And I REALLY enjoyed The Hunger Games series. :)
The books are actually incredibly dark and well, pessimistic but you kind of lose sight of that while reading, as the story is gripping and the setting, although on Earth, is a future we are not familiar with so it's easy to forget the madness, grayness and cruelty going on.
One of the things that I always consider a sign that the book is good is when I cannot guess what will happen next. And although it wasn't difficut to guess there will be some rebels against Panem (there are always rebels in societies like that) and that the District 13 is probably alive, I didn't know what to expect from the rest, or how the story might resolve.
Both in Catching Fire and Mockingjay.
The only thing I guessed was the political fallout in Mockingjay (I was very proud when that turned out to be like I imagined). But just that, the fallout, nothing of the story around it.
And speaking of the story, I must say Mrs. Collins is an incredible story-teller. Oh, she surprised me there, I admit.
You're reading and reading, and cannot stop and you're completely in the story and then when the emotional turmoil hits you (the reader), you're left wondering where did that come from?!
It came from Mrs. Collins' incredible words.
Somewhat like the rebellion Katniss causes without realizing she is the spark that was missing. The girl on fire, or a well placed word, and before you know it, your world rocks on its axis.
But not to worry, the rocking is for the good. Albeit the process is bloody and tragic.
And yesterday I saw the movie and I must say I am impressed with how much they stuck to the story and elaborated some points that become clear in Catching Fire.
The problem now is, when is the next movie coming out?
I've also very recently read the Hunger Games trilogy and I must say it has been a long time since a book moved me so deeply. I've been thinking and thinking of it and that's a very good sign for a book :)
ReplyDeleteExactly! :) I've been thinking about those books a lot and I already want to read them again. (which I'll probably do soon)
DeleteI haven't visited for awhile (busy-ness being my only excuse!) and here you are talking about Hunger Games! I don't read ALL the YA that makes its way into this house in my daughter's bookbag, but most of it. (She did read the Twilight stuff but isn't very interested in other vampire fiction, so I've been able to avoid that in my quest to read what she's reading.)
ReplyDeleteHunger Games is amazing - just reviewed it the other day myself. I was a little frustrated with the second book and very frustrated with the third, in terms of structure and the stuff the author did NOT tell us. I felt that her personal views eventually began to edge out the story, when really all she needed to do was TELL the story instead of editorializing it.
Or, rather, according to the aphorism that an author should "show, not tell," she should have shown us what happened to these characters we came to care about, instead of having Katniss tell us. I first noticed it at the end of Catching Fire, when we get this whoooooole explanation of what was really going on behind the scenes with the rebels during the Quell, and all in two paragraphs of explanation from Haymitch. I found it bad storytelling, to be honest. I still loved the books, I still cared about the characters, but I was disappointed in that the second two were merely good when they could have been awesome.
Collins does use some lovely unforgettable prose from time to time (if "You love me. Real or not real?" doesn't yank at your heartstrings, you're probably dead) - it's just sprinkled in amongst too much exposition. She can also be really funny ("the standard protocol in the Hob is for everyone to bid on the drumsticks")... and then she pulls this thing with Katniss droning on about the ways in which life sucks when they eventually get back to Twelve after the war, when I wanted her to SHOW me what it was like, give me a scene or two.
I don't know. Maybe she got rushed through the writing/editing process with these.
Oh, and is Peeta not the most entirely awesome character ever? LOVE HIM.
DeleteHave you seen the film?
Mals, I read your review yesterday but didn't have time to comment properly (will do that later).
DeleteYou are right about showing not telling, and in defence of the author, I kept thinking she put so much into Haymitch's mouth (and other people as well) because Katniss is so very young and not really interested in politics and happenings behind the scenes (which I admit really annoyed me at times). :)
But on the whole, I could disregard that as I really enjoyed the story. It's one of those rare YA series that I know I'll be re-reading, which is for me a mark of how much I loved it.:)
Also, a point in favour of Ms. Collins, when Prim's cat arrives in the last book, I fell apart along with Katniss (didn't see that one coming at ALL in my case). The fact that so many emotions were bottled up in the story, and obviously me as well without me noticing, made me think Ms. Collins really knew how to write, even though, as you mention it, she has a tendency to tell, and not show. :)
And I did love Peeta. :D The most annoying parts of the story were those when Katniss' wasn't really giving care as to how he felt for her.
As for the movie, I did see it, and I'm impressed really how much they stuck to the story and showed some of the things that we get to understand in book 2.