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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
After having read with piqued interest the entire Hunger Games series, I was excited about reading this literary criticism of the series. Partly, this was because of the idea that several of Suzanne Collins's peers in young adult literature found it so intriguing that they wrote essays about it, some of them while the series was still being published.
These essays bring to the forefront many of the fantastic issues Collins's series raises: popular culture's unhealthy addictions to reality television and fashion/beauty, as well as more intense issues such as geopolitics and local politics. Each of the essays brought something new to the table, and although I didn't find anything terribly new in any of the writers' critiques, their work certainly crystallized some of my brewing scattered thoughts about the story. Like the Harry Potter series, the novels are really less about the main plot and more about the subtexts and subplots, less about the characters and more about the situations in which they find themselves. And, because of this, I love the series, despite its greusome plotline and circumstances. I appreciated the writers' viewpoints and insights because they have kept me thinking about my viewpoint on the Hunger Games. None of these writers wrote about my idea, so I guess I have an open field to get busy with my critique...now to find the time!
These essays bring to the forefront many of the fantastic issues Collins's series raises: popular culture's unhealthy addictions to reality television and fashion/beauty, as well as more intense issues such as geopolitics and local politics. Each of the essays brought something new to the table, and although I didn't find anything terribly new in any of the writers' critiques, their work certainly crystallized some of my brewing scattered thoughts about the story. Like the Harry Potter series, the novels are really less about the main plot and more about the subtexts and subplots, less about the characters and more about the situations in which they find themselves. And, because of this, I love the series, despite its greusome plotline and circumstances. I appreciated the writers' viewpoints and insights because they have kept me thinking about my viewpoint on the Hunger Games. None of these writers wrote about my idea, so I guess I have an open field to get busy with my critique...now to find the time!
adventurous
informative
reflective
THIS IS BRILLIANT. I learned a lot about The Hunger Games universe, learned a lot about how society--both in this fictional world and in reality--works, and how it can crumble down easily. These essays reinforced some of my own theories about The Hunger Games and gave me a deeper understanding of the kind of society the series revolves in.
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Some quotes:
The refrain “Real or not real?” is a simply a vocalization of the ultimate question of the Hunger Games, and it is a question without any definite answer.
The epilogue of Mockingjay shows Katniss watching her children play in the Meadow, now green and lush once again. New life grows, even in graveyards.
Thus the series comes full circle: the reason Katniss volunteered to be a tribute in the first volume was in order to save her sister’s life—an act of courage that ultimately proves in vain. The Capitol did horrible things to many, many people—but by choosing to play by the same horrific rules, the rebellion actually causes the same kind of tragedy it was intended to prevent.
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Some quotes:
The refrain “Real or not real?” is a simply a vocalization of the ultimate question of the Hunger Games, and it is a question without any definite answer.
The epilogue of Mockingjay shows Katniss watching her children play in the Meadow, now green and lush once again. New life grows, even in graveyards.
Thus the series comes full circle: the reason Katniss volunteered to be a tribute in the first volume was in order to save her sister’s life—an act of courage that ultimately proves in vain. The Capitol did horrible things to many, many people—but by choosing to play by the same horrific rules, the rebellion actually causes the same kind of tragedy it was intended to prevent.
This book was awesome <3 It didn't just cover the romance of the story, it explored real life mutts (one of my favorite sections) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how it affected the victors. Perfect for my I-want-to-know-everything mind, haha ^_^
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Makes me love the series even more and want to read all the books again for the third time!
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Good science fiction allows present-day issues to be brought to the fore, analyzed, and critiqued, while set in a scientifically plausible future. The Hunger Games trilogy is good science fiction--lots of thought-provoking stuff there. The authors of the chapters in this (unauthorized) tie-in book (while touted as "Your Favorite Authors...", most of them I'd never heard of, though I have heard of a few of their books) do a great job at looking at many of these issues, like reality vs. unreality, love as a political act, power and surveillance, scientific ethics, PTSD, and so forth. I really enjoyed reading their thoughts and analyses and would recommend this book for folks who want a little more after finishing the trilogy.