And may the odds be in your favor.
HOLY. FUCK. HUNGER GAMES. DOES NOT COMPARE TO BATTLE ROYALE.
In a few hours I will be attending my lovely blockmate's wedding and my eyes are all baggy because I've spent the last three days reading the Hunger Games trilogy. Yes, friends. This Grade 5 reader has leveled up in her speed reading skills! *raises hands and expects a high five...*
Okay, no. I don't think my reading speed has anything to do with it but I think Hunger Games was such a page turner that I just couldn't stop reading. Some of the beaches and dolly folks have been oggling about the movie. I ended up seeing this trailer about the Second Quarter Quell and thought "Wow, gory. Interesting, but gory." Prior to this, my impression was that the Hunger Games was just an American rip-off of Battle Royale but after having read all three books, I'm quite mistaken.
My eyebags are horribly black and my god I wish I had a decent concealer to take them down but the books were amazing and even if my eyes were possibly in tears of tiredness, I just couldn't put the book down (e-book, to be precise). It was enough to keep me preoccupied more so now that Dino is coughing to his dying day. Haaaay. I'm not much of a YA reader but out of all the YAs shoved at my face in my lifetime, this one said more than just shounen confused times. There's not much of a reluctant hero here. It's all about overcoming one's greatest fears and trying to survive it.
My god, this book. I can go on forever but if you want to get a premise over at wiki, then do so. If you read the wikia, it talks too much. Reading wikia is like reading an RP app. It just says too much of things you'd really rather not know... unless you're a mod.
Anyway, I just think the entire trilogy is brilliant. I am a sucker for war stories and this war was perhaps a good honest testimony of what it's like to live at a time for war. More than war, it's a survival story with less of the horror but more of the fears. Although technically, Katniss and the kids did not get involved in war until later but it shows how much the the threat of losing your life at such a young age can change you.
Suzanne Collins crafted her world well. Actually, no. In fact, she crafted enough for us to get by with the story but not enough to overwhelm us with the thousands of things we didn't need to know. While it is set in a dystopic future, she told enough to get the story going along. In the end it's all about the story. And if it's narrated by a coal bumpkin Katniss, she can only tell so much. But at least it reads like an honest account.
I actually like Katniss as a protagonist. I think out of all the lady protagonist books I've read in YA, Katniss stays at the top for badassery, honesty, and... practicality. She ain't a princess nor does she want to be treated as one. She doesn't waste time unless she's badly hurt which... MY GOD, HOW THE CRAP DO THESE VICTORS KEEP ON STANDING!?! She is a survivor at best and everything is done with her survival or others in mind. But she's quick to think but is just as confused about things when it comes to her emotions. It's when she's emotionally torn and distraught that I see the young girl. She becomes conflicted and it's just beautiful because she still moves on.
Out of the boys, I loved Peeta best. It's because bakers are awesome. No. I- I just have a soft spot for the likes of Peeta. He loved Katniss dearly and while he went through a spiral of emotions for her, he still stayed with her. Maybe the first book was such a great way to build Peeta and while you want to bop Katniss at some points because of her act, you can't help but love Peeta for having so much love. Awesome guy. I want him in my pocket.
Gale was all right. He's a guy who's got stuff for Katniss. I think if Gale didn't make that plan with Beeta in the end, Katniss would have gotten him and Peeta would be like Haymitch... forever alone. :< I wonder if Suzanne Collins had Peeta in mind at the start or if she had Gale. It was a close race and at times lacking even because Katniss, for squat, just doesn't know how her actions can affect others. Not that she's dumb it's just she's the kind of girl who puts everything towards her goal. She's mildly self-absorbed but not exactly selfish. And while she would question it somewhere along the way, she's not one to really recognize other people's reactions. She only knew love best from her father and from Prim. Outside of that, she's just got a twisted view of people. Can't blame her if she's in the roster for an annual kill fest. Or that she's been hungry for the longest while.
Those two aside (well Peeta aside since I love him the most in this series... then maybe Katniss and then maybe... Finnick. I love Finnick. :3) what I love best about the book is the various themes it shows: chiefly on survival and war psychology, social commentaries on class societies, economics and social relations of war, marxist ideas, and the lovely complexity of actions and its repercussions. I swear. I don't understand why this is a YA novel. This isn't a book about victors where it all has a happy ending. While the last book does show hope, it gives a reality that captures ours, if not pushes ours to the possibility of a futurewhere we are all in hunger.
These kids just went through the most difficult moment in their lives. Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta and the other victors are not just litanies of the strength of humanity but also a reminder of the harshest reality of their society. The highly publicized Hunger Games is literally a mean to control the districts because the game is not short of showing fear unto people. The Capitol's not afraid of what they're capable of doing. It's like as if they're saying that if they can do this to 24 children, they can do this to all the districts.
Of course, somewhere along the way, there are people who can outsmart the Capitol and Haymitch, Katniss, and Peeta are among those. And the entire trilogy is all about how they one-up the system. I love how Peeta and Haymitch were like "Know who your real enemy is." Fantastic. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! And I hated how the endings of the first two books were just "WHUT!?!" How did those bloody readers who bought it as soon as they were published managed to even survive the wait!? GAAH!
Oh right, I forgot to say why I think Hunger Games is different from Battle Royale. At most, the Hunger Games captures the traumatic process of Battle Royale where kids fight it off to the death. However, unlike Battle Royale where it's closer to social cleansing, Hunger Games is a deliberate act not to get rid of the worst but to control people. The violence may come close but the intentions, the machinations of the game, the deliberate control of the Capitol for their entertainment just changes the atmosphere of Hunger Games. I should probably consider reading the Battle Royale novels just to see if there is really that connection. If I base it on the movie, it's really worlds apart.
I love how the books captured fear and I love how Collins didn't make her heroine a Mary Sue who just pushed on with great positivity or submitted herself to her harem of boys. You can read in the pages how difficult the games were for Katniss and how even 'til the end, she relied on herself to push herself forward. The choice to have to kill someone and the choice to give yourself up for another. To live after having lost everything. To pick up yourself after you fall.
If I had been in their situation, I think I would have died in the game. But I would probably think in the same way as Katniss did and pushed hard to survive and live. Maybe in a way, that's why I can't exactly hate Katniss. She's real and she knows what she wants and what are her priorities.
I've got another set of books for my children to read and while I think my children would probably throw me down a cliff for forcing them to read Gintama, I think they might actually enjoy reading Hunger Games. And I suppose from there I'm hoping that my children would appreciate the things that they have and live life to the fullest. And maybe... we can laugh at how bad our eyebags are after reading the books. Or maybe they'll sleep when Mommy starts talking about the economic structure of Capitol and why dependent abusive economies is a revolution waiting to happen. Hahahahaha! XDDD But before all this talk of children, I should get husband and get my stored ovaries used. :T
GODDAMMIT. HOW DO I GET RID OF THESE EYEBAGS!?!
P.S. I really want a Peeta in a box. I want to baked my favorite bread fresh every morning. :< And fancy birthday cakes. OMG, THEIR KIDS ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE PRETTY CAKES EACH YEAR. ;A; PEEEEETAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.
In a few hours I will be attending my lovely blockmate's wedding and my eyes are all baggy because I've spent the last three days reading the Hunger Games trilogy. Yes, friends. This Grade 5 reader has leveled up in her speed reading skills! *raises hands and expects a high five...*
Okay, no. I don't think my reading speed has anything to do with it but I think Hunger Games was such a page turner that I just couldn't stop reading. Some of the beaches and dolly folks have been oggling about the movie. I ended up seeing this trailer about the Second Quarter Quell and thought "Wow, gory. Interesting, but gory." Prior to this, my impression was that the Hunger Games was just an American rip-off of Battle Royale but after having read all three books, I'm quite mistaken.
My eyebags are horribly black and my god I wish I had a decent concealer to take them down but the books were amazing and even if my eyes were possibly in tears of tiredness, I just couldn't put the book down (e-book, to be precise). It was enough to keep me preoccupied more so now that Dino is coughing to his dying day. Haaaay. I'm not much of a YA reader but out of all the YAs shoved at my face in my lifetime, this one said more than just shounen confused times. There's not much of a reluctant hero here. It's all about overcoming one's greatest fears and trying to survive it.
My god, this book. I can go on forever but if you want to get a premise over at wiki, then do so. If you read the wikia, it talks too much. Reading wikia is like reading an RP app. It just says too much of things you'd really rather not know... unless you're a mod.
Anyway, I just think the entire trilogy is brilliant. I am a sucker for war stories and this war was perhaps a good honest testimony of what it's like to live at a time for war. More than war, it's a survival story with less of the horror but more of the fears. Although technically, Katniss and the kids did not get involved in war until later but it shows how much the the threat of losing your life at such a young age can change you.
Suzanne Collins crafted her world well. Actually, no. In fact, she crafted enough for us to get by with the story but not enough to overwhelm us with the thousands of things we didn't need to know. While it is set in a dystopic future, she told enough to get the story going along. In the end it's all about the story. And if it's narrated by a coal bumpkin Katniss, she can only tell so much. But at least it reads like an honest account.
I actually like Katniss as a protagonist. I think out of all the lady protagonist books I've read in YA, Katniss stays at the top for badassery, honesty, and... practicality. She ain't a princess nor does she want to be treated as one. She doesn't waste time unless she's badly hurt which... MY GOD, HOW THE CRAP DO THESE VICTORS KEEP ON STANDING!?! She is a survivor at best and everything is done with her survival or others in mind. But she's quick to think but is just as confused about things when it comes to her emotions. It's when she's emotionally torn and distraught that I see the young girl. She becomes conflicted and it's just beautiful because she still moves on.
Out of the boys, I loved Peeta best. It's because bakers are awesome. No. I- I just have a soft spot for the likes of Peeta. He loved Katniss dearly and while he went through a spiral of emotions for her, he still stayed with her. Maybe the first book was such a great way to build Peeta and while you want to bop Katniss at some points because of her act, you can't help but love Peeta for having so much love. Awesome guy. I want him in my pocket.
Gale was all right. He's a guy who's got stuff for Katniss. I think if Gale didn't make that plan with Beeta in the end, Katniss would have gotten him and Peeta would be like Haymitch... forever alone. :< I wonder if Suzanne Collins had Peeta in mind at the start or if she had Gale. It was a close race and at times lacking even because Katniss, for squat, just doesn't know how her actions can affect others. Not that she's dumb it's just she's the kind of girl who puts everything towards her goal. She's mildly self-absorbed but not exactly selfish. And while she would question it somewhere along the way, she's not one to really recognize other people's reactions. She only knew love best from her father and from Prim. Outside of that, she's just got a twisted view of people. Can't blame her if she's in the roster for an annual kill fest. Or that she's been hungry for the longest while.
Those two aside (well Peeta aside since I love him the most in this series... then maybe Katniss and then maybe... Finnick. I love Finnick. :3) what I love best about the book is the various themes it shows: chiefly on survival and war psychology, social commentaries on class societies, economics and social relations of war, marxist ideas, and the lovely complexity of actions and its repercussions. I swear. I don't understand why this is a YA novel. This isn't a book about victors where it all has a happy ending. While the last book does show hope, it gives a reality that captures ours, if not pushes ours to the possibility of a futurewhere we are all in hunger.
These kids just went through the most difficult moment in their lives. Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta and the other victors are not just litanies of the strength of humanity but also a reminder of the harshest reality of their society. The highly publicized Hunger Games is literally a mean to control the districts because the game is not short of showing fear unto people. The Capitol's not afraid of what they're capable of doing. It's like as if they're saying that if they can do this to 24 children, they can do this to all the districts.
Of course, somewhere along the way, there are people who can outsmart the Capitol and Haymitch, Katniss, and Peeta are among those. And the entire trilogy is all about how they one-up the system. I love how Peeta and Haymitch were like "Know who your real enemy is." Fantastic. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! And I hated how the endings of the first two books were just "WHUT!?!" How did those bloody readers who bought it as soon as they were published managed to even survive the wait!? GAAH!
Oh right, I forgot to say why I think Hunger Games is different from Battle Royale. At most, the Hunger Games captures the traumatic process of Battle Royale where kids fight it off to the death. However, unlike Battle Royale where it's closer to social cleansing, Hunger Games is a deliberate act not to get rid of the worst but to control people. The violence may come close but the intentions, the machinations of the game, the deliberate control of the Capitol for their entertainment just changes the atmosphere of Hunger Games. I should probably consider reading the Battle Royale novels just to see if there is really that connection. If I base it on the movie, it's really worlds apart.
I love how the books captured fear and I love how Collins didn't make her heroine a Mary Sue who just pushed on with great positivity or submitted herself to her harem of boys. You can read in the pages how difficult the games were for Katniss and how even 'til the end, she relied on herself to push herself forward. The choice to have to kill someone and the choice to give yourself up for another. To live after having lost everything. To pick up yourself after you fall.
If I had been in their situation, I think I would have died in the game. But I would probably think in the same way as Katniss did and pushed hard to survive and live. Maybe in a way, that's why I can't exactly hate Katniss. She's real and she knows what she wants and what are her priorities.
I've got another set of books for my children to read and while I think my children would probably throw me down a cliff for forcing them to read Gintama, I think they might actually enjoy reading Hunger Games. And I suppose from there I'm hoping that my children would appreciate the things that they have and live life to the fullest. And maybe... we can laugh at how bad our eyebags are after reading the books. Or maybe they'll sleep when Mommy starts talking about the economic structure of Capitol and why dependent abusive economies is a revolution waiting to happen. Hahahahaha! XDDD But before all this talk of children, I should get husband and get my stored ovaries used. :T
GODDAMMIT. HOW DO I GET RID OF THESE EYEBAGS!?!
P.S. I really want a Peeta in a box. I want to baked my favorite bread fresh every morning. :< And fancy birthday cakes. OMG, THEIR KIDS ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE PRETTY CAKES EACH YEAR. ;A; PEEEEETAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
This entry was originally posted at khursten's dreamwidth.