Favorite Books - "The Big One" Challenge @ universe_the
I was first introduced to Suzanne Collins' work as a substitute in a fifth grade class. It was Read Aloud, and the students had been listening to "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods". Of course, as a sub, the only part of the book I knew were the pages I was reading ~ about 10, toward the end, but not actually at the end.
Which is all that was needed to hook me.
I had absolutely no knowledge of the plot, nor even for that matter any of the characters. The students had even needed to correct me a few times on name pronunciation. But the part I read I just knew was the tipping point.
Do you ever get that feeling, when you've just realized the twist? The Moment. The point where you go "holy crap". Suddenly, not only does the whole story make sense, but the twist is done in such a way you're left wondering "Why the hell didn't I see that before?" Last time I remember feeling it was BBC Sherlock's "Scandal in Belgravia" when Sherlock figured out the pass code to Irene's phone.
Yeah. That feeling. That was the point I read. And I understood, even when in grand total, I'd only read those 10 pages in the book.
So during my prep after school, I tried to catch up by starting at the beginning. Of course, I didn't make it. I went out that night and immediately bought the book and finished it.
It was then I learned the books were actually a series of five books: The Underland Chronicles. I'd just read the third one. So one by one, I went and got each book, starting with the first one, "Gregor the Overlander".
And this is where I learned to fall in love with Ms. Collins' work.
Because ultimately? These aren't just generic "cool let's read and forget it right after because they're fun but nothing really to learn from" books. When I finished the series, I fully understood not only why the teacher chose to introduced it to his students, but also why it's listed on many middle-school book lists.
The books are an allegory for war. Specifically, World War II.
Most important: unlike what Star Wars, Independence Day, and most other SciFi works show you, Ms. Collins' works actually show reality. That war is not pretty. It's not celebratory. You don't just win, have a party, and then walk it off.
War is terrible. It's hard, it's horrific, and it's brutal. There's more to it than buildings being blown up, and the heroes saving the day.
War goes on, even when the act itself is over. War is brutal in its set up, its initiation, every single one of its battles, its down times, and its aftermath. It's not just material items that need to be fixed. The people who went through it are destroyed too.
You don't get to see the ghosts of the ones you've lost, standing off to the side smiling at you, proud of your accomplishments. If you do get that "happy ending", it's certainly not the one you envisioned, and it's at most, bittersweet.
Strikingly, Collins writes this all in a way that a teen and pre-teen can relate to. It's an engaging story, where the horrors sneak up on you, so that by the end, you can see the impact of all those horrors on the heroes. Even better, she uses age-appropriate characters the audience can relate to as well.
In my opinion though, the most significant impact The Underland Chronicles had on me was its ending. Collins chose not to go much past the end of the war, unlike in the Hunger Games. She leaves us in the end with Gregor returning home, to now face his "normal" life (which, like most people who end up in wars, wasn't great to begin with) after all the atrocities he's suffered. To pick up the pieces and try to move on. It reminds so much of the stories I hear about when my grandfather returned from World War II. He never spoke of it, yet we knew he must have had them, given he was stationed in Europe at the end of the war.
It's an unsatisfying ending, for all the right reasons.
Nowadays, it's the Hunger Games that are taking center stage, mainly due to the films. Personally, even though I wanted to read them, it took me awhile to finish these books. I'd received the first and third books as gifts, but without the second I was hesitant to start. My main impetus, though, was to finish them before the movies started, so I went and bought the middle book, then promptly read them all in two days flat.
It's a terrible story: children killing children. Worse, children being forced to kill other children. Collins sets the stage easily enough: a destitute society, a dystopian government. It's not hard to make a parallel with the Nazis and the forced ghettoization of the Jews.
Even the Capitol citizens (particularly the prep team) can be infered as allegories to the German citizens. A question frequently asked by historians, why didn't the average citizen step up? The ones who, while not part of the Nazi regime, never helped. As a teacher, I recognize this immediately as a great discussion point to give an 8th grade class. Collins goes into great detail with Katniss' inner thoughts in regards to why her prep team is so into the Games, and the answer isn't what you'd think.
It's not that they're bloodthirsty, or even for that matter evil. It's that they don't view the tributes (Jews) as people. They're completely removed from the reality of the other people. They've been raised this way, and this is what they've always experienced. That there are people other than them that experience - and view - things vastly different from themselves is not an idea that can easily surface in the mind. This is a key point for an age-group that cognitively is all about oneself, and empathy is a trait that's still being learned.
A set up Collins then masterfully breaks down in the second book, when the Victors become Tributes again. Thereby, personalizing the slaughter to the Capitol citizens. They now know the Tributes, love them, are connected to them, and yes, will miss them when they are gone. The collective consciousness of the citizens gets quite the shock when this reality - that the Districts have already known for 75 years - finally hits them.
In fact, so much death occurs during the war that it gets to the point where even at the end, Katniss is so inured to killing she barely thinks anything about taking a civilian life while moving through the city, in order to protect her fellow soldiers. Something, I suspect happens often in war. And something, I also suspect, is a major factor in PTSD when soldiers return from war, after having served in active duty regions. At the time, you've become numb. But when when it's over, you then have to face what you've done, much like Katniss does in the books. Recovery is slow, and will never be 100 percent. Collins masterfully paints a portrait of suffering souls. People who through no fault of their own, ended up in horrific experiences, forced to make terrible decisions, and the trauma that will always stay with them because of it, even if they're on the "right" side of the conflict and their actions are justified because of it. Scars aren't just physical, they're psychological as well. Innocence tainted forever. Even a song that is as seemingly sweet as "Deep in the Meadow", a lullaby Katniss sings to her sister, takes on a vastly different meaning when she later sings it to Rue.
You get better days and a better future for you and those who follow you, but it's a hard fought victory that came with a very steep price.
Underland fic rec:
Gregor and the Cutter Lair by Collier World. My review: A post Underland Chronicles, written in the same tone as the books. It's more a storyline fic, but it does delve into characterization, and in my opinion a good sequel to the original in terms of picking up where the ending of the Underland Chronicles left off.
Hunger Games rec:
The Grandmentor by silvercistern. My review: Haymitch was all but destroyed by the Games, and being forced to be a Mentor. What I love most about this is that it confirms my belief that Katniss and Peeta's greatest achievement was bringing Haymitch back to life.
Behind the Door, by dedkake. My review: It's not just the generation that lived through the war that needs to deal with the consequences. It's the ones after as well.
Rebirth, by me. A short fic I did for a challenge at letterbattle. I'd wanted to finish this prompt (or even this one) for this challenge, but just couldn't get it to work in time, so I'll have to post them later or for a different challenge. Teaser: "It's one thing to know you're a footnote in history. Quite another to learn you're three whole chapters."
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