The Hunger Games, Reflections
This is my thoughts on first finishing The Hunger Games. You should assume from this point on that there will be spoilers for all three books.
My Thoughts....
From the first page of the story I was totally riveted. I was sobbing before I even got to the third chapter. And then it continued like that for the rest of the books. I started reading them on a Thursday and finished them the following Tuesday. It's intense and dark, more so than any other young adult fiction book I've ever read. It has an unprecedented level of despair snaking through the entire story. So much so that I'm truly not sure I really enjoyed reading it. The sheer horrors that decorate the page are compounded by the fact that I'm supposed to be reading about children!
What type of place would North America have become to look like Panem. And I think what bothers me is that it doesn't seem that far fetched. History is littered with this type of suffering. Even today, there are more people in slavery than ever before. The trafficking of children is a pandemic of which no one seems to really want to stem the flow. Oh sure, we talk about how gruesome it is, but what do we do? I'm willing to bet nothing. Because what can we do? Does that really make us much different than the Capitol citizens? They just decided that it was as if they were watching a mere TV show. Betting on the contenders and the like.
I think one of the best scenes in the book is when Katniss hangs the effigy of Seneca Crane. That was freaking brilliant. Her message was so perfectly clear. You're not as safe and secure as you think you are. How true that really is.
And District 13. What a bunch of equally despicable people. Katniss is right to hate them. They left the rest of the districts to suffer the consequences of the war they started. I was elated to see Katniss shoot Coin. AND, then have the added bonus of Snow drowning in his own blood. EXCELLENT! A very fitting end. Coin and Snow are cut from the same blood thirsty, power hungry cloth. They had to go. It's very similar to what we saw in V for Vendetta. Power had so corrupted the leadership that they ALL had to go. Coin sealed her own fate when she bombed those children. The act would have been bad enough had she not also sent in Prim. And you know she DID authorize sending Prim to her death.
And how cowardly does Snow turn out to be, hiding behind all those kids as human shields. It's his fault they're all corralled there at the end too be bombed by the Coin. Does the fact that Coin was responsible for the bombing ever get out? It's like one more way to damage Gale a bit more. I don't think he would have wanted to bomb the kids, but he did invent approve of the tactic that was used. Poor guy.
Both sides constantly using a 16/17 year old girl in their mutual games is disgusting in and of itself, but the author does a fantastic job of showing how truly damaged she is in the end.
I think that's what keeps the ending from being really satisfying. She's spent three books brutalizing the main characters so badly that by the time we get to the end, it's like she's run out of steam. You get a handful, less than two really, of pages where she's functioning, and there's a tiny bit of fluff. But it's so coated in angst and yes, even still, despair that you can barely enjoy it. I really would have liked more out of that ending. I would have liked to know if she ever spoke to Gale again, if he ever married, and found his own peace. I would like to know how Peeta found his way back from insanity.
I don't know. It just leaves you kind of feeling empty. So much cruelty and so little to show for it in terms of what the reader gets to see. I guess I was just hoping for a little more victory after all the suffering.
With that said, it is a bit like the ending you get in Lord of the Rings. Lots of suffering and death, but then the Hobbits go home to another battle that they must fight on their own. Then Frodo never fully recovers and then he sails away. The DEEP sense of loss. I don't know. Lord of the Rings is one of my all time favorite stories, but I was left with the same hollow sense of loss at the end of it. At least Peeta and Katniss do have children that can bring them some moments of happiness, but it just seems like they are still shattered people that struggle to get up every day. I don't get the feeling that Katniss really loves him or that her children truly bring her much happiness. I think it reads more like Gale was absolutely right. She chose what she couldn't survive without. Peeta. And what's best for Peeta is to eventually cave and have children. Which is sad.
I'm happy that they ended up together (though deep down I was rooting for Gale) and got the chance to have a family and a normal life. I just really wish I could have read some of that. The end feel sooooooo rushed. I wish she would have slowed it down just a bit and let us truly savor the life that Katniss manages to have.
Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic. I'm not saying that it would be like it was before, but at least give us some fluff that's not marred by layer upon layer of angst.
Oh and one last point. I never mentions if they actually hold a final Hunger Games with the Capitol children. I don't know how I would vote. I would hope I would vote no, but I'm honestly not sure I would. I think it would feel good to watch the privileged children of the Capitol citizens have to fight to the death and, as Johanna says, get a taste of their own medicine. But, is it really their fault? I mean, why should we condemn another group of innocent children to a life of horrible nightmares. I think I'd vote to take all those they were going to execute and make them play in the games. Haven't the kids in this book series suffered enough? Why does no one think of this in the book? Like I said, I don't know how I would vote. And that bothers me a bit too, honestly. It's like if I look too closely, we're not that different. It just bugs me that they have the vote scene, and then never mention if it actually took place since Katniss walks out and kills the president right after that. I'm still irritated by that.
My Thoughts....
From the first page of the story I was totally riveted. I was sobbing before I even got to the third chapter. And then it continued like that for the rest of the books. I started reading them on a Thursday and finished them the following Tuesday. It's intense and dark, more so than any other young adult fiction book I've ever read. It has an unprecedented level of despair snaking through the entire story. So much so that I'm truly not sure I really enjoyed reading it. The sheer horrors that decorate the page are compounded by the fact that I'm supposed to be reading about children!
What type of place would North America have become to look like Panem. And I think what bothers me is that it doesn't seem that far fetched. History is littered with this type of suffering. Even today, there are more people in slavery than ever before. The trafficking of children is a pandemic of which no one seems to really want to stem the flow. Oh sure, we talk about how gruesome it is, but what do we do? I'm willing to bet nothing. Because what can we do? Does that really make us much different than the Capitol citizens? They just decided that it was as if they were watching a mere TV show. Betting on the contenders and the like.
I think one of the best scenes in the book is when Katniss hangs the effigy of Seneca Crane. That was freaking brilliant. Her message was so perfectly clear. You're not as safe and secure as you think you are. How true that really is.
And District 13. What a bunch of equally despicable people. Katniss is right to hate them. They left the rest of the districts to suffer the consequences of the war they started. I was elated to see Katniss shoot Coin. AND, then have the added bonus of Snow drowning in his own blood. EXCELLENT! A very fitting end. Coin and Snow are cut from the same blood thirsty, power hungry cloth. They had to go. It's very similar to what we saw in V for Vendetta. Power had so corrupted the leadership that they ALL had to go. Coin sealed her own fate when she bombed those children. The act would have been bad enough had she not also sent in Prim. And you know she DID authorize sending Prim to her death.
And how cowardly does Snow turn out to be, hiding behind all those kids as human shields. It's his fault they're all corralled there at the end too be bombed by the Coin. Does the fact that Coin was responsible for the bombing ever get out? It's like one more way to damage Gale a bit more. I don't think he would have wanted to bomb the kids, but he did invent approve of the tactic that was used. Poor guy.
Both sides constantly using a 16/17 year old girl in their mutual games is disgusting in and of itself, but the author does a fantastic job of showing how truly damaged she is in the end.
I think that's what keeps the ending from being really satisfying. She's spent three books brutalizing the main characters so badly that by the time we get to the end, it's like she's run out of steam. You get a handful, less than two really, of pages where she's functioning, and there's a tiny bit of fluff. But it's so coated in angst and yes, even still, despair that you can barely enjoy it. I really would have liked more out of that ending. I would have liked to know if she ever spoke to Gale again, if he ever married, and found his own peace. I would like to know how Peeta found his way back from insanity.
I don't know. It just leaves you kind of feeling empty. So much cruelty and so little to show for it in terms of what the reader gets to see. I guess I was just hoping for a little more victory after all the suffering.
With that said, it is a bit like the ending you get in Lord of the Rings. Lots of suffering and death, but then the Hobbits go home to another battle that they must fight on their own. Then Frodo never fully recovers and then he sails away. The DEEP sense of loss. I don't know. Lord of the Rings is one of my all time favorite stories, but I was left with the same hollow sense of loss at the end of it. At least Peeta and Katniss do have children that can bring them some moments of happiness, but it just seems like they are still shattered people that struggle to get up every day. I don't get the feeling that Katniss really loves him or that her children truly bring her much happiness. I think it reads more like Gale was absolutely right. She chose what she couldn't survive without. Peeta. And what's best for Peeta is to eventually cave and have children. Which is sad.
I'm happy that they ended up together (though deep down I was rooting for Gale) and got the chance to have a family and a normal life. I just really wish I could have read some of that. The end feel sooooooo rushed. I wish she would have slowed it down just a bit and let us truly savor the life that Katniss manages to have.
Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic. I'm not saying that it would be like it was before, but at least give us some fluff that's not marred by layer upon layer of angst.
Oh and one last point. I never mentions if they actually hold a final Hunger Games with the Capitol children. I don't know how I would vote. I would hope I would vote no, but I'm honestly not sure I would. I think it would feel good to watch the privileged children of the Capitol citizens have to fight to the death and, as Johanna says, get a taste of their own medicine. But, is it really their fault? I mean, why should we condemn another group of innocent children to a life of horrible nightmares. I think I'd vote to take all those they were going to execute and make them play in the games. Haven't the kids in this book series suffered enough? Why does no one think of this in the book? Like I said, I don't know how I would vote. And that bothers me a bit too, honestly. It's like if I look too closely, we're not that different. It just bugs me that they have the vote scene, and then never mention if it actually took place since Katniss walks out and kills the president right after that. I'm still irritated by that.