Review: The Hunger Games
I’ve been eager to see The Hunger Games movie but wanted to read the book first. This week I finally got to it on my reading list. It did not disappoint. The Hunger Games lives up to the hype and then some. It is easily one of the best I’ve read in a while, right next to Ready Player One.
Suzanne Collins creates a future world where a post-American state has resorted to
ancient Greek practices of demanding human sacrifice or tribute from its vassal states. In this case it is Panem demanding it from twelve districts. They demand a boy and a girl for the hunger games (a gladiatorial fight to the death in a huge arena), where the winning district gets prizes along with the survivor. The people of the capital treat it as their Super Bowl. Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take the place of her younger sister in the games and believes she will die so that her sister can live. As it turns out she brings some rare talents to the game that have some in the capital talking. Her male counterpart for the district is Peeta, one who has a secret crush on her and obviously no intention of killing her. The games progress as the people watch children ages 12 to 18 kill each other.
The human sacrifice/tribute system is a frightening throwback to Greek and Roman times. The use of an arena, like the gladiators, is also a really interesting and disturbing glimpse of how our future may not be about progress at all, but a return to a far less enlightened and far more brutal society. The story is told from the first person perspective of a teenage girl that is one of the tributes, which is like a female version of Gladiator.
This part of the story feels real as does the plight of the people in district 12 (Katniss’s home). They are kept poor and hungry by the capital as a punishment for a rebellion years past.
The descriptions of the capital are equally disturbing. It is a society that completely ignores the fact that they are entertained by watching children killing one another. They treat it like the Super Bowl, oblivious to the barbarity. The flamboyant clothes, makeup, cosmetic enhancements, and the spectacle of the games all remind me of the opulence that can desensitize the upper class. It happened in Charles Dicken’s Paris, in ancient Rome, and some feel it is starting to happen in Hollywood. The extravagant and indulgent lifestyles of the wealthy sometimes detaches them from reality, pushing them dangerously close to barbarism.
Katniss is a somewhat complicated character. Her upbringing is one of tragedy and desperation. Despite the horrific circumstances one can recognize the typical 16 to 17 year old girl. She is resourceful but not terribly bright in some ways. She struggles with her social interactions but her talent as a hunter sets her apart even more. What I like most is, Katniss is not a damsel in distress nor an over-the-top tough as nails biker chick stereotype where all sense of femininity is absent. She is in the middle.
The other characters are simple and play their roles well. The teenage romance is awkward, given the fact they’re fighting for their lives but it is by design. Peeta is somewhat interesting and has his own talents but its easy to see him as a weakling. The other peripheral characters are fairly straightforward, except for their training instructor Haymitch, who is a tortured and miserable former winner of the games.
It is best categorized as science fiction but the science and future elements are not prominent. This might change in the sequels. The social aspect of the novel is around but the book is mostly a story of survival and teenage romance.
Its similar to another work, Battle Royale, but that doesn’t really take anything away. It’s clear Collins got her inspiration from other sources.
The Hunger Games gets 5 stars from me and is one of my favorites of the past year. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson is next, along with Bowl of Heaven and The Road.
Jacob
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