The Hunger Games (series)by Suzanne Collins
Review by Belle
The Hunger Games is a series of three books written for young adults, and follows the adventures of Katniss, who is called (in the first book) to compete in the Hunger Games, a competition in which 2 children from each of the 12 districts in the country are chosen to be thrown into an arena and fight for their lives until only one remains. It sounds gory because it is, although in a young-adult-fiction kinda way.
Despite feeling uncomfortable about the violence and the direction popular fiction for young folk seems to be heading (lots of killing things), I unwillingly enjoyed this series. The suspense is handled superbly, the writing is clever and surprisingly fun, and the characters are layered and interesting and mostly likeable (except for Katniss; she’s pretty annoying). And because the books are written for young people they’re ridiculously easy to read; there’s nothing like finishing a three-part series of novels in a week to make you feel like you’re being incredibly productive with your free time.
The books have interesting things to say about war and power and humanity and the nothing-new-under-the-sun-ness of Ecclesiastes 1. Considering everything, I’d probably recommend this series to others, with a warning about the blood, as well as a lengthy but riveting lecture on literature for young people these days.
Thanks for the review, Belle. Check out Belle's Elbows.
1 comment:
Katniss sure was annoying. I wonder what the thinking was behind that.
It's also fairly heavy-handed. I've just found a box with a bunch of books I was reading around the ages of 10–13 (a lot of Tolkien and second-grade fantasy, but also stuff like Victor Kelleher and Robert Cormier). It'll be interesting to revisit that. My memory says that it was a little more sophisticated, less black-and-white. But then, you know, I was a lot less sophisticated, too :P
And the writing was so bland. I finished HG yesterday, and have just started on Darkly Dreaming Dexter this morning. I've only read five pages or so, but the the prose crackles off the page. It's such a relief!
Having said that, I couldn't put HG down. It's weird — this consciousness of the flaws, but the desire to get through it.
I tend to think of myself as a fairly mediocre writer. But my writing is clearly good enough to deliver blockbuster teen fiction. Now I just need a plot and some luck :P
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