The Hunger Games Trilogy (book) - Warning: SPOILERS

[Stiletto Kitty]

Ok. So there's a great deal of buzz going around about The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, in particular Book I.

For those of you who haven't been swept up the the madness that could possibly topple Twilight, the trilogy takes places in a distant North America that has been reduced to 12 districts and a capital. Every year, the big wigs in the Capital go around to every district (all of which are in varying degrees of poverty) to choose two tributes, children aged 5 through 18 who are able to compete in the Hunger Games, which is an event that pits all the tirbutes regardless of district against one another in the hopes that one of them will make it out alive and will become a victor. All victors are set for life though many of them are damaged in some way or other as a result of the horrors they face during the hunger games.

  Spoiler:  

There are actually 13 districts. You don't find out much about District 13 until book II.
The Hunger Games are named such because during the event where you are competing to stay alive, you pretty much end up starving or else risk ding to get food, find food, eat food.

Now this is a trilogy so let's go a bit more in depth

Book I (The Hunger Games) follows the extraordinary tale of a female tribute from District 12 named Katniss Everdine who against impossible odds is the only known tribute of District 12 to volunteer for the Hunger Game Event. Since no one ever normally volunteers for this in District 12, you can imagine then that the Hunger Games isn't something most normal people would want to do so it goes without saying that she did so under dire circumstances. In this case love for her family. The story goes on to show how she literally struggled and persevered to ave her life and that of the male tribute representing District 12. Not to make it sound like a complete love story, which it isn't, The Hunger Games also tells the story of a dystopia that arose when people lost the fdesire to fight for their freedom. Cause if they had freedom they wouldn't have had the Hunger Games.

Book 2 (Catching Fire) follows the lives of the Victors in the previous Hunger Games event. And we're not just following their lives. The President o the Capital is following too because for the first time in the history of the Hunger Games there were two victors. Katniss may have survived the arena but can she survive the political backlash that ensues? With the help of Haymatch, Peeta, and the fabled District 13, she must fight for her life, that of her family, and every person in every other district. She has become the symbol of their resistance as well as the catalyst that could bring down the Capital and put an end to the Hunger Games once and for all. Assuming she can survive a secound round in the arena.

Book 3 (MockingJay) follows the struggle of District 13 as they make preparations to either over throw the Capital or prevent the death of other citizens in Districts 1-12 that want to be saved. If I say anything more, I will give away the story so I'll just say that the ending is strange as fuck.

[Stiletto Kitty]

I've read the entire series and I'm in love with Book 2 (Catching Fire).

Book 2 Spoilers

  Spoiler:  

Peeta surprises the shit out of me with his ballsiness. And then we find out how the fuck Haymatch the drunk survived the Hunger Games. And then when they threw them back into the ring, I was on the edge of my fucking seat because I knew there was no way in hell both Peeta and Katniss were coming out alive. And then they fucking blew up the damn arena pretty much. And District 13 was real?
I think my favorite scene was the one where they electrified the fence when Katniss was on the other side in the woods. They wanted a reason to hang her pretty much. And holy shit!!! The chick with the knots? And the drug addicts from the engineering district? Volts was awesome.

Book 3 Spoilers

  Spoiler:  

I like the way Book 3 Ended though. I'm glad they didn't have to kill Peeta. I'm happy he and Katniss got married and had kids.

Book 1 Spoilers

  Spoiler:  

Book 1. The part where Rue died. I was damn near in tears. And then when the fucking monster tributes came out. What the fuck was that shit.

[Zen]

I suppose I'll go ahead and post this, but since this is a thread about Hunger Games, shouldn't we just use spoiler for books 2 and 3? (speaking of which, you totally got me with that first one. Now I know ;_

Anyways, these are my thoughts on the first book:

THIS HAD SPOILERS BEFORE BUT DOESN'T NOW, FAIR WARNING.

Pro: 1. The book is fantastic at building suspense. There's a reason why I read it in one sitting. I had to know how it ended.

Con: 2. I predicted why Peeta was with the Careers. I predicted the bombs around their food. I predicted that the Capitol would call off the Two-Tributes-Can-Live thing. I knew Rue would be killed by a Career. The point is, the book didn't have a whole lot of original ploys in it.

Pro: The plot is intriguing in its own way, and I like the new twists she gave it.

Con: It's exactly like Battle Royale or The Greatest Game or every other similar hunt-or-be-hunted film/book.

Pro: 1. I was surprised by her move at the end with the death berries. Very good.

Con: 2. It would have been way better at the end if when she told Peeta about how Capitol was "mad about their stunt with the berries", if he'd had no idea it was a stunt and had actually meant to die with her.

Pro: That dress that she wears to the interview. Oh my God. That was incredible. And on that note, I liked the whole star-cross'd lovers ploy, even if it was real on one end.

Con: You're going to tell me that she goes through all that with that one person and isn't in love with him? Bullshit. The author just wants to drag out the romance so there can be a stupid love triangle and two more books. It's unrealistic and an obvious ploy to extend her franchise. If she were in love at the end of the first book, the other two would be much less interesting. Even Stephenie Meyer had to throw in Jacob to keep Twilight fans around.

Pro: The main character isn't a wimpy, sniveling coward, thank God. She's not useless. She's not weak. She's not incompetent. She's clever and capable, and I love her bad temper. She doesn't need to be rescued, but she's also caring and willing to do anything to protect what needs to be protected.

Con: She never really deals with any of the horrors in this book. She watches people die in front of her, kills people, and there's never a real moment of "Jesus Christ, I just shot someone in the throat." I wanted that moment, and it never came. I believe her kills were justified (the boy she shot had killed Rue, so no hard feelings there, and killing Cato was a euthanasia if I've ever seen one), but I wanted to hear her think about that.

In general: I enjoyed it. I intend to read more. I love that she outsmarted the Capitol but still has to play their game now. There are just... some things I wanted her to do that she never did. I wanted her to become a killer and then struggle out of that. I wanted her to break down completely, resign herself to death, and then force herself back out of it. I wanted her to do something with some emotional depth. Plain and simple: the book was shallow and left me thinking, "Well, that was fun, but now that I know the end I'd never read it twice."

[Stiletto Kitty]

When I first read the book I thought of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and the Capital was the mob happily throwing stones.

since this is a thread about Hunger Games, shouldn't we just use spoiler for books 2 and 3? (speaking of which, you totally got me with that first one. Now I know ;_

I don't always think these things through.

In any case....

Con: 2. I predicted why Peeta was with the Careers. I predicted the bombs around their food. I predicted that the Capitol would call off the Two-Tributes-Can-Live thing. I knew Rue would be killed by a Career. The point is, the book didn't have a whole lot of original ploys in it.

When Katniss and Rue teamed up, they both knew there'd be no chance of them both getting out alive. What I didn't expect was for Rue to die so soon or for the spectators/viewers to interpret Katniss' actions as some kind of rebellious behavior. I think even for the Career tributes, there's a certain amount of kinship between them that they'd want even a moment to mourn the loss of their friend before they go back to surviving. On the other hand Katniss came from a district that was poor as shit, wasn't known for spouting Victors and they tended to not want any part of the Hunger Games. So I think for the non tributes, if they formed teams (which is something they had done in the past), they'd be angry as shit/sad and more broken up about what was happening around them.

I remember that during the days leading up to the Hunger Games, the Capital did all kinds of interviews with tributes, so everybody knew that for the most part Katniss was only there were it not for the fact that her baby sister's name had been drawn. It's so ironic. Every year every kid prays their name isn't the one drawn. And Katniss lucked up. It wasn't her name. It was her sister's. The whole time I was thinking "between her and Gale, their names appeared at least twenty five times. Prim's should have only been in that damn bowl once. How the fuck did they draw her name?" If it wasn't for the fact that the President was a hard ass and just wanted to see people die, I would've bet Peeta's love for Katniss that it was a set up.
Moving away from that tangent, Rue's death really hurt Katniss and that's evident by the shit that happens in the other two books. Seeing death that up close and personal did something to Katniss' mind. I'm not sure if you got that impression but if you didn't, just think of Haymatch.

Pro: 1. I was surprised by her move at the end with the death berries. Very good.

That didn't surprise me. I was thinking about everything they'd learned from their short time with Haymatch. I just knew she'd have something up her sleeve.

Con: 2. It would have been way better at the end if when she told Peeta about how Capitol was "mad about their stunt with the berries", if he'd had no idea it was a stunt and had actually meant to die with her.

Book 2 Spoiler

  Spoiler:  

Peeta finds out how mad the Capital is with Katniss at the beginning of book 2 during the victory tour where the victors make stops at all the districts. The people from Rue's district were killedfor whistling the same tune Katniss did during the games, and for holding out their fingers in the manner she did. And then the President got pissed because the people in all the districts had begun rebelling since she pretty much pulled a fast one with her berry incident. And so they then (Haymatch and Kat tell Peeta) what went down and how they're going to have to spend the rest of their lives. It was hella intense.

Pro: That dress that she wears to the interview. Oh my God. That was incredible. And on that note, I liked the whole star-cross'd lovers ploy, even if it was real on one end.

I don't want to spoil book 3 any more for you but let's just say that Gale was all brawn and no brain. And Peeta is no longer as soft and mushy as he used to be. (Also during book 2 there's an insane interviewwith peeta and katniss that will make your jaw drop. My jaw hit the floor and I had to put the book down because it felt like I was about to have a heart attack. I couldn't believe what Peeta said)

Con: You're going to tell me that she goes through all that with that one person and isn't in love with him? Bullshit. The author just wants to drag out the romance so there can be a stupid love triangle and two more books. It's unrealistic and an obvious ploy to extend her franchise. If she were in love at the end of the first book, the other two would be much less interesting. Even Stephenie Meyer had to throw in Jacob to keep Twilight fans around.

Katniss was all about surviving so she could go back home to her family because they needed her. Her mom was stuck in a depression since the loss of her husband. Her sister couldn't hunt or do other things to help put food on the table. She saw an opportunity and she took it. And yeah. Peeta did help save her life but it's not like she was obligated to love him in return. Johnny Sixpack just saved me from oncoming traffic. Sure he was only able to save me because he's been stalking me because he's been in love with me for years. And yea, I'm thankful he saved me, but I'm still not gonna fuck him.

As for extending her franchise... When I was growing up, I was told that if you wanted to eba successful writer (as in on best seller's lists) you had to have at least three books published a year. If it was a ploy to fulfill the minimum yearly quota, she did a great job. And it was worth it. (The star crossed lover thing/it being one sided ends in the middle of book 2.)

Pro: The main character isn't a wimpy, sniveling coward, thank God. She's not useless. She's not weak. She's not incompetent. She's clever and capable, and I love her bad temper. She doesn't need to be rescued, but she's also caring and willing to do anything to protect what needs to be protected.

Con: She never really deals with any of the horrors in this book. She watches people die in front of her, kills people, and there's never a real moment of "Jesus Christ, I just shot someone in the throat." I wanted that moment, and it never came. I believe her kills were justified (the boy she shot had killed Rue, so no hard feelings there, and killing Cato was a euthanasia if I've ever seen one), but I wanted to hear her think about that.

The President was a dictator. He was a monster and a tyrant. Katniss is the heroine. If she had resorted to outright insane bloodlust, we would've reached a point where there was nothing different between her and the President who put her in that position in the first place. She would've been just like most of the other Victors int he past: a broken empty shell of a person that could no longer go back to real life outside of the arena.

In general: I enjoyed it. I intend to read more. I love that she outsmarted the Capitol but still has to play their game now. There are just... some things I wanted her to do that she never did. I wanted her to become a killer and then struggle out of that. I wanted her to break down completely, resign herself to death, and then force herself back out of it. I wanted her to do something with some emotional depth. Plain and simple: the book was shallow and left me thinking, "Well, that was fun, but now that I know the end I'd never read it twice."

I think the time for her to have gone Rambo would've been when they called Rue's name. Kill the rep, the guards, all the people form the Capital, leave no witnesses, and it's like the Reaping day never happened. The president sends more people to re-do the drawing and hopefully Katniss will have better luck next time.

But realistically that probably couldn't have happened. Had she been someone that would've broken down under those circumstances she wouldn't have been the person that volunteered to be a tribute and then there wouldn't have been a story.

[Zen]

I can't read your post because so many spoilers!

I'll read the other 2 and come back to this.

Then we will have ourselves a discussion!

[Stiletto Kitty]

Hurry and finish Catching Fire!!!!

[Orange_]

i read the first half of the first book.....

[Zen]

And what did you think? Why did you stop reading? Any desire to pick the rest up again?

[Stiletto Kitty]

The first book was kinda predictable at parts. But I don't think it was a bad thing for a book. It appealed to the more blood thirsty component of human nature. I don't think anyone that read the book and sensed something bad was going to happen kept reading because they wanted to see if Suzanne could put an alternate spin on the inevitable mass death of people/horror a single entity could inflict on a group of people. They knew blood shed was coming and they wanted it.

I'm anxiously waiting for more people to read Catching Fire so I can talk about my favorite book in more depth

That aside, how do you guys feel about Haymatch?
Haymatch is a drunk throughout the entire trilogy. Did any of you wonder how the hell he survived the hunger games?
Have any of you considered the kinda role Gale will play in all of this later?

[Zen]

I assume Gale is the hopeless love triangle ploy that will undoubtedly drag on for all 3 books. Tell me I'm wrong. I dare you.

As for Haymitch, he clearly wasn't a drunk until he had to survive the game, which means he had no trouble before that and turned to drinking to quell his emotional woes.

As a fellow drunk, I understand him.

[Orange_]

i read the first half of the first book.....

i liked it, i stopped because i just don't have time to read lately

[Stiletto Kitty]

I assume Gale is the hopeless love triangle ploy that will undoubtedly drag on for all 3 books. Tell me I'm wrong. I dare you.

You're wrong. It drags on for one book. Possibly 2. Book 2 (Catching Fire) is all about surviving the proverbial gauntlet.
Book 3 has a shit ton of rather grizzly shit and not much romance. At least not romance that involves Gale.
And for the record, after much consideration, I have decided that Peeta and Kat should've screwed that night in the cave during the Hunger Games. That's what I was hoping would happen. Think about it. By that point in the story they'd just found out two victors could live but the odds of them both surviving were still iffy at best at that point. And as far as I know, if you're old enough to pretty much suicide for your district you're old enough to have sex and shouldn't risk dying a virgin.

And you forgot to mention that pretty much all the previous victors from any district are never the same person they went in as. What do you think Haymitch survived?
Just think about it. As a mentor he sucks because of his drunkenness but he had to have survived somehow..... think about it

[Zen]

Uhh, I don't know how thinking about it could help, seeing as there are about a bajillion different possibilities. I can't narrow it down with zero data to work with. But don't worry, I'll read the other books post haste and then we can have a proper talk about it.

A friend of mine told me that the love triangle does drag on, so either you missed something or she imagined something. I agree that they should have had sex in the cave, though. I was thinking it the whole time I was reading. Then again, they were being watched by their entire country. That would be a little awkward.

[Stiletto Kitty]

the star crossed lvoers thing between katniss and peeta carries on. but gale's role as a potential love interest is not carried on. and even if it did.... it's greatly over shadowed by the hell epic but predictable ending, and the numerous murders... and the character development of other important people who were necessary for the ending to happen.....
On the other hand, I'm a blood thirsty bitch. If they'd had sex in that cave, I still would've focused more on the way the final career died and how long he had to scream and suffer at the paws of the mutations.

Which reminds me. what was your favorite part of the book and why?

(there's no mention whatsoever that porn was outlawed and some of the people in the capital weren't exactly vanilla so...)

[Zen]

I do have to wonder how the hell they turned the dead tributes into dogs. I imagine that's explained later? Don't spoil it for me unless it's never explained.


Hm, my favorite part. I have to say it's a tie between when she first volunteers and no one in District 12 applauds and when Cinna presents them at the opening ceremony and their interviews. I really fucking loved that dress. Really.