Hubby got me all three of the Hunger Games books…you might not see me for a few days. I didn’t really know what they were about, other than everyone is talking about it because of the movie. And what hubby said, which is its just a retake of ‘Battle Royale’. Donno if that was ever a book first, but I thought the films were just an excuse to kill pretty kids in interesting ways. Not much different than Friday the 13th was back when it was new.
But, I’m over half done with the first book. It’s well-written, believable, and the characters aren’t horrible stereotypes. There’s not pages of annoying descriptions of scenery or people, which I appreciate. And while I think, and thought from the first, that I have a good guess as to how it ends, I’m still trusting the author to throw me a curveball and surprise me.
I think I see what all the fuss is about.
heretherebespiders 
I have not yet read the books (I get allergic to most things that “everybody” likes, and tend to let books like Harry Potter sit for a while before deciding to read them. However I managed to find out most of what there is to know about them through my favorite Harry Potter critic, John Granger, who despite his doctrinaire Christianity impresses me with humor, insight and breadth of critical knowledge. (Since Rowling says she is a committed Christian, finding the Christian symbols in Harry Potter is like finding them in Dante, and I can skip over Granger’s few evangelical moments.) Granger later got gaga over Hunger Games and there is tons of stuff on his site.
http://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/hunger-games-fosters-archery-interest-among-women/
Save it for when you’ve read more…
I read a bit of what he has up, but I got totally hung up on people reading stuff into everything. As a writer, if I ever finish a damn thing, I’d be laughing my hole off at the idea of any symbolism going on. Hey, maybe I’m a crappy writer. Maybe my subconscious is way smarter than the rest of me… Any way, I did like them, but by book three I no longer wished the story would last forever. Got a bit bored…still, the writing itself is very clean.
It can be tricky navigating between educated attribution of sources (Granger’s deft indication of derivations from Dante, etc.) and wishful projections of meaning. But the source detective work is luscious.
I once wrote a song which I used to do at coffeehouses, partaking of a New Testament story (“Call me Legion, for we are many”) but not otherwise concerned with Christian conclusions about the universe, and it was frightening to see what some of the local Jesus freaks made out of it.
OOOh! I read all three and wrote reviews on my blog! I’ll be interested to see if you had some of the same opinions I did.
I’m busy reading the second book. And I love it! I personally find the book very addicting. And I feel like I can relate to Katniss. I heard the second book is the best all three. And I have to admit, I like it more than the first book.
How far are you with the first book? 🙂
Done, and started on the second! I’m glad I have all three, I’d be annoyed to not be able to continue!
That’s fast!
What did you think of the first?
I think I’ll wait until I’m done with all three to see what I think… I didn’t get to read much today and I have to write a blog post or feel guilty about not writing a post!
Haha, alright! 😉
Well, everywhere you turn you hear about the books. Will come back to hear what you think as we’re always on the look out for a good tip.
Good! I bet you guys have lots of reading time with all the delays in transport. What sort of fiction do you usually like?