The Hunger Games Trilogy

The Hunger Games:

At first I approached this series with a lot of excitement. Then I was disappointed. Then I was excited again. Then I was indifferent. Then I was satisfied. The graph of how I enjoyed these books is a lot like the graph of the action in the actual books.

The premise was what first gripped me. I tend to be attracted to gritty books that approach the darkness of reality while still emphasizing the light idealism. So, the idea of a bunch of kids being forced into an arena to kill each other seemed a good opportunity for both. To show heroism and atrocity on the same page. I suppose the first mistake I made, was that I started planning out exactly how I would write the book, before I even started reading it. The bigger problem, however, was that I thought I knew exactly how it would go... and then it went that way. While I found the first book engaging in its action, I also found it very predictable, and in the end it seemed as if I had read the whole book from the short paragraph on the back.

I found the second book, Catching Fire, to be a lot more engaging in its unpredictability. One thing that Suzanne Collins does very well, is ending chapters. She times it perfectly so that, as opposed to most books, the end of the chapter is a bad place to put down the book. Each chapter ends with something that sets your mind to questioning. It is no wonder that so many say they can't put the books down.

The third book followed suit with the second in its unpredictability and drew it all together with a darkness that appeals to realist in all of us. The book gets you to believe that the ideal will occur, and then slams you with the harsh truth of reality. It brings up the points that people rarely ever act as they do in the movies, and that some experiences change in ways that scar us for life and leave us infinitely changed, sometimes for the worse.

All in all, these books were very satisfying. The story is gripping and it is easy to get pulled into the characters. You do actually care if they live or die. The writing style is unique (having written everything in first-person, present tense) and puts you into the action in a way that I've never seen another writer do.

My only problem with these books is that they have been slightly over-hyped. They are good entertaining books, but people seem to find obsession with shallow stories in our age. I have no problem with books for the shear point of entertainment, however I hate to hear it said that these are the best books ever written. If this style of book is considered the "classics" of tomorrow, we may be in trouble.

So read them, enjoy them, and don't let the over-hype ruin them for you.

Also, a forewarning to other men who are considering reading these books. They are written by a woman, and the reader can tell. A lot of focus on fashion...