The Hunger Games: Last Words

A long time ago I wrote a review of each book of the The Hunger Games saga. I also promised I would write a new post where everyone would be able to talk about every detail of the books openly. I know, I'm a slacker, but with the second movie about to open in theaters, I thought this to be as good time as ever.

So, readers beware: This is an open discussion about the saga, characters, and important plot points. All is fair here; we can talk spoilers all day long and enjoy getting out of our systems the nitty-gritty stuff about Katniss, Peeta, Collins, and The Hunger Games. If you are looking for a review of the saga without spoilers, click here, here, and here.

Now, let the Hunger Games discussion begin!

Out of the three books, the one I least enjoyed was the third. Not only we have Katniss hiding in closets for one third of the story (at least), but then Collins deals a terrible twist to Peeta that just ruins him. Prim dies--WTF! So all this for nothing!--and then there's the final chapter... But let's start slow.

How about your favorite character? From previous comments on my other posts, I gather Peeta is a fan favorite. He is the most likable of the whole, and the true hero of the story. Such a sweet boy that pays a high price for his closeness to Katniss. I could not stand to see him turned into a mutt. I confess I did not see that twist coming, him turned into a weapon against Katniss, and it broke my heart because I knew he could never recover from something like that. They damaged him for good and there's no turning back from it.

Prim's death is another horrible blow and makes the story go from sad to depressing. However, I got it. I may not have liked where the story was going, but I understood what Collins was doing. She was following the turn of events to their worst possible conclusion. She was also making a brave statement about war and violence without being preachy and I admired her for that. And then came the last chapter.

For me, that denouement was Collins attempt at bringing a peaceful and somewhat happy conclusion to the story. Through her treatment of the characters, it is clear that she feels bad for the damaged youths, but it is truly in that trying to fix things that she betrays the spirit of her own books. Like so many before her, Collins was unable to kill her darlings. She chose to write about an ugly reality without making it pretty, just to try and do just that with the ending. I mean, Katniss recovering from her crazy period to go on and have a family of her own. After killing the true head of the revolution. Really? In what messed up reality would such an act be pardoned 'due to reason of insanity'? Does Collins know the Che Guevara story?

Anyway, in my opinion the author was very conflicted about the kind of story she wanted and the story it turned out to be. But my biggest disagreement would be with all the fans out there who don't get tired of saying that Katniss is a strong leading role. Are you kidding me? She's manipulated throughout the whole story by anyone who knows a bit more than her. From Haymitch to Snow, passing through every other character in the books, even Peeta at some point. Everyone knows what they're doing and how to accomplish it except her. Sure, she knows how to shoot an arrow, but she lacks the confidence to take control of her life. And let's not even talk about how she does nothing but be the vulnerable, broken youngster incapable of taking care of herself for most of the third book. So annoying!

The quality of the books is not an issue at all. Collins is a good writer and the story--however annoying or incongruent--never fails to be interesting. She also managed to surprised me at least once per book, and I have to tell you: It doesn't happen that often. So, in case anyone reading this feels affronted by my comments, understand that this is simply my opinion. I'm not judging the writer herself, or her ability to write. I'm simply stating the plot points I feel missed the mark and let me down. We are all entitled to our own opinions and I'll be happy to receive all your comment as long as you are polite.

Now go ahead and shoot.

The Hunger Games, into the Deep III

Finally, it's time to talk about Mockingjay; my least favorite of the saga. If you lost my reviews of the previous two books, you can find them here and here. For everyone else, based on the comments I've received, I think many people found Mockingjay to be sad, completely different from the rhythm and narrative of its previous companions, and all together anti-climatic.

The characters evolved into different beings, and though it is a logical evolution and I could believe the transformation was due to the experiences they've had, I didn't like were they ended up.

My favorite character is Peeta, so I was not a fan of the treatment Collins gave to him. After Catching Fire it was clear Katniss was not cut out to be the strong hero I thought, but in Mockingjay it's just deplorable the state to what she is reduced. All the other characters I came to love were diminished to side-kicks or damaged goods and a new set of characters I didn't know and didn't trust became the central figures of the narrative.

The pace goes back to the slow positioning of the characters of book one and the plot turns into a war story, but since the point of view is that of Katniss and she isn't in capacity to actively participate, we miss every important aspect of it. All we can see are a series of shoddy characters trying to manipulate her into doing what they think is best 'for the war' and Katniss as a weak girl who's being pushed one too many times and has decided to let her mind float into oblivion.

Throughout the book we can see the clear hand of Collins inventing excuses so she doesn't have to explain too much about the war, taking characters to unlikely places and turning them into crazy people but then curing them out of the blue when the plot requires them to be able to fight. The mutts (bio-weapons created by The Capitol) are the most bizarre, absurd things I've ever heard about and people is killed unceremoniously, leaving the reader with a sense of incompleteness. The one character that shines is Gale. We've seen glimpses of his character before but in Mockingjay he moves to the logical next step with terrible consequences.

If anything is worth reading about this third book, it is precisely the message that conveys the tale of Gale. Too many times good people let hate or anger drive them and the price to pay can be too high. So I hope at least a few of those trillions of crazy fans screaming outside the movie theaters got the point and will change for the better.

Sadly, that is the only good thing I can say about the book. In the end I was let down by The Hunger Games Saga. When turning the last page I felt angry at Collins for not delivering and baffled at what is it on these books that has crated such a frenzy. I just don't get it. Let me be more clear, I understand wars are not glamorous, but I don't think Collins succeeded in painting a realistic war because she chose to narrate from the point of view of a character that didn't engage in it. I get that in war scenarios people drop like flies without saying proper goodbyes, really, I get it. But books are not simply depicting reality, they beautify or dramatize it in order to make it entertaining or to make a point, otherwise we would be reading a lot more conversations about the weather in books, and we don't. Finally, I believe that crude books or films about how hard life is, about death, hunger, war, and the future of our planet aimed at a young audience will have the strongest effect, but making a fuzz a la Twilight about a story that is ultimately so tragic is nothing short of ironic. It is as if people were screaming their heads off outside theaters because Brando looked so hot in Apocalypse Now. Really?

Anyway, there are many things more that I'd love to discuss with you about the treatment the characters received, about how I can't imagine why anyone would describe Katniss as a strong female role so opposite to Bella from Twilight, but for that I would need to abound on the details of the book and I promised this would be a spoiler free review. So come by next week with all you have and we can talk about what you loved and hated in the story, about the characters trades and their evolution, and about every little detail we have been holding to. I bet it will be interesting. In the mean time, read!

The Hunger Games Saga, into the Deep II

A week ago I talked about how, after reading The Hunger Games Saga, I was left not feeling quite satisfied and more that a little hurt and cheated. As a way to work through my feelings I decided to do a series of reviews where the first three would be about the individual books, what I liked and what not, and a fourth one would delve into the details of why the story wasn't all that I'd hoped for. The first reviews will be clean of spoilers so everyone interested can read them. The last one will be an open discussion of the saga with no limitations, so if you want to participate and haven't read the books, I hope you are well in your way! Today feels like a perfect day to catch fire, don't you think?

Catching Fire.

With the second book Collins managed what very few authors do for me, she surprised me. No matter where I was, I could not stop myself from gasping pretty much every time Peeta opened his mouth, which means most every time I turned the page. Since I was expecting a completely different direction, one where the revolution was lead actively by Katniss (You can check my reason for this here), the turn of events really blindsided me, but let's go step by step.

The characters. Once again, we see the characters we know and we recognize them, they don't have drastic changes of heart and turn out to be different people from what we knew. They are consistent but there is... evolution, let's say. Some of them, like Peeta, grow as a consequence of the turn of events; others start to show the cracks that will be their undoing in the future. Then there's Haymitch who manages to keep an unrealistic balance between being a drunk when nobody really needs him, yet pull himself together when the times for action come. This is the real fault within the array of diverse, amazing characters. All of them are who they told us they were and to some degree of believability, except Haymitch that is. How is it that one person so addicted to a substance manages to get clean when needed be, and is functional to such a degree? Utterly impossible. Yet, the poor, old victor is so pitiable and likable, I was rooting for him and loved his acridness. The silent exchanges with Katniss and how much they understand each other was one of my favorite things of the whole saga. I guess Collins has a talent to write lovable villains because I ended up cheering for Johana and Finnick with passion. Snow is the real bad guy of the story and even him is a great villain. He isn't as complex as the rest of the cast and there are some of his decisions I still don't understand, but he doesn't rub his hands and laughs in a 'mwahahaha' kind of way.

Technicalities. One again Collins uses the first person narrative as a weapon against us, only revealing tidbits of information. This time Katniss--and with her, us--knows there is more than the eye can meet, there are secrets being withhold but she just doesn't care and ignores the signs causing us to dread the outcome. Still there's not enough for us to predict the next turn in the story. In Catching Fire, however, there is much repetition of the backstory for the benefit of the new reader. That breaks the fluency of the story and distracted me from the images forming in my head. If the first time sounded unnatural for Katniss to re-explain herself the way she lives in, the second time is just atrocious and impossible to pass down. If you are talking to a new reader, include all that information on the blurb, so the old reader can lose himself in the story seamlessly.

Now to the overview. Catching Fire starts moving the story into the heavy stuff that we will be dealing with later on and it does it without effort. We can't feel the floor moving under us until it is too late and that's why I think it is so enjoyable. We meet a big array of new characters that are every bit as complex and interesting as the main characters and the verbal exchanges become more intense because of all the subtext that is implied. Katniss is too fragile for my taste, for a hunter she can't give a step without hurting herself. Not only that, mentally she starts to show clear signs of strain, always feeling guilty for everything that goes wrong in the world. I'm not saying it isn't believable because any sixteen-year-old would be mentally unstable after going through all those things, but it just doesn't match the idea that I had of this strong young woman who was to lead the world to freedom. But we'll talk more about that when reviewing Mockingjay. In the mean time, read!

The Hunger Games Saga, into the Deep

Here is the deal. Like everyone else, I have a lot to say about The Hunger Games Saga. Not all of it is good, but like many of you, I feel passionate about the story, reason why I decided to write a thorough review of each of the books with no spoilers at all, and then another one for the story as a whole with all the cards on the table. Meaning, you have a few weeks to read the three books and then participate in the fourth review where there would be no theme unspoken, no secrets kept. I'll post every Tuesday around noon and I'd love to hear what you have to say. I know there are fans who live and breath through the characters and others who could kill the next person who swears The Hunger Games are the awesomest book since the invention of the press. Either way, I'll be glad to hear what you have to say as long as we keep our hands and ugliness to ourselves.

A few years ago, when everybody was talking about the books and way back when there was no Hunger Games movie, I checked the first installment out of curiosity. I read the back cover and just couldn't feel it. It didn't grab me or speak to me, so I let it go. Every now and then someone would say how fantastic these books were and I went back to amazon, read the blurb once more, and let it drop. Finally the movie came and all hell broke lose. People comparing it to the greatest books ever written, the obvious mention of Twilight and how Katniss Everdeen was the ultimate strong female role. You know, craziness. I decided I had to see for myself what all the rage was and sure as heck I wasn't watching the movie first, so I bought the three books. I read them in the spam of one week, unable to put them down, and upon finishing the third one, my feelings are mixed. As a whole I didn't like the story, but each book in itself, I enjoyed the first two quite a lot. I thought about it and thought a bit more and then decided I had too much to tell to just write a simple review, hence the plan I previously laid out for you. I'm hoping this will clarify my own feelings about the story and will be fun for us to share. Here we go.

The Hunger Games.

When I was considering to read the books, not knowing if I was going to like them, I came across a review on Goodreads that stuck in my mind. It was a negative review of only the first book, she didn't thought the story had any message or uplifting trace, only a society so depraved it could watch its kids kill each other for fun. An uproar came after her calling her names and pointing the fact that she had obviously not read the whole saga. Her defense? The first book of a series should give the reader a taste of what's to come. One should know what we're up to after the first book is gone and in this case, I have to give it to her, The Hunger Games does not fairly represent the story as a whole.

I found this to be the lightest of the three books, I laughed a little, cried not so little, but had hope that better things were to come for Katniss and Peeta. The story is engrossing and the characters are well written. Katniss' relationship with her family and Gale is easy to understand and feel for; we know what lies in the line and why it is so important for her to step up and do as best she can. We also understand what she's to confront and how poor her chances are. We only get a taste of Gale, but still the first traces of what will define the story in the future are set in motion for us to see. By far my favorite character was Peeta. He's likable, sweet, and stronger than everybody thinks. The genius of telling the story through Katniss' eyes is that she is so clueless as to what is about to happen that it all comes as a surprise for us, too. There are no tell-tale remarks or whispers that foreshadow something to come, we are just hit by surprise. Haymitch is a pathetic guy we see grow if only just a little through the story and our hearts warm towards him as we progress in the story.

Technical points. The pace is rapid and you can't wait to know what's to come. The language is clear and simple, yet interesting; it pulls you into the world Collins created without many distractions that break the enchantment. What we need to know about the background is laid out and distributed through the story without dumping it on you all in one page. The one drawback of writing in first person and in present tense--pay attention, most books are written in past tense even though the action is taking place right now. However, Collins used present, making it sound like Katniss' thoughts--is that some information feels unnatural. Katniss already knows the distribution of the districts and the facts of the Dark Days, yet she repeats those in her mind for our benefit. But we do needed this information and there was no other way, so I let this one slide.

I liked the transitions, seamless and easy to follow, days pass yet we never get lost in time or find the characters in places they were not supposed to be. In general, I have to make special mention of the excellent team of editors that checked fact after fact of this trilogy to keep it logical and consistent. Outstanding. Of course, a big kudos to Suzanne Collins, too, who did not fall pray to the temptation of making her characters act without reason.

Now, to perception. The way the story developed, how it centered on Katniss' motivations to keep fighting, her relationship with Peeta, her kindness and pain for all who had to die for the Capitol, all in the pages led me to believe this was to be the story of a girl forced to grow too fast but that, with the help of her support system, would rise to become a strong young woman leading a war for the liberation of her people. I couldn't be more wrong.

After reading the three books I cry FALSE ADVERTISEMENT, but I'll delve into that in the future. For the moment being I'll tell you The Hunger Games is highly addictive, interesting and very well written. I completely understand why it ignited the fire--pun intended--that it did. You should totally read it for its entertaining value, but do not expect a moral. This is not the book for that. The trilogy as a whole has a message, it just isn't on this book and, when it is all said and done,  it isn't a pretty, uplifting one.

To be continued...