You know those times when you take a whole bunch of notes about something, then promptly lose those notes, and then after searching for weeks you resign yourself the the reality that you must choose one of two options: go back through the material or just work with what you can remember? Well, this is one of these times, and I’m choosing option 2, because I really don’t want to go through Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games again.
Let me clarify. I don’t think the book is bad. There are elements I like that drew me in, but that doesn’t mean I want to read it again. And why might that be? Well, please allow me to tell you.
That which I like can be summed up in two words: concept and pacing. I really like the concept of The Hunger Games, which, in case there are any who don’t know, goes as such. The story follows a young teenaged girl, Katniss Everdeen, as she takes her younger sister’s place in her dystopia country’s annual battle royal, the titular Hunger Games. The Games were instituted by the government after a certain rebellion as a method of deterring further uprisings. Every year, two children, aged anywhere between 12-18, must be sent from each district of the country to participate, and there is only one winner. If she ever wants to see her friends and family again, Katniss must be prepared to win the games, no matter the cost.
As I said, I like the concept. It’s grave, intriguing, and there is immediate emotional investment by the fact that children are being pitted against each other in a life-or-death “game” treated like reality tv by the dystopian capital. With the concept, there is also some potential social commentary and some possible conversations that could come up right from get go, and Collins delivers pretty well. After a rocky start, the pacing carries the concept, making a high-tension narrative that keeps you turning pages right up until the end, especially due to her excellent use of cliff-hanger chapter ends. I found myself reading almost the whole book in about two days. However, that was after leaving the book for about six months due to a clunky beginning.
I’m going to say this now, there will be some spoiler-ish things in what follows. I’ll try to avoid particulars, but I’m not sure slight spoilers can be avoided if I wish to give my honest thoughts on the story. You’ve been warned.
So, yes, I began The Hunger Games and then put it down for half-a-year before picking it back up again. As for why, well, basically everything pre-departure for the Games is why. In the first couple chapters, the pacing is actually pretty horrendous, trying to clumsily cram waaaay too much into the first 2-3 chapters. Also, while I understand the logic in Katniss’s willingness to sacrifice herself for her younger sister, Prim, I did not feel anything for it, despite the emotional weight it’s all supposed to have in the story. I’m even an older sister myself who knows about the love of an older sister to her younger sisters. However, I am not Katniss. I am not Prim’s older sister, and I just didn’t know, still don’t know, enough about Prim to care about her, and when that familial connection is supposed to be a driving force in a character’s decision, having that emotional pull is pretty significant. It doesn’t even take much to establish an emotional connection between characters.
Take as an example the fairytale “Beauty and the Beast.” At the start of the story, Beauty’s father, a formerly wealthy merchant who recently met with tragedy in a business venture, hears that some of his merchandise might have survived and prepares to depart to confirm his hopes. He asks his three daughters what gifts they desire upon his return. The first two ask for expensive dresses and jewelry while Beauty only desires a single rose. Well, as you probably know, the father’s trip proves unprofitable. On his way back home, he stumbles upon an enchanted castle, where he is given hospitality from an unknown host. When the father walks through the garden the next day, he spots a wonderful rose bush and, remembering Beauty and desiring to fulfill at least one of his child’s requests, he plucks a rose. This angers the host, who we learn is the Beast, and the Beast only releases the father on the promise that one of his daughters will take his place. When the father returns home, Beauty, out of love for her father, decides to go, and so begins the tale.
My summary here does not do the story justice, but I hope you can see how, through very simple ways, like character’s actions and interactions, the love between the father and Beauty gains substance. Much like The Hunger Games, “Beauty and the Beast” begins with one family member taking the place of another, but unlike with “Beauty and the Beast,” I felt no connection between the family members, and that’s not even counting the mother, who really just exists to make Katniss seem resourceful. All we know is that everyone loves Prim and that (apparently) she’s a wonderful person while not many people like Katniss. And I’m supposed to care about this family? In fewer pages than even one scene of The Hunger Games, “Beauty and the Beast” establishes a stronger and more endearing family dynamic.
And so, with no emotional tension, all the poorly done info/backstory dumping, and failed character building squeezed into the first couple chapters, I just about had enough. Even though the first chapters are supposed to pull the audience in, I was so offset by them I didn’t want to read the rest. The only reason I picked the book back up again was because my sister really enjoyed the series.
Well, after I picked it back up, I did find myself pleasantly surprised when the pacing righted itself soon after. My issues do no stop with the first few chapters, though. Another issue I had was with writing style. Collins’s writing style in The Hunger Games was mixed with me. On the one hand, she wrote in a way that feels pretty similar to how a person might speak. This kept the storytelling simple and fast paced, a necessity for this type of story. A downside, though, is that I felt the style made the book seem too much like a movie without my imagination having to do any work. I didn’t have to think about it, and I like thinking substance in my reading. Also, big surprise, I did not like the present tense. “But doesn’t that make it less clear whether or not she’ll live?” you ask. I’m going to call this out and say, “No. Not necessarily.” Guess what? I’ve actually read books written in 1st-person past tense where the narrator dies at the end. Yep. They exist, and by playing with the expectation of “past tense=he lives” my mind was blown. Since then, I can’t accept the whole “ambiguity” argument for present-tense, and I’ve tried to keep in mind that past-tense does not equal safety for the narrator.
Ironically, I actually ended up subconsciously reading the story in past-tense most of the time. I would read “was” where it said “is” and substitute all indications of present-tense with past-tense conjugation. Then every now-and-again I would come across some present-tense verb and my mind would suddenly remember “Oh! Right, present-tense!” taking me out of the story every time. I will admit this to be more my fault, but it still remains that, at least for me, Collins ended up writing interruptions right into her story. Not a fan.
The last thing I’ll cover here has to do with the main character herself. I’m going to state this plainly: I do not like Katniss. I really don’t. I’m not going into any details here for spoiler reasons, but Katniss is actually the last reason I was so turned off by the first few chapters and a main reason I don’t want to read the book again. Even though I was supposed to be cheering for her, I found it hard to. I don’t blame characters in the book for disliking Katniss; in fact, I sympathize with them. Katniss in The Hunger Games is, in my opinion, pretty unlikable.
Going back to “Beauty and the Beast,” it again does not take much to establish characters you root for. Beauty, with asking only for a single rose, establishes herself as a character who cares more for beauty than riches, and her father, by wanting to still bring a rose back to her, and even by his asking his daughters what gifts they desire, shows himself to be a caring and thoughtful father. Really, it doesn’t take much. Just a little hint of positive character traits here or there goes a long way. However, what I remember of Katniss is “People don’t like me, I’m not an especially likable person, and I’m not charismatic. Oh, but everyone loves Prim!” Yeah.
My dislike for Katniss is so strong that it even delayed my picking up the second book in the series, Catching Fire. After finishing the first book, I actually wanted to start on the sequel right away, but I didn’t have the second book with me, so I couldn’t. About fifteen minutes later, however, all that desire had evaporated, in large part because I didn’t want to read about Katniss. I can only hope that everyone I’ve spoken with is right and that she gets more bearable in later books.
Yes, you read right; I’m going to read the rest of the trilogy. I’m not sure I’ll post blogs about them, though. So many people have already reviewed this current hit trilogy that I am hesitant to join them. My reasons for doing this review were really two fold: after finishing the first book, I realized I had enough notes to write a full review, and I wish to discuss a certain topic in my next post, which I formulated due to reading The Hunger Games, so it only seemed fitting to discuss the book as well.
So now that I’ve reviewed the book, do I recommend it? Well… not really. There are good things in it. I think there’s stuff that can be dissected and discussed based on the concept, and the pacing and chapter endings edged me on in the reading. However, all the issues that make me not want to read the story again also make me hesitant to recommend the novel. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not a good book either. I guess if you want to read a story that’s like a popcorn action movie with a few extra layers, this is your ticket, but that’s probably the best I can say about it.
Edit 12/6/2014: Corrected my spelling in a couple places
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press. Print. 2008
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