The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay

The Hunger Games: By Suzanne Collins

Recently I was listening to a Podcast, “The Slate Culture Gabfest”, when one of the critics mentioned this book series in the same breath as Harry Potter and the Philip Pullman novels. I knew that meant this book was something worth investigating but considering the fact that I have my hands more than full at present, I decided the investigation would be put on hold. However, I within a half hour I found myself at BJ’s to do our maintenance shopping and there I found “The Hunger Games” staring me right in the face. It was cheap enough for an impulse buy and it found its way into my basket.

Upon cracking the book open I was immediately put off by Collins choice of writing the book in the present tense. I have a personal disdain for the present tense in the form of the written word. Scanning the book I knew there were hundreds of pages to follow, logically, the action should be taking place in the past. I got over my initial snobbery by reminding myself of the heavy praise that interested me in the book to begin with an pressed onward.

What I found was an interesting world filled with a wonderfully rich narrative, likable characters, and foreign, yet familiar, circumstances. The story grabbed me almost instantly. I am admittedly a sucker for post apocalyptic fair, but I also enjoy a good medieval tale, I consume almost everything Roman, and love science fiction. This book manages to take some of the most interesting bits of all those tropes and wrap them into a neat and engaging package. The string on that package is our heroine.

Katniss is a strong female lead, think Buffy Sommers only more depressed, Lyra Belacqua only more experienced, or Olivia Dunham only younger. If you recognized any of those characters with fondness, I’m fairly certain this book is for you. Katniss leads the story, in fact, the entire book is spent in her present thoughts and conversation, but the supporting cast is just as engaging. Her family, friends, and fellow competitors all serve to make the world of Panem real.

On another, more troubling note, I do find this book series a bit morally disturbing. The premise of the book is fairly simple. In an effort display control over its conquered territory the Capital of Panem rounds up twenty-four eleven to eighteen year old conscripted “competitors” for a fully televised fight to the death in a Truman Show sized and styled arena. The book then goes on to describe in bloody detail the inhuman events that play out on this grotesque stage. Character deaths, be they friend or foe are felt doubly as painful because none of these gladiators would be old enough to drive a car in our world. One character’s demise was so upsetting that I briefly considered putting the book down for good.

This book is aimed at a seventh grade and up audience and is published by Scholastic, one of the most trusted names in education. I would not let my seventh grader read this book unless my wife, myself or a trusted teacher was reading with her and having serious discussions about morals, society, the importance of self governance, and the innocence of youth.

That acknowledged, I have only just finished the first book and I am more than ready to consume books two and three.


Catching Fire: by Suzanne Collins

Let me start by stating, the very second I finished this book I drove the half hour round trip to Barnes and Noble to pick up the third and final book in this series. I would have gone to Target to pick up “Mockingjay” but when I purchased “Catching Fire” there last night they did not have any copies of the final book on the shelves, I took a mental note. I thoroughly enjoyed “Catching Fire” even though it followed a similar story blueprint to its predecessor.

On the other hand even though this story put our heroes back into the Hunger Games the events in this arena are markedly different than that of the previous book. In “Catching Fire” we get to learn more about the world of Panem, including the political system, history, and inner workings of the districts. Katniss is forced to fully process the events of the arena the aftermath of what it means to be a victor.

To say that “Catching Fire” is a quick read is a significant understatement. From the minute I cracked open the book to the minute I left my house for Barnes and Noble I was loath to put the novel down. By the end of “Hunger Games” I had become so familiar and fond of even the minor characters and felt the pace of my reading shift from casually fun distraction to voracious consumer of the material.

The end of the book left me wanting significantly more, the mark of a good middle chapter. But I do worry about the way this series will wrap. The first two books were insular focused on Katniss and her struggles. As I complained in my previous post the reader is literally put in her head in the present tense. This of course was perfect when the stage was the Hunger Games, but I do not know how much I will enjoyed her narrow view of events when the entire world is the arena.


Mockingjay: by Suzanne Collins

I tried not to spoil in this post, but I do touch a few key plot points near the end of the series. If you want to remain spoiler free, don’t read this post right now, read the book and please come back.

Well, that was painful. It certainly took “The Hunger Games” to a logical and real conclusion but it was not a pleasant book to read. I was amazed with how quickly Collins could introduce a character, get me to like this character, and then kill said character off in a brutal way. If you thought the Harry Potter series got dark towards the end, “Mockingjay” made those books like like an episode of Sesame Street by comparison.

In “Mockingjay” our hero takes a horrible downward spiral due to the atrocities of war and the horrors she has inflicted on others since her inspirational actions in the 74th Hunger Games. Her support system is decimated and characters that were once strong, brave, and loving became shells of their former selves. War is hell, this book is clear on that point.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book and had fun with the second book, though it became obvious that the conclusion would not be buttercups and dandelions. When the smoke clears at the end of the final novel no one is made stronger, better, or more whole. All the characters are so tormented by what they have seen, done, and thought about doing while attempting to break the shackles of the Capitals control.

This is a realistic ending, how real people would react given the circumstances thrust upon them. However, it is not a good ending. I do not feel like I learned something, was genuinely surprised, or even got what I wanted from this book series. The characters who were mentally damaged beyond repair survived while the ones with bright futures perished. The final hundred pages of Mockingjay read more like a “Saw” film than a fantasy novel.

The truth is even the first book was a bloody mess of a story only tempered by the fact that our heroine attempted to be a moral and reasonable human being. By the time she is standing with her final arrow in hand her morality has been stripped away and she killed without feeling, simply making a cold calculation and thus determining her target. She lost my sympathies and a previously revolting scene and while some may call her final act of consequence redemption I thought it was another repulsive act from a broken weapon.

I knew all along the ending the series was headed for, but I had hoped Collins wrote herself into a corner to impress the reader by writing her way out of it. Instead she wrote herself into a corner and then lashed out like a cornered and wounded animal. Good luck to Collins and company on adapting these books into a movie series. I do not know how they can possibly do it without earning an R rating. This series screams death, violence, and sadness to change any of that would alter the very nature of the material.