Have you read The Hunger Games? What do you think makes it so compelling? And of course I have to ask, which team are you on?
Apparently I'm not alone in needing to discuss it - the Dear Author website had over 1000 comments! Dear Author is one of Scholastic's official District Blogs for this. So if you want (make that NEED) to discuss The Hunger Games more than just here or on Susan's blog, you can follow along on a different website each day up until the release. Each District has fabulous prizes to give away.
If you haven't read The Hunger Games and Chasing Fire yet, there's still time before the Mockingjay release next Tuesday (August 24th).
ETA: The teacher, writer and reader in me all love that there's so much excitement about this trilogy. Scholastic even has a countdown clock on the website.
If by chance you somehow missed all the hoopla about the trilogy this summer, just Google The Hunger Games, you'll get something like 7,290,000 results to choose from.
I LOVE THE COUNTDOWN CLOCK. I just this minute put it together with the theme in Catching Fire.
ReplyDeleteI heartily agree with the love for Collins for creating a book that I could lose myself in, even though I'm a writer. That's harder and harder to do these days.
I think Collins hit it out of the park in so many ways: dystopian (hot), YA (hot), action-action-action (hot-hot-hot). But the most compelling part of her books are the way that she layers the conflicts: Katniss has conflict with her world, her district, her boyfriend, her mother, and even her sister. The layers are amazing and compelling and just catapault you through the story!
And yes, I can't stop talking about it! :)
LOVED Hunger Games. That's really saying something because this is NOT the genre I normally read. I haven't yet read Catching Fire, but it's on my list. I'm reading A Great and Terrible Beauty right now (great) with Before I Fall next. Whew!
ReplyDeleteWell, obviously I've got to add these to my TBR's. Thanks for the lead.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I totally agree about the layers. I think the characterization she creates is another compelling aspect. Even the minor characters tug at you. I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just use page numbers, but pages 233 - 239 of HG with District 11 and Rue - I found that tears were just rolling down my face.
ReplyDeleteOh Julie, I hope you'll come back and comment on A Great and Terrible Beauty. I've been on the fence about reading that. I've heard fabulous things about Before I Fall too.
ReplyDeleteHunger Games is so different from any genre I ever read (except maybe JD Robb). That's what took me so long in getting to it. I'd been seeing promo for Mockingjay everywhere, but the summaries I read left me thinking I wouldn't like it. Then I saw HG in Costco for $5 and figured why not. It may be the best $5 I've ever spent!
Linda,
ReplyDeleteI hope you do try them. I love dissecting an excellent book to learn from it. As I posted and Susan agreed, you can do that with HG without losing any of the enjoyment of the story. In fact, I think it enriches my enjoyment.
And as Susan said in her blog, it might be news to the NY Times, but it's not news to readers that YA has some of the most exciting voices and stories today.
SEVEN days!!!!!! Team Gale!!!!!!!!!! OK, I love Peeta too, I'll be happy either way. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about the series (I'm on part 3 of Catching Fire) is the complete attention to detail. I am just immersed in this world. Each character is unique, even the stylists, and the people in the seam....I wish I could meet Suzanne Collins, honestly, and see how her brain works.
ReplyDeleteMary: I haven't yet read these, but I think it's interesting that both of my boys are into this series too. My 11-yo just finished re-reading HG this morning in prep for Catching Fire. He hasn't spent that much time on a book all summer, and he read it in about 3 days. I guess I'll have to break down and see what the big deal is! =)
ReplyDeleteI missed the hoopla. I need to find out what it's about since my DD is a HUGE reader. Is it a good book for a rather sheltered 11 y.o.?
ReplyDeleteMarianne, you might want to read it first. It's pretty dark subject matter. The teenagers have to fight to the death.
ReplyDelete@Marianne - Come check out my review on Ink Spells about Hunger Games. ;)
ReplyDeleteI agree with Susan and MJ, Marianne. I think Scholastic put 12 as the lower limit. I saw an interview with Suzanne Collins where she said that they were doing that because the theme and kid on kid violence wasn't really appropriate for younger kids. I know it troubled me.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Gwen has some insight on it since her 11 yr old read it. I think it really depends on the child. From what I've read of your DD, she sounds sensitive enough that it might upset her.
T.Anne, I think at heart I'm team Gale too. The scenes with him in CF showed his depth. Of course Peeta always surprises me. I think there's depth to his character that we only see when he does something that surprises Katniss (since it's told from her POV).
ReplyDeleteOne thing that surprises me about these books is how caught up I am by the first person present tense. I don't usually like that.
Gwen, I haven't spent this much time with a book all summer either. It was starting to worry me that I wasn't able to settle in and read like I used to. These 2 books put that fear to rest.
I loved the TV show JERICHO and this reminds me of what I loved best about it - the small moments of how people were dealing with the minutiae of their lives in the wake of cataclysmic changes.
Thanks for the input -- I actually just remembered talking about this book with Charity Tahmaseb (she loved it) and how dark-themed it was. My DD would probably be horribly upset. Maybe when she's older (and HEY, the benefit to that is she'll be able to read the entire series at once without waiting for it to release, lol).
ReplyDelete