The Hunger Games: The Book Version of Crack

[diaphenia]

I really enjoyed these books. No, wait, I was addicted to these books.



As in, my friend S dropped them off to me on Wednesday while I was vacuuming out my car, and even though I was in the middle of it, I sat down on the pile of excess car stuff I’d gathered up- including a chocolate from The Olive Garden- and started reading, my car doors open, the vacuum cleaner perched on the backseat, and my floormats elsewhere.

And I read. For four hours, outside, even after I discovered chocolate on my dress, even though my phone was buzzing, even though I was thirsty and the vacuum cleaner was stolen and there were neighborhood kids dropping off their backpacks and grabbing their bikes. Sitting in my car, mouth slightly open, the day unseasonably warm. And as soon as it was over, I sighed happily, put away the vacuum cleaner, fixed my dress, caught up on the internet.

And then I picked up Catching Fire, vowing to only read half so I could get some sleep. I plowed through, though at one point I noticed throwingpens had just posted something on tumblr, and thus I sent her a message telling her all the things that were happening in my brain at that moment about the book, because that’s something someone wants, right? And then I proceeded to do that all night, till I closed the book. I then vowed to lock myself in a room, listen to Adele, and cry. Instead, I went to bed, because I had to go to work about five hours later.

The third book, Mockingjay I started the next day on my break at work, which was a mistake, because Thursday was to be my day off from the books. Alas, I’d started, and once I had, I kept going, harassing Amber through it, putting it down every few chapters to go back to my real life, and then picking it right back up again.

At the end of the second-to-last chapter, I screamed. And then again, and again, as I read that last chapter. Then I read the epilogue, put the book down, screamed again until the edges of my vision were starting to get dark, and then took a deep breath and went out to dinner.

So!

Let’s break this down into topics:

Rue

I wasn’t going to cry, because I’d already seen the movie, I knew what was coming, and I didn’t need to cry.

I cried.

Haymitch

Haymitch was probably one of my favorite characters, possibly because he got to be comic relief in books that were funnier than they should have been, but not hilarious. He was just likable, and, as it would turn out, a pretty good mentor too. Loved all the Quarter Quell backstory for him. And the running thread of how winning the Hunger Games screwed up the tributes really made me want him to succeed.

I was fairly certain he’d be killed, probably in some creative way, in book three. I was certain of it. After all, the mentor, the Yoda, always dies. And I was dreading it, because he’s a father figure, even he did use Kat for her Mockingjay status. But I’m delighted that the book ends with him being K/P’s neighbor, even though I’m not sure how he escaped the author’s noose.

Effie

Effie was always sort of ridiculous, but I love her. She’s actually, in my mind, a fairly relatable character, because she’s constantly doing uncomfortable, crazy things to look good, and who hasn’t bent over backwards trying to standout-yet-fit-in? I thought it was lovely how even the most obviously mockable characters, including Kat’s prep team, always got to have some dignity and respect from Kat eventually. I wonder if she ended up getting executed, but in my mind, she did not.

Gale

I enjoyed Gale as a character, and I was a little shocked at how his story ended, but upon reflection I think that actually makes the narrative stronger. It’s easy, sometimes, to forget these books are about a sixteen/seventeen year old, because so many of the things she deals with—family, getting engaged, facing down death at least twice—age her, but really, how many people at seventeen are still friends with the people they liked at twelve? You grow, you change, and hardships sharpen you into the person you’re going to become, and you grow apart. And Katniss had two crazy life experiences, and ended up feeling very different about war than her best friend. And her best friend, who hadn’t experienced the games, came of age at just the right time when his anger could be exploited into something destructive, and he gave into that.

What really shocked me, I suppose, was the finality of the thing- but then, given the circumstances, I can see why she’d never see him again.

But enough about his end, let’s talk about the beginning of his story.

There’s something really lovely about that friend you have that you can just be with, and I think the K/G friendship is fabulous in that. Really, he’s the only friend we spend any significant with, and I love that they have these families who rely on each other.

I assumed she wasn’t going to pick him. The constant refrain of “cousin”—not just when they interviewed Kat’s people during the Games, but I noticed Peeta always assumed that too, and mentioned it on the train to the Capital—emphasized the semi-incestual nature of the friend-into-lovers scenario.

But to me, I realized there was no way Gale was going to end up with Katniss, and that was when he got upset that Kat wanted to bring Peeta into the woods with them, whereas Peeta assumed Gale would come along. When Peeta later pulled out the locket, that just confirmed my assertion.

Peeta

I really like Peeta. Peeta, in my mind, appeals to the sixteen year old girl that lives inside of me that occasionally chooses my earrings. And my sixteen year old self loves Peeta, for being sweet and kind and not a murderer for the most part. But more than that, he’s got that artistic spirit, and he doesn’t try to go past first base, and he’s totally cute.

Um.

Anyway, I think that most of my favorite moments in the trilogy deal with Peeta, from his “she has no idea. The effect she can have on people” in the first book (and the callback in the third) to “You try to protect me. Real or not?” to his THG/CF interactions with Cesar Flickman. I recognize the books are about something much deeper than dating, but I’d be lying if I said I’d have enjoyed them as much without a romance subplot.

And the way Suzanne Collins rolled that out, and kept it going over 1200 pages was a master class in romantic tension.

Prim

Eh.

The Ending to Mockingjay

I might need to reread this, because (1) What was that final mission, and how did it make sense to send K/P—surely there were easier ways to kill off Katniss? (2) I just can’t understand how Kat could vote yes on another round of the Hunger Games, even in light of her sister’s death. Or, for that matter, how she and Peeta could reconcile in light of their votes at that tribute tribunal.

Also, the entire reunion with Peeta was maddeningly vague. That could have been an entire book, practically, and it was a paragraph with no real clues or timeline reference.

And now, back to the movie

When I saw the movie on Sunday, I went without any knowledge of the story at all. I hadn’t read a review, I hadn’t read the back of a book, I only knew a few things gleaned from untagged tumblr gifs.

And I loved it, and wrote about it. Having now read the books, I see that I misinterpreted the Katniss-suicide-threat scene entirely incorrectly; she never thought she’d actually be killing herself. And while she had some sort of Peeta feelings, she didn’t actually fall for him during the games. And she was suspicious of his motives the entire time when it came to their romance, which I don’t think was terrifically clear in the movie.

Having said that, I do need to go see this again, now that I’ve read all three books, but perhaps after I’ve gotten some sleep, and maybe done some laundry.

Socio-political commentary

Fairly pointed political commentary, especially when discussing the luxury of the Capital compared to the poverty in the districts. I’ve read some articles that say these books can be read from a conservative or liberal perspective, as either a discussion of the dangers of big government or the danger of stratified economic class systems, and either way (by which I mean my way) I love that teenagers are getting an introduction to said commentary wrapped up in a novel. Especially since it’s not an Ayn Rand novel.

But seriously though, Peeta was pretty hot

Yes!

Edited to add: And I realize that it probably looks sort of weird that I didn't write specifically about Katniss. But that's because I just barreled through 1200 pages of her thoughts, and I think I need more time to separate myself from her first. Overall, though, she's (1) not Bella, thank god (2) pretty much a badass (3) realistic. I love that she's rebellious and a little dangerous and often sullen and spiteful. She's messy, and I like that. Not a role model, but not trying to be.

Comments

[whimsical-irony.livejournal.com]

Margaret Atwood > Ayn Rand.

Should I finish the series? I read 1, got through part of 2, had 3 spoiled for me, thought, "that sounds like BS," and never finished the rest.

Then again, I haven't finished the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series either so I might just have a problem.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I remember the first time I read The Handmaid's Tale and spent a hour bawling over the way women are treated. Literally, bawling, because it freaked me out so much. Of course, I didn't realize we'd be living it soon, Texas.

I thought the novels were pretty damn gripping, so I'd be inclined to say yes, but if you weren't gripped personally... I'd say it's less essential. The movie was pretty excellent; I'd at least go see that. It's fascinating to see how popular it is; it's all we're talking about at work.

And I've still not started those Dragon Tattoo books, even though the first one has been sitting in my car for two months. They just look really long, and I'm not one to complain about book length, but... life is short.

[lizinstereo.livejournal.com]

I met Margaret Atwood once. She's one of my all time faves, so I had to brace myself so I wouldn't pass out.

[whimsical-irony.livejournal.com]

Oh and since you've read the book and watched the movie you should tell me what you think about this book/movie comparison . Some of my friends were discussing this today and I had to fake like I knew what was going on.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

Actually, yeah, that article's pretty good. It hits all the major points, and actually, I'd forgotten that Peeta does kill the girl from District 8. Huh. And here I was thinking he didn't kill anyone until the second book (though I think we don't find that out until book 3). But yes, the biggest change, in my opinion, is that we really only get a four second reaction shot of Peeta looking disappointed when Katniss ignores him when they return home (so she can stare at her family and Gale) but other than that, I think its pretty unclear that she's entirely using him for his earnest romantic streak. Or that she spends most of the time thinking he's faking it, too.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

Vulture also did a pretty good comparison.

http://www.vulture.com/2012/03/hunger-games-book-versus-movie.html

[throwingpens.livejournal.com]

So now that you've finished and can articulate things, is there one moment that stuck out in your head from all three books? The Fin/Mags/Katniss/Peeta alliance was kind of my favorite from all three books. I don't know why, it just was.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

One of my favorite scenes is in the first book, when they have their on-screen reunion after returning from the games, and they are kissing and Cesar comes up and taps Peeta on the shoulder and Peeta flicks him away and the crowd goes nuts. I'm not sure why I loved all those scenes with the interviews and the crowds, but I did, and that scene in particular, maybe because it was just a hilarious visual.

I think I could read an entire book of Fin hanging out with Johanna.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

Here's a question I have. Many people seem to hate Mockingjay, and I'm curious what everyone hates about it. I didn't love it- my problems were that no one seemed particularly upset she shot Coin, that she voted for the Games, that then I'm not clear on if they held the Games after Coin was shot, and that maddeningly vague ending, but is there something I'm missing?

[whimsical-irony.livejournal.com]

I haven't actually read it, but from what I was told happens it all seems a bit anticlimatic? Like, Katniss is this spunky badass heroine who fights through hell again and again and in the end, what does she get? I think people just wanted a happier ending for the protagonist of the series.

[stillscape.livejournal.com]

I hated it for the following reasons.

One, Katniss spends large portions of the book unconscious. Which is fine, but doesn't work, structure-wise, when your unconscious character is also your narrator. It leads to a lot of clunky exposition, which I disliked.

Two, that last big action set piece was bananas. Nothing had any logical motivation anymore. I know the muttations and stuff had been introduced before, but I really felt like new obstacles were just being invented out of nowhere so that characters could die sudden and random deaths.

Three, Prim's death didn't even make sense. I mean the way it was written and presented to me did not make sense. And then we moved on from that very quickly. I understand, given the themes of the series, why she would have chosen to write it in that way; I just thought the writing itself was poor.

And by that point everything was such hopeless bleak despair that I was honestly shocked the series didn't end with everyone shooting themselves in the head.

So mostly I just thought it was badly written. It needed a good edit, but to me it seemed like the editors had no motivation to actually do any work--they knew it was going to sell regardless--so they didn't bother. And that's irritating.

[throwingpens.livejournal.com]

I think most of the problems com from her being kind of out of character, and her decisions toward the end of this book are so very out of character for the Kat we know and love. It would be like me deciding after the election that "hey maybe I should have liked Rick Santorum" and then forcing my kids to live in a place where he was in power.

[calc-u-later.livejournal.com]

I just re-read the books last week in anticipation of seeing the movie (today, finally!) and I had a bit of a different read the second time around. I actually hated Mockingjay the first time, too, though I don't remember why. I think maybe I wanted more for Katniss and Peeta, but I can see how they probably ended up lucky, considering... I liked it much more the second time around.

I guess mostly it's the lack of a happy ending, and killing off Prim seemed completely terrible to me, but I think it mostly served to show the chasm that had grown between Gale and Katniss -- Prim was most likely killed by a weapon that Gale created, and Gale thought the idea of civilians/innocents was ok/necessary to win. He always saw the world as very black and white and participating in the games made Katniss see the shades of grey. Which is also why I think she voted to continue the Hunger Games. For her, I think, it was a test of the new leadership. To see if they really would continue to perpetuate the atrocities they had all just fought against. And when she saw that they would, that, to me, is why she decided to assassinate Coin.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

Did she agree to the games because Coin wanted it (Coin wanted it right?) to make sure Coin knew she was pro-Coin taking Boggs' advice?

[stars-inthe-sky.livejournal.com]

My understanding was she voted for THG 2.0 at the end of Mockingjay not because she thought it was a good idea, but so that Coin would trust her--thus allowing Katniss to be the one allowed to shoot Snow, which gave her access to offing Coin. I was shocked in the moment, too, but like so much else with these books, it made more sense once you understood the endgame.

As for Prim's death and the ending--yes, they felt rushed, but the emotion felt very real and very spot-on to me. These books don't take place in something like the Potterverse, where you can go through a war and come out the other end on okay terms with Draco and happily-ever-after married to your high school sweetheart with kids whose names are straight out of bad fanfic. I'd figured going into book 3 that either Gale or Prim was going to die--and Prim was the one whose death would have the maximum impact on our protagonist (I watch a lot of Joss Whedon things, can you tell?). Plus, before the first Games, Peeta says he doesn't want to lose himself, and Katniss just wants to keep her sister safe. And by the end, those are the things they each lose that hit the hardest.

Agreed on Katniss as a character--she's very far from perfect, and at times an unreliable narrator, and it's pretty refreshing.

(Also, I'm leavingfingerprints over on Tumblr--I'd been following you there for a while before actually signing up myself, but I rather love your Parks-and-other-things commentary. Just wanted to say.)

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

I really like that interpretation; plus, it allows me to believe she wouldn't have voted for the games otherwise. Because that part was troubling to me, in a way I can't quite explain. I might need to reread that with fresh eyes. I also really appreciate the point that Kat/Peeta each lost the one thing they hoped to get when they went into their first games, something I hadn't thought about. Somehow, that makes it all the more heartbreaking.

I went into the book unspoiled, other than a vague knowledge that people hated the last book, and while I wasn't shocked Prim died I didn't predict it. I thought it would be Haymitch, and kept thinking all throughout the book that any minute now, someone was going to come running in and announce it. I never thought Gale would die, though I also never thought he'd leave. Did you ever think Peeta would die?

(And thank you for the lovely compliment)

[stillscape.livejournal.com]

Okay, I finally saw the movie. Where were we? I liked but didn't love it. Pretty much how I felt about the books. So that's where I am. Still can't look at Josh Hutcherson without giggling.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

I have questions, comment, quemments (TM Nerdist) and I'll start chronologically in the series.
We pretty much look at the other tributes as the enemy (when they're not! the gov't is!) aside from Rue and maybe Thresh because of his one act of kindness toward Katniss. But those Careers, however cocky they might be, volunteer so other kids don't have to be subjected. While Katnisss only had an hour to say goodbye and deal with the post-reaping situation, those kids had years to get a grip on the situation. I'd really like to read what you guys think of those Careers or if you know of any comments Collins has made concerning Clove, Glimmer, Marvel and Cato. Does she at all sympathize with them? They're killers but they're also stoic, brave kids. (Collins kind of explains how District 2 would produce Cato and Clove and the mindset in Mockingjay.)

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

I don't know that I agree that the Careers volunteer so that other kids don't get subjected, which isn't to say I disagree with your overall premise. I think it's more along the lines of, there's real honor in going, since there's a high probability that one of those four will be the winner, since they get trained. It seems to me they get numerous volunteers every reaping (as K mentions when she volunteers) and those people are eager to go since they are hoping they get all those victor spoils.

I have no idea if Collins has said anything about them- I haven't read her interviews, but I think in the books, we get Katniss's not-entirely-fair assessment of them. The movie, which has room to leave Kat's head, seems more sympathetic. They're all just kids thrown into a really strange system, you know? But they still cuddle in their sleep, even if they're hands are holding weapons when they do (I know that at least once in the books, Katniss mentions holding her bow while she cuddles Peeta to sleep, but I can't remember how they play that in the movie).

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie right before I finished Catching Fire and while I watched the film I was disappointed that the Mockingjay pin was something Katniss found and not from Madge (no Madge?!) and was hoping that at some point Haymitch would recall that Katniss' pin at any point in the first two novels/movie and that never happened just to make the omission even more glaringly in my estimation. I guess Collins didn't think it was that important a detail.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

I didn't really feel that much attachment to Madge, so... eh, I wasn't super worried about her getting cut. Many people were deeply offended by omitting her, though. I think because there are so many Gadge shippers.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

I'm just going to keep posting questions. I guess ...
CATCHING FIRE.
Katniss knew she'd be reaped. She said she was going to save her goodbyes until right after in the time usually allotted. Come on Katniss! I know you're emotionally stunted but why wait?

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

Amped up the drama? She thought it was the last time she'd see them, and that's difficult.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

The ending of Mockingjay annoyed me not once, not twice, but three times. First, Collins didn't explain well enough after the explosion that killed Prim. Sure, Katniss is unconscious but still, then again after she kills Coin and is in the training center bedroom for however long. That second one isn't so bad because she would have not privy to hearings perhaps. How hated is she? But the worst omission of explanation is Peeta's return to sanity? Did it happen when she kissed him in the Capitol or what? Explain Peeta's rehabilitation. Please.
Collins spends way too much time explaining things at the beginning of all three books - but especially Mockingjay - and some of that stuff is redundant. How many times does Katniss go out in the field and disobey orders and get injured and come back to the District 13 hospital? But then she wraps up things a little quickly in the last few pages.

[saucydiva.livejournal.com]

The bomb that kills Prim is supposed to mirror the one that they do in District 8, right? Minor bomb, then bigger bomb that gets the rescuers. And that D8 bomb influenced Gale, I think.

I think Peeta's not really supposed to be cured in the end? Because he still has flashbacks and stuff, and they're still playing the Real or Not Real game. I think he just gets better at distinguishing fact from planted memory, but still struggles occasionally. Because he knows that shiny memories are fake (or maybe they were the real ones?). But they work on that book, and that helps. I think it's a process.

Katniss does spend most of the book incapacitated. My hope is they rewrite some of it when they get to the movies.

[ballroom_pink.livejournal.com]

Did anyone else picture actor playing characters who haven't been cast yet. I kept picturing Mary McDonnell as President Coin. And no one but Ryan Kwanten can play Finnick.