The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

Today's book of discussion is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I found this book while looking at Stephenie Meyer's website. Meyer is the author of the Twilight series - which I love. Come to think of it, I need to write a blog about those books! Anyways, on her site she mentions how much she loved this book, so I decided I needed to read it. I put it on hold at the library and waited patiently. Meanwhile, I told Dani about it. She says she showed it to me once at a bookstore and I barely looked at it and said it sounded weird. I still have no memory of this at all, but I probably said it. The book does sound sort of weird when you just read the basic plot. But Twilight sounds totally dorky too when you describe it to some one and they are some of the most absorbing books I've ever read. Anyways, back to Hunger Games again. Dani got the book, read it, and told me how awesome it was. I'm still waiting for my turn at the library. Well, Saturday I finished the book I was reading and I was impatient for this one, so I gave up and went to Borders Sunday after church and just bought the dang thing! I read about 2 chapters that day because I was busy with other projects. However, the next day I spent all day reading the silly thing! And this morning I got up at 6am just so I could finish it! It was amazing, as I was told!

First off, I was intrigued by the grim future world the book is set in. It's outrageous and yet almost believable at the same time. The main character, Katniss volunteers herself to take her sister's place in a yearly event called "The Hunger Games". The games are staged in a giant outdoor area. Twenty-four kids between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen by lottery to compete - one boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts that surround The Capital. The "tributes" are left there to fight to the death. The last one standing wins fame and fortune. The whole games reminded me off "Survivor" in ways - except in this reality show, your fellow competitors really will stab you in the back. The citizens of The Capital watch the games for entertainment, eagerly betting on who will come out on top. The Gamemakers like to see gruesome, bloody deaths, because they know this will entertain the viewers more. At first I'm thinking, how could there ever be so many people who would enjoy watching 23 teenagers die every year? And then I'm reminded of the prevalence of gory horror movies of our current time and how it seems that no matter how many they make, people still flock to see them. Perhaps it's not as far-fetched as it seems.

The characters are endearing, the plot is fast paced, and as Dani and I would say - "It has everything!!" - action, danger, suspense, mystery, romance, etc. I also think it has a powerful message about what we view as entertainment - but it doesn't get bogged down in trying to preach to it's readers. Love it. Love it! Love it!! Now go read it people.