Book #30: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

[grav_ity]

Yes, I've read three books since Tuesday. Archaeology is glamourous in theory and boring when it rains. ;)

Girl power, post-apocalyptic, really not like Survivor, so good it kind of hurts, brilliance in concept and in execution.

By the time I finished chapter one of this book, I knew three things:

1. I may never be able to watch Survivor again.
2. I should have brought more than four books with me to T-Bay.
3. Even though she used the word "nauseous" when she meant "nauseated", I am going to LOVE this book.

And love this book, I did. Because it was on fire inside my brain, and sometime I forgot what I was reading and started hoping, and then I'd remember and it would all be ashes again. But good ashes. Ashes that you can work with, rise out of, and rise up Katniss did.

There were a lot of really, really great hints in this book. For starters, I already know the sequels are called "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay", and both of those were important elements in the story itself. But at the same time, there were little things. Like how the baker only buys the squirrels when his wife isn't around, and then I knew that the baker was in love with Katniss's mother, which meant that it was really possible for Peeta to be in love with Katniss, which changed the entire story.

And I could write entire essays about Haymitch and his brilliance and his abject depression...but let me just say that he was AWESOME and even though I wasn't positive I could trust him until Katniss figured out the part about the water, I knew that if they were going to survive, it would be mostly thanks to his insane, insane plan.

I'm still reeling a bit, actually, from the scope of this book. Because I always wonder what happened that made the world like this. There was no map, so I had to sort of guess at what the districts were based on the info Kat had (as per usual, whatever conflict it was that caused the trouble stopped at the border and Canada was completely ignored). And I wonder how long the people waited before that first rebellion. And I wonder if there's some crazy resistance because The Hunger Games are quite possibly the worst possible punishment you could inflict on a subjugated people, and technically everyone is American. And of course there's a resistance because the third book is called Mockingjay, and that means that someone, somewhere, is going to take something The Capitol made and turn it into something that can be used against them, and OBVIOUSLY IT'S KATNISS.

I love Katniss, which should come as no surprise. I love her for being so capable, and also for knowing her limitations. And yes, she would have been screwed if Peeta and Haymitch hadn't orchestrated everything so well (I'm imagining the conversation between Haymitch and Peeta that led to Peeta telling the entire world that he was in love with Katniss, and it's kind of blowing my mind), but she allowed herself to be manipulated into winning, and that's the next best thing to being powerful enough to do it yourself (which no one is, really, because no one wins The Hunger Games on their own terms, and winning it on Haymitch's terms while also not becoming a monster is a pretty good substitute). And then of course by the time Katniss buys into it, it might be too late.

This is one of those books that's really hard to describe. Katniss's life depended on loving someone who loved her, and had for years, and that kind of dependency is very attractive...except she already has someone like that in her life, and she's not sure she loves him either. And it's the most heartbreaking love triangle I've come across in a while, because I sort of love all of them, and none of them are stupid. And that's just ONE TINY FACET of the book (though it's important, very important, but not for the usual reasons).

I need to do two things: First, go to Thunder Bay and return the soft cover copy I bought so that I can replace it with the hard covers of the entire series, and Second, read the whole thing this weekend, and then possibly again next weekend. Because, DAMN.

9.5 out of 10, and it only lost that half a point because I am planning to read the other two books tonight and I don't want to overextend myself. ;)

(rj_anderson, you were RIGHT AGAIN! What did I ever do without you?)

Comments

[laura-josephsen.livejournal.com]

I've heard about this book, and read the premise of it...but now I may have to read it.

[colej55.livejournal.com]

You make me want to rush to the library!

[world-of-blade.livejournal.com]

I loved this book- and liked the second one even better. Have not read the third (and final) one yet.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I am leaving the third one until after dinner, lest I neglect to eat at all. BUT YES! VERY MUCH!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

It's worth it!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I bought it without knowing ANYTHING, beyond that rj_anderson told me I should, and they've been kind of floating on my periphery for a while. SO GOOD!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

but she allowed herself to be manipulated into winning, and that's the next best thing to being powerful enough to do it yourself

I would argue, when I came right down to it, Katniss managed to get both her AND PEETA out of the games herself. Yes, Haymitch and Peeta helped her get to the end, but she was the one who figured out how to get the Capital to have two Victors instead of just one.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

True enough. I meant that she allowed herself to be manipulated into both of them winning, without thinking of the consequences of that action, because it meant that Peeta would live.

[hiddencait.livejournal.com]

This is one of those books that's really hard to describe. - Precisely!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Selling it is even worse! ;)