The Hunger Games
3 journalers for this copy...
From Amazon.com:
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, The House of the Scorpion—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch.Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.
If there really are only seven original plots in the world, it's odd that boy meets girl is always mentioned, and society goes bad and attacks the good guy never is. Yet we have Fahrenheit 451, The Giver, The House of the Scorpion—and now, following a long tradition of Brave New Worlds, The Hunger Games. Collins hasn't tied her future to a specific date, or weighted it down with too much finger wagging. Rather less 1984 and rather more Death Race 2000, hers is a gripping story set in a postapocalyptic world where a replacement for the United States demands a tribute from each of its territories: two children to be used as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.Katniss, from what was once Appalachia, offers to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, but after this ultimate sacrifice, she is entirely focused on survival at any cost. It is her teammate, Peeta, who recognizes the importance of holding on to one's humanity in such inhuman circumstances. It's a credit to Collins's skill at characterization that Katniss, like a new Theseus, is cold, calculating and still likable. She has the attributes to be a winner, where Peeta has the grace to be a good loser.It's no accident that these games are presented as pop culture. Every generation projects its fear: runaway science, communism, overpopulation, nuclear wars and, now, reality TV. The State of Panem—which needs to keep its tributaries subdued and its citizens complacent—may have created the Games, but mindless television is the real danger, the means by which society pacifies its citizens and punishes those who fail to conform. Will its connection to reality TV, ubiquitous today, date the book? It might, but for now, it makes this the right book at the right time. What happens if we choose entertainment over humanity? In Collins's world, we'll be obsessed with grooming, we'll talk funny, and all our sentences will end with the same rise as questions. When Katniss is sent to stylists to be made more telegenic before she competes, she stands naked in front of them, strangely unembarrassed. They're so unlike people that I'm no more self-conscious than if a trio of oddly colored birds were pecking around my feet, she thinks. In order not to hate these creatures who are sending her to her death, she imagines them as pets. It isn't just the contestants who risk the loss of their humanity. It is all who watch.Katniss struggles to win not only the Games but the inherent contest for audience approval. Because this is the first book in a series, not everything is resolved, and what is left unanswered is the central question. Has she sacrificed too much? We know what she has given up to survive, but not whether the price was too high. Readers will wait eagerly to learn more.
I picked this up on a high recommendation and at first glance it sounded interesting though eerily reminiscent of the fantastic over-the-top crazy action film "Battle Royale". A few pages in, I started to doubt that the book would ever catch my attention but approximately 50 pages in, the story started to get interesting and by page 100, I was incapable of putting it down. The story of Katniss and her adventure through The Hunger games was well written and imagined and nearing the last 20 pages, I started to wonder how Collins would end it. Imagine my surprise when I realized that this was merely book one.
Hopefully the wait for book 2 won't be very long.
Hopefully the wait for book 2 won't be very long.
Journal Entry 3 by themarina at Rhizome Cafe in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Released 15 yrs ago (2/10/2009 UTC) at Rhizome Cafe in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Releasing at the February Bookcrossing Meetup!
Location:
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1A1
Who’s coming?
11 Yes / 3 Maybe
Releasing at the February Bookcrossing Meetup!
Location:
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1A1
Who’s coming?
11 Yes / 3 Maybe
Journal Entry 4 by rrain-again from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Haven't read anything by this author but I do enjoy Sci-Fi
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, even the earlier events which resulted in the Hunger Games are almost believable. Several times I found myself wondering what I would do if I had been dropped into Katniss' situation. The problem for the author was how close were her characters going to get to real intentional, murder. The answer was only just. The deaths of opponents happen off-stage mostly or as the result of actions like dropping the wasp nest into the middle of a group from other districts. Katniss does leap forward to kill, but it is to defend her new young friend and she kills that friend's partner as an act of mercy as he's being slowly dismembered by wild animals. These animals were derived from the bodies of participants by some sort of cloning process unless they were a semi-hallucination. Collins chickens out at the end and we are left with a "what happens next" feeling readying us for Book 2.
I can imagine classes discussing the various events with great intensity because the whole scenario plays fast and loose with everything we've been taught: loyalty can only be temporary, you have to play just for your own survival if you don't want to die. Everyone sees what happens so everyone learns the same lessons, thereby lessening the chance of rebellion in the colonies.
I can imagine classes discussing the various events with great intensity because the whole scenario plays fast and loose with everything we've been taught: loyalty can only be temporary, you have to play just for your own survival if you don't want to die. Everyone sees what happens so everyone learns the same lessons, thereby lessening the chance of rebellion in the colonies.
