Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: September 2008
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Series: The Hunger Games #1
374 pages (paperback)
After hearing so much about this book, I decided to buy my own copy and give it a go. The story takes places in a dystopian future where every year, the Capitol of the country of Panem organizes The Hunger Games – a brutal fight-to-the-death tournament for contestants between the ages of 12 and 18. One boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts that make up Panem are randomly selected at the Reaping. The Games are mandatory, a punishment for the rebellion that happened seventy four years ago, and the Capitol’s way of showing how they have everyone in the palm of their hand.
Another Reaping has come. Sixteen year old Katniss, from the poorest district in Panem, has done what no one has ever done in her district — volunteer for the Games, after she found out her twelve year old sister Prim was chosen. Taking her place, Katniss is aware she will most likely never see home again, but is determined to go down with a fight.
The Hunger Games definitely has a striking resemblance to Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami, where a class of students is taken to an island and as a military project of some sort, are forced to kill one another until only one is left standing. I felt The Hunger Games also was a bit reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII‘s atmosphere (what with the place divided into districts (like FFVII’s sectors) and the poor and rich’s differences in lifestyle), and a totalitarian government that’s similar to 1984‘s ‘big brother’ concept as well. I suppose that’s why I felt slightly disappointed that The Hunger Games didn’t maximize its potential because it had the perfect set up to make some sort of allegory (for example, a statement about modern day society like Battle Royale or government like 1984). This book fell a bit short in that and it was a bit frustrating because it was like watching a great opportunity pass by. There are little bits and pieces of it, but not enough to make any bold statement.
Of course, it is very likely that Collins wrote this book with no greater picture in mind, and disregarding that, this book is actually quite excellent and difficult to put down once you start. It is a fast paced novel narrated by our determined protagonist, Katniss (who is named after a sort of root). Katniss is hardened by her difficult life living in District 12 and well, kind of comes across as a bit bland. That actually works out fine because most of the other characters she encounters has such vibrant and in some cases, eccentric personalities. Actually, now that I think about it, the other main character, Peeta, also has a bit of a bland personality. But like I said, it works because I think it emphasizes how the poor living in the districts have retained their humanity, so to speak, while the citizens living in the Capitol, the rich such as Effie and the makeover stylists, have gone crazy with superficiality and lost their empathy, permanently it would seem. They really have no regards for Kat or any of the other contestants’ feelings about being thrown into an arena of death. It’s all fun and games for the spectators, which is quite horrifying for me, as a reader. I guess that’s how I became attached to Katniss (and Peeta) and rooted for them, even though they are not my favourite characters or anything. I wanted the people with a heart to make it through and maybe even beat the cruel system.
This novel is surprisingly not that violent, for a fight-to-the-death tournament thing. Of course there are killings and there are the occasional deaths that make you squirm a bit, but nothing horrifically graphic. Katniss’ strategy for the games is more defensive than offensive so her tactics for killing are more indirect, such as poison (of course, we don’t know how bloody and violent that other contestants are, since we only see through Katniss’ eyes. Admittedly, I was kind of looking forward to a fictional bloodbath and was slightly disappointed that I didn’t get one, hahaha). The beginning of the book was mostly filled with introductions to the world and characters, but after that, the book had me in an iron grip because it is literally a life-or-death situation for the main character and the Gamemakers are quite fond of throwing twists into the arena every so often to spice things up and force the contestants to face one another. I would wonder, “How is Katniss going to survive this?!” and eagerly continue on.
Yes this is an exciting and thrilling novel! I can totally understand why people are raving about it, and from what I’ve read, it’s already in negotiations to be made into a movie (so many books becoming movies these days. I love books becoming movies, even if it turns out awful). I am very eager to dive into book two, but since I’m kind of weird about keeping a series in all paperback or all hardcover, I’m going to have to wait until books two and three are released in paperback, since that’s what I purchased The Hunger Games as. On a slightly different topic, maybe I have just bad luck with Scholastic books, but I find their paperbacks to be kind of poor quality. The cover won’t stay flat, the binding seems too tight or something because the book doesn’t open smoothly, and on some pages the ink is printed lighter and then goes back to being dark, which is kind of distracting while you’re reading. It’s not just my copy, I actually checked all of the ones in a bookstore and they are all printed like mine and binded like mine. I guess I should be aiming for the hardcover copies since they seem to be published nicely, but I already started collecting this series in paperback …
I digress. Bottom line is: this book is a great read, one I highly recommend. (Although if you generally don’t like dystopian/science fiction novels of this sort, maybe you won’t (I have a friend who loathes sci-fi and tried this, and unsurprisingly, didn’t really like it). I definitely want to pursue the rest of the series because I have no idea what’s going to happen now … or rather, what CAN happen now, and curiosity always gets the better of me. In this case, I think I am in for more pleasant surprises!
My Rating: 4.5/5
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