24 June 2014
Book: "The Hunger Games"
"I volunteer!" I gasp. "I volunteer as tribute!" There's some confusion on the stage. District 12 hasn't had a volunteer in decades and the protocol has become rusty. [...] In some districts, in which winning the reaping is a great honor, people are eager to risk their lives, the volunteering is complicated. But in District 12, where the word 'tribute' is pretty much synonymous with the word 'corpse', volunteers are all but extinct.
I started hearing about "The Hunger Games" (by Suzanne Collins) many years ago, before the movies came out. It sounded interesting (A trilogy set in a dystopian* future with a female hero? Sign me up!) but when I started the first book, I quickly became annoyed with the writing style. A couple of years later I rented the first movie (and by "rented", I mean checked out from the library) and I absolutely loved it. So when I found the book at the library sale for 25ยข, I decided to give it another try.
This time I pushed on, and -- even though I knew what was going to happen -- became engrossed enough in the book that the writing only occasionally bothered me. And it is a fantastic book. The world is great, the characters are great, the story is great.... I just wish the writing was a teensy bit better.
The world-building is excellent, and the story moves at a such a quick pace that you just want to keep reading and reading. But the best part is the main character. I've often said that my favorite characters are badass smart-asses, and Katniss definitely qualifies. But I also love the idea of her: It's rather uncommon to have a female lead be prickly. (Veronica Mars is the only other example that comes to mind.) She's not mean or cruel, she's just had to survive a difficult life, and closing herself off from everyone but her sister and best friend is how she has protected herself. I also love that her skills come from years of practice. I mean, I love Buffy and Friday and Xena and other superheroes-with-special-powers, but sometimes it's nice to see regular people be awesome because of their hard work.
Spoilers:
Yrg'f gnyx n yvggyr zber nobhg Xngavff orvat cevpxyl. Bar bs zl snibevgr fprarf vf jura ure zragbe Unlzvgpu vf gelvat gb cerc ure sbe ure GI vagreivrj, naq gurl pna'g svther bhg ubj gb cerfrag ure va gur orfg yvtug. Svefg gurl gel purrel ("Lbh pbzr npebff zber nf fhyyra naq ubfgvyr."). Gura gurl gel uhzoyr. Gura... "Gur arkg ubhef ner ntbavmvat. Ng bapr vg'f pyrne V pnaabg thfu. Jr gel zr cynlvat pbpxl, ohg V whfg qba'g unir gur neebtnapr. Nccneragyl V'z gbb 'ihyarenoyr' sbe srebpvgl. V'z abg jvggl. Shaal. Frkl. Be zlfgrevbhf. Ol gur raq bs gur frffvba, V nz ab bar ng nyy. Unlzvgpu fgnegrq qevaxvat fbzrjurer nebhaq jvggl, naq n anfgl rqtr unf percg vagb uvf ibvpr. 'V tvir hc, fjrrgurneg. Whfg nafjre gur dhrfgvbaf naq gel abg gb yrg gur nhqvrapr frr ubj bcrayl lbh qrfcvfr gurz.'"
Ohg V ybir guvf. V ybir gung fur'f fb ubarfg. Gung fur fgehttyrf gb cynl gurve tnzr, rira gubhtu fur xabjf ubj vzcbegnag vg vf. Fur qbrf yrnea, gubhtu, orpnhfr fur unf na rnfvre gvzr cynlvat sbe gur pnzrenf nsgre fur naq Crrgn unir jba. Fur fgvyy fgehttyrf, ohg fur unf vzcebirq.
Bar bs zl bgure snibevgr guvatf nobhg guvf obbx, naq ubj Xngavff vf cbegenlrq, vf gur ebznapr nfcrpg. Vg'f Crrgn jub vf ybirfvpx sbe ure, abg gur bgure jnl nebhaq. Xngavff tebjf gb yvxr Crrgn, ohg fur vf sne gbb ohfl fheivivat gur neran (naq yngre, gur cbyvgvpf) gb ernyyl guvax nobhg uvz yvxr gung. Ntnva, gung'f na hahfhny naq vagrerfgvat pubvpr. Naq -- zbfg vzcbegnagyl -- vg svgf jvgu gur jub fur vf naq jvgu jung ure yvsr unf orra yvxr. Sebz n lbhat ntr fur jnf erfcbafvoyr sbe srrqvat ure zbgure naq lbhatre fvfgre. Fur'q orra va fheiviny zbqr sbe lrnef, naq gung nyybjrq ure gb sbphf ba fheivivat gur neran.
Svanyyl, V ybir gung fur naq Crrgn jva orpnhfr bs guerr guvatf: 1) Fur bhgfznegf gur tnzr-znxref, 2) Crrgn gehfgf ure, naq 3) Fur naq Crrgn ner oenir.
*Why does spellcheck not recognize "dystopia" or "dystopian"? Or, as I've noted before, "spellcheck"?
I started hearing about "The Hunger Games" (by Suzanne Collins) many years ago, before the movies came out. It sounded interesting (A trilogy set in a dystopian* future with a female hero? Sign me up!) but when I started the first book, I quickly became annoyed with the writing style. A couple of years later I rented the first movie (and by "rented", I mean checked out from the library) and I absolutely loved it. So when I found the book at the library sale for 25ยข, I decided to give it another try.
This time I pushed on, and -- even though I knew what was going to happen -- became engrossed enough in the book that the writing only occasionally bothered me. And it is a fantastic book. The world is great, the characters are great, the story is great.... I just wish the writing was a teensy bit better.
The world-building is excellent, and the story moves at a such a quick pace that you just want to keep reading and reading. But the best part is the main character. I've often said that my favorite characters are badass smart-asses, and Katniss definitely qualifies. But I also love the idea of her: It's rather uncommon to have a female lead be prickly. (Veronica Mars is the only other example that comes to mind.) She's not mean or cruel, she's just had to survive a difficult life, and closing herself off from everyone but her sister and best friend is how she has protected herself. I also love that her skills come from years of practice. I mean, I love Buffy and Friday and Xena and other superheroes-with-special-powers, but sometimes it's nice to see regular people be awesome because of their hard work.
Spoilers:
Yrg'f gnyx n yvggyr zber nobhg Xngavff orvat cevpxyl. Bar bs zl snibevgr fprarf vf jura ure zragbe Unlzvgpu vf gelvat gb cerc ure sbe ure GI vagreivrj, naq gurl pna'g svther bhg ubj gb cerfrag ure va gur orfg yvtug. Svefg gurl gel purrel ("Lbh pbzr npebff zber nf fhyyra naq ubfgvyr."). Gura gurl gel uhzoyr. Gura... "Gur arkg ubhef ner ntbavmvat. Ng bapr vg'f pyrne V pnaabg thfu. Jr gel zr cynlvat pbpxl, ohg V whfg qba'g unir gur neebtnapr. Nccneragyl V'z gbb 'ihyarenoyr' sbe srebpvgl. V'z abg jvggl. Shaal. Frkl. Be zlfgrevbhf. Ol gur raq bs gur frffvba, V nz ab bar ng nyy. Unlzvgpu fgnegrq qevaxvat fbzrjurer nebhaq jvggl, naq n anfgl rqtr unf percg vagb uvf ibvpr. 'V tvir hc, fjrrgurneg. Whfg nafjre gur dhrfgvbaf naq gel abg gb yrg gur nhqvrapr frr ubj bcrayl lbh qrfcvfr gurz.'"
Ohg V ybir guvf. V ybir gung fur'f fb ubarfg. Gung fur fgehttyrf gb cynl gurve tnzr, rira gubhtu fur xabjf ubj vzcbegnag vg vf. Fur qbrf yrnea, gubhtu, orpnhfr fur unf na rnfvre gvzr cynlvat sbe gur pnzrenf nsgre fur naq Crrgn unir jba. Fur fgvyy fgehttyrf, ohg fur unf vzcebirq.
Bar bs zl bgure snibevgr guvatf nobhg guvf obbx, naq ubj Xngavff vf cbegenlrq, vf gur ebznapr nfcrpg. Vg'f Crrgn jub vf ybirfvpx sbe ure, abg gur bgure jnl nebhaq. Xngavff tebjf gb yvxr Crrgn, ohg fur vf sne gbb ohfl fheivivat gur neran (naq yngre, gur cbyvgvpf) gb ernyyl guvax nobhg uvz yvxr gung. Ntnva, gung'f na hahfhny naq vagrerfgvat pubvpr. Naq -- zbfg vzcbegnagyl -- vg svgf jvgu gur jub fur vf naq jvgu jung ure yvsr unf orra yvxr. Sebz n lbhat ntr fur jnf erfcbafvoyr sbe srrqvat ure zbgure naq lbhatre fvfgre. Fur'q orra va fheiviny zbqr sbe lrnef, naq gung nyybjrq ure gb sbphf ba fheivivat gur neran.
Svanyyl, V ybir gung fur naq Crrgn jva orpnhfr bs guerr guvatf: 1) Fur bhgfznegf gur tnzr-znxref, 2) Crrgn gehfgf ure, naq 3) Fur naq Crrgn ner oenir.
*Why does spellcheck not recognize "dystopia" or "dystopian"? Or, as I've noted before, "spellcheck"?
Labels: review: book, The Hunger Games
# posted by mamurd @ 9:49 PM 
