Comments | good_hunting_hq: The Games We Play (How Exactly Do the Hunger Games Work?)

callmeonetrack in good_hunting_hq

The Games We Play (How Exactly Do the Hunger Games Work?)

Aug 03, 2009 20:42

The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the ( Read more... )

hunger games, discussion post

Comments 15

thrace_adama August 4 2009, 02:30:25 UTC

Just a few thoughts to get this party started...

Rue, no question, was the tribute whose death I was saddest to read. She was so sweet and innocent, yet surprisingly resourceful. Also, she reminded Katniss of her sister, so I knew that if anything happened to her, that would really hurt Kat, and it did. :(

I really didn't think much of Haymitch early on, but by the end of the first book, I was on board with him as a mentor. Dude is really smart, keeping things close to the vest and allowing everyone to underestimate him. And hey, he kept our kids alive! It's hard to question his decisions when the outcome was positive. (Oh, no, have I just turned this into an ethics discussion? Did the end justify his means? Oy.)

einaphets August 5 2009, 03:18:56 UTC

Yes, nothing can emotionally compare to Rue's death.

I'm thinking Haymitch drank so much at the outset as his way to deal with watching District 12 kids die repeatedly. When he say he had a chance with both of these two, he got serious. He ended up being extremely intelligent.

thrace_adama August 7 2009, 23:37:54 UTC

Absolutely. It was his way of coping, and who could really blame him? But when it mattered, he was there with the smarts. Still, I can understand Kat's wariness. Their relationship reminds me of Kara and Tigh's, actually...

kellychameleon3 August 4 2009, 06:43:49 UTC

Hmmm....so many thinky thoughts ( ... )

einaphets August 5 2009, 03:20:39 UTC

I loved the bit at the end where Kat flings herself into Haymitch's arms first, even over Cinna's. That is telling.

thrace_adama August 7 2009, 23:41:01 UTC

I don't really have any camping, hunting outdoorsy skills.

Heh, ME NEITHER, girl.

z_janina August 4 2009, 12:04:39 UTC

Wow! Great description of the games. I'd also like to say that the book totally reminded me of the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell which is the story of a man being hunted by a wealthy poacher who has the need for more worthy prey (humans ( ... )

thrace_adama August 4 2009, 17:52:45 UTC

Oh, yeah "The Most Dangerous Game"! I remember reading that in high school! Cool.

einaphets August 5 2009, 03:22:57 UTC

Hey, girl. I'm a Peeta fan as well. I'd add to that the awwww factor of when she got to see at the end the show what Peeta was really doing to play the careers and protect her.

callmeonetrack August 6 2009, 03:30:58 UTC

There is definitely more to Haymitch than meets the eye. He has a very interesting relationship with Kat and you learn more of his backstory in Bk 2.

I had read Collins' other books, the Gregor the Overlander series, and there is a mentor figure who is in many ways very much like Haymitch, where Gregor doesn't much like his ways but has a grudging respect for him and their relationship evolves over the course of the five books.

I so love this book einaphets August 5 2009, 03:16:47 UTC

Okay, I'm going to post my answers before I read what everybody else said.

1. I've written and erased this several times. I really cannot pick one challenge that was greater than the others. I think the playing to the audience was the most difficult in some ways because conscious effort had to be put into it. Once they were physically in the arena, fight-or-flight reflexes to survive.

2. The kill that surprised me most was Glimmer. It was Kat's first kill and it shocked me. I knew the book was fight-to-the-death, but for some reason I just didn't see it coming. And what a brutal way to die. Whoa.

3. Great question! lol I'd be similar to Rue. I was always a good climber and hider as a child. I'd shimmy up a door frame where my friends would pass underneath me or climb onto the highest shelf and just quietly wait. Silent and patient.

4. I am conflicted by Haymitch. I feel he is not all that he appears. Ultimately he was a brilliant ally.

5. The conclusion with Cato I didn't see coming at all. Every aspect ( ... )

Re: I so love this book callmeonetrack August 6 2009, 03:26:29 UTC

I have to say for all the "fight-to-the-death" violence, I didn't find it to be a very violent book for most of it. I thought that a lot of the deaths did not bloody Kat's hands for the most part and I actually expected it to be more brutal.

The Muttations at the end of the book were kind of the only thing that felt really false to me. Almost like someone pushed her to add a little supernatural spin on it because that's what's selling these days. I have no idea if that's really the case, but yeah I thought that they were a little weird.

justascrewup2 August 6 2009, 03:10:03 UTC

Not sure that I can add more than what's already been said so far, but I'll give it a shot ( ... )

callmeonetrack August 6 2009, 03:29:27 UTC

The artifical arena so reminded me of the Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show, where they have this great huge bubble over a town and at the end he sails into the edge of it and his ship gets caught in a rip.

We learn some interesting things about the arena in book two.

justascrewup2 August 6 2009, 14:32:09 UTC

So true. I loved The Truman Show. 'How's it going to end?' So great :)

Can't wait!