Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

yup...finally got around to reading these books that everyone has been talking about and all the hollywood buzz about the movie. i finished the last book last night. s has the first one with him and is enjoying it so far. i've heard that the first one is amazing then the story kinda falls apart with the other two....which is kinda hard going into a series with so much buzz going around about them but i did it.

thoughts on the first one are.....katniss is pretty basic as a character i think. she's very straight forward in thinking and planning on survival and keeping peeta alive. the concept of the whole "hunger games" is just purely messed up!!! why is have children kill each other a way to move forward in life? also....why in any future movies/books, humans are kept in special areas gated off from "normalcy"? that's just messed up.

"catching fire" was the start of the fall of the capital, which having another "game" in the "quarter quells" just plain f'ed up really. i think people have been through enough. but the love development between katniss and gale and katniss and peeta is, to me, sadly undone. i know it's just a part of the whole story and not the main part, but katniss hasn't grown as a character to me in this one. yes, she's been through hell and back and now is facing that hell again with secret plots going on around her. but her personal growth isn't there. she should be able to put things together a little faster to me at this point.

"mockingjay" left me the same way. living in district 13 now and walking about borderline catatonic in the beginning makes sense. she's lost everything. her home, peeta, her "normal" life....and now is being forced to be a face of the resistance. it's a lot for a 17yo. but her lack of awareness of what's really going on and gale's feelings and her own for either of the boys and really lacking for me. i would have loved to seen more personal growth for her. yeah she's kickass about wanting to take down the capital and president snow, then facing some realities about president coin, but i think if she was able to put plots/plans together faster it would have made for a more interesting story line. i do like how she's reaching out to peeta in this one to bring him back. and i do understand that she hasn't had the chance to be a "normal" teen that the way of life and circumstances surrounding that has made it impossible. the way of her world is nothing like ours and it hampers i suppose her personal growth. i really like we finally get to learn more about haymitch and why he is the way he is.

do i think the movie version will play up the love story more? hell yeah. do i think the movie version will be a mockery of the book? most likely. hollywood has a way of doing that. even tho there's already something laid out right in front of them, they go and mess with the heart of it. will i see the movie? yup. the pics of i've seen of the actors are too old and she's not blonde and he's not a brunette...so yeah, what's up with that? i hate when hollywood messes with key character descriptions. the only movie to book character i feel they got spot on with casting is the harry potter kids. spot on and well done. i'm sure there's others, but i'm too tired to think right now ;)

i enjoyed the books. i was right there in the game with katniss rooting her on and caring about peeta. i was just as shocked as she was at the announcement for the quarter quells. i wanted both president snow and coin dead. would i recommend them? yup. these books are a good read. well written, but i would have loved to seen more character development in katniss. any one else want to share their thoughts?

3 comments:

Last Mom said...

I loved them. Wouldn't change a thing. I thought they were all perfect. I got my boss (in her late 50's) and coworker (in her 60's) totally obsessd with them! And Cary, too.

Last Mom said...

Oh! And Peeta HAS TO have blonde hair to me. He's golden. They are going to have to do something about that!

Amanda said...

i really liked the books, don't get me wrong. but i think it comes down to really caring about the characters to me. to me it would have been better if katniss knew herself more especially her feelings. she comes off very indifferent towards anyone outside her tiny circle until she ally's with rue. then we see she really can be compassionate to others and not just "play the game" with peeta and "be in love". i'm thinking if i reread the series again in a few months, i'll grab more out of it.