The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion
GROUP READS
>
The Hunger Games Discussion
message 51:
by
Liz
(new)
Jun 10, 2010 06:27PM
It's encouraging to know that Suzanne Collins is writing the screenplay at least.
reply
|
flag
That is nice to know. At least she will try to make it stick to the idea of the story. I can't wait to see who gets cast and what it is like. When it came to Twilight, I hated the movies. I thought the casting was awful and I hope that Hunger Games gets a much better cast!!!
I am finally getting to this book. I finished Part I and I just finished everyone's interviews. So far I like Katniss. She isn't exactly the warmest, friendliest person but she does have some good qualities. She volunteers herself when her sister is picked for the reaping. She is very much the underdog and I always liked the underdog characters in books. I don't know many people that would risk their lives for someone else and go through with it. If the movie does go through, I would definitely check it out.
I read Hunger Games because everyone that I talked to said it was a great book. They were right. Katniss is a brave young girl who took over parenting her younger sister after her fathers death. She is protective of her sister and volunteers to take her place when her name was drawn in the lottery for the hunger game. She went through many tasks and came out on top. The concept of kids killing kids was not my idea for a great read, but the way Collins wrote it felt like you were there while Katniss grew up and understood the world she lives in. The book ends abruptly and I had to read the second one, however that one ends like the first. Now waiting on the third book, I hope that it wraps everything up.
I just finished the Hunger Games, sigh. I never thought I'd enjoy reading a book about games where people fight it out to the death. Kinda makes me wonder--are we any better than the Gamemakers? ;) But, enjoy it I did, and now I'm onto Catching Fire. I agree with the posts about liking Katniss. As far as I'm concerned, she's the main reason I read and liked Hunger Games. I think that's the main strength of this series; the author really captures what it must be like to be these characters. Even ole Haymitch, I kinda like the cranky drunken ole guy. Peeta came across well, but I think Gale is a better match for Katniss. Ok guys, which one: Peeta or Gale?
I just finished reading HG. I thought it was fantastic. Everyone always wonders what the future may bring and I think it's interesting to see how constant discord can lead to a civil war and eventually to the setting of this story. Definitely make you think about the politics going on and how much "freedoms" we want to give up. I throughly enjoyed the characters also. Katniss is in a continuing internal battle about how much she wants to use Peeta's genuine feelings (when she finally gets that they are genuine) and how much she wants to just stick it to the man. I especially loved her relationship with her sister. It showed a deep parental bond that made her seem older and wiser beyond her years with a hint of immaturity based on lack of experience.
I'm interested to see what happens in the next novel. I'm sad to hear that some of you think it's the same story again. I really want more explanation on the characters past. In answer to Louvaine I want Katniss and Gale to get together. Mean to Peeta I know but he's a softie, much too nice!
Now I'm probably going to switch my task for reading from a child's point of view to the next novel of the series. I'm hook :D
I just finished reading HG too. I feel like I am a bit in shock, frankly, with the end. I have got to get the next one. (There are 2, right?) My 13 year old son recommended it and said I may not like it because it was violent. Well, not so violent as painful. Cato's death was horrible and descriptive and all the things I was afraid the whole book would be -- hearing him scream as he died all night. Gross.They totally gave us the obvious cliff hanger didn't they? I don't know -- I feel for Peeta. He seemed to really be in love with her, didn't he? I hope there are some surprises in the next book. I would hate the characters to be 2 dimensional.
I really liked this one
Cindie there are three books all together. I just finished Hunger Games too. I thought it was okay. It isn't that I didn't like the book. I did. I liked Katniss. I didn't like Peeta so much. I agree Gale would make the better choice for Katniss. I just didn't think it was worth the hype. These games are supposed to be like survival and I didn't think that came through enough. It just seemed it was more about the Gamemakers killing off the contests was more important and weeding the citizens out.
Just finished The Hunger Games myself. I found myself going from intensely disliking the book to being passionate about what happened to the characters. I think that for an author to create a world that is so completely repugnant and yet have characters who become real and who matter is brilliant. I found the book and the sequel completely disgusting (maybe because it's getting easier to see how something like that could actually happen), yet I couldn't put them down, and I'll be going back for thirds when Mockingjay comes out.
I'll weigh in on the Katniss/Gale vs. Katniss/Peeta debate...I personally like Kat/Peeta better, though I don't know if I can put my finger on the 'why' of it. I just liked them. I liked Gale as well, but I found myself wishing that he'd find a different nice girl to settle down with.
I really liked this book, but I can't say that I loved it. Most of all, it was disturbing. I finished it (late) last night and dreamed about it all night long!I agree with some others on here about Rue being my favorite character. Her death, and Katniss's reaction to it, made me cry. But this was was the only part that truly upset me (other than the entire premise of children fighting children to the death, which upsets me in the extreme. I don't think I could ever watch a film based on this book).
But, having said that, I'll continue to read the series to find out what happens to Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch (I felt really bad for him and I hope having Katniss and Peeta back in District 12 with him will bring him a little bit of comfort). I understand why Katniss treated Peeta the way she did in the Games (and before). She felt that she couldn't allow herself to get close to him because, in the end, she might have to kill him. So now that they're out of the Games, I'm curious to see how their relationship develops. On to Catching Fire for me!
Kristi (Passion for the Page) wrote: "I don't think I could ever watch a film based on this bookKristi, I agree 100% on this!
I have just completed this book and I loved it ! Ican really relate to Katniss and her problem in accepting Peeta for who he is and not just a combatant in the games. Can't wait to read book 2 !
I have to admit that this was my second time throught the book. It was hard to imagine the first time. But since I already knew what was going to happen and how it would end I was able to get deeper into the story. I really liked it the second time although I am glad that is not going on here! I like to eat to eat too much, LOL
Cheryl, me too! Have you checked out the recipes for the 30.5 Virtual Block Party? Yum!
I actually kept thinking while I read it that it would make an amazing film. I love Katniss- I find her amazingly stoic- maybe some would say a little cold. But you would need that to survive a world like the one in the book. I think what I like (which is simultaneously the most frightening thing as well) is that I can totally buy that if the apocalypse (or global warming or what have you) did occur and only a small section of the world was left, something like this would happen. Someone reviewed the book citing how barbaric it was and indicated this was the reason they disliked it. I think the barbarism is the whole point. I also unfortunately believe that way too many people have it in them to behave in that way.
Anyhow...cannot wait to read Catching Fire- so glad I have it slated for another task for this challenge!
The Hunger Games is rated 4.56 and is book number 151 on the fiction shelf. Catching Fire is rated 4.52 and is book number 256.There aren't any other books with over a 4.5 in the top 1000 on that shelf. That's assuming I didn't miss one, which is very possible. The Help was close (4.49) and so was A Storm of Swords (4.48).
I read both of them, and I thought they were good but not even close to being that insanely good. I wonder why they are rated so much higher than everything else.
I just finished Catching Fire--no spoilers--and although it is different, I liked it. It fleshes out the characters more and reveals some of the events referred to in Hunger Games. It does leave you hangin' on what comes next; I can't wait for Mockingjay to be released! By the bye, I found Peeta to be a more likeable character in this one, not so pallid, more flesh and blood.
Peeta is a leader like Katniss. I believe that they will end up together, because the future of the world needs them to do so. Katniss is the spiritual leader and Peeta is supposed to be an incredible speaker so I think that the two will make a good match. I like Gale, too, but I just don't think that Collins has it in the stars for Katniss and him.I'm not sure that I can watch the movie either. I found Catching Fire to be even more violent than HG. I'm curious to see whether the movies will be PG or PG -13 in the US. The violence makes me feel like it should be a R rating, but there's no way that the distributor will cut out the younger audience to which this series is supposed to be geared to.
I am one who was resistant to read this book/series, as I don't really care for most "YA" books. But it was the only one I hadn't read and that was in the library.It was a quick read, which was good after spending 3 days on the previous book. But not only that, after the first 40 pages or so, I liked it. At first, the whole plot of the book made me uncomfortable (as a mom I hate the whole idea of the world being as it was portrayed, but then I came to care about the main character. (I figured she would end up okay in the end, as there are sequels.) Most of the YA books I have read, the characters are very one dimensional and I felt these were more "fleshed out" so to speak.
I will definitely read the next books!
This was such a messed up book! The whole idea was just disgusting. I gave it 5 stars though ;D I liked basically every character in it (except the Career Tributes really). I'm going to read the rest of the series, but my impression now is that Katniss should totally be with Peeta, not with Gale. Peeta is so sweet and kind and reminds me a lot of myself in the things he says and his demeanor. Gale is cool and all, but...as others have mentioned, not being a participant in the Games, I think, will really kind of hinder anything deeper with Katniss. It's kind of mind boggling to me that anyone could call this book "boring." I think it must have been something to do with the audio version. Or maybe that my favorite thing to read is nonfiction, which tends to be more "dry." It took me one day to read this book and whenever I put it down I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.
I'm rereading The Hunger Games via audio and so now I can get in on the discussion "officially". I'm not too far into it, but I am enjoying the build up and the costuming decisions and the great team that helps Peeta and Katniss get ready and puts them in the chariot on fire! The premise is so horrific, but the details and development of the characters like Haymitch as well as the main characters make the book amazing all over again. I'm not sold on the voice on the CD, so I am glad I read it first!
Karen GHHS, don't you hate it when you COULD like an audiobook, but the voice reading it is so annoying! I've stopped listening to audiobooks before because I didn't like the voice, switched to reading it. :S
Luckily the reading and voice quality is good, it just doesn't fit my idea of what Katniss would sound like. I have had to give up on some annoying voices on other audio books, though!
I was wondering what people's thoughts were as to the size (in area & population) of each district?In District 12, where Appalachia used to be, it seems tiny. They don't use cars to get around, only walking or horses. The woods are fenced off, and Katniss says that there are "thousands" of slips of names in the drawing for the reaping. Still, though, when you consider some people have close to 50 each, and some only a handful, it seems like there are just several hundred 12-to-18 year olds in that community. That would mean all of District 12 is only maybe 7,000 people total. (I grew up in a town that had a 7-12 grade junior/high school that taught about 350 kids and our population was around 5,000.) Their total area might only be a couple square miles.
I was wondering about the other districts too. Are the populations so small partly because of the floods mentioned in the beginning of the books, cutting down on so much space? So far we know about a district in the Appalachians (District 12) and the Capitol (Rockies). Maybe District 1 or 2 could be the Sierras and Cascades? Do these districts, being richer & not as in need of food, have more residents?
Paige wrote: "I was wondering what people's thoughts were as to the size (in area & population) of each district?In District 12, where Appalachia used to be, it seems tiny. They don't use cars to get around, o..."
If you go on to read Catching Fire there's some more details about each district. After reading that I found it fascinating to try and figure out where geographically each region was. District 11 seems to be the South but not sure what part - definitely appears to be Southern farming area...
If you go on to read Catching Fire there's some more details about each district. After reading that I found it fascinating to try and figure out where geographically each region was. District 11 seems to be the South but not sure what part - definitely appears to be Southern farming area...Interesting! I would've thought the South would've been especially damaged by floods. I wonder if they ever receded & the people were just kept fenced up like in District 12. If not, I suppose it would have to be a mountain range too. Been a while since I took geography, all I remember is the Ozarks, but there's gotta be other ones too.
This is a reread for me and I'm glad that I did. The first time through I was very hung up on Gale and Katniss finding a way to be together that I completely shut out Peeta from having a chance. However, this time around I find myself thinking that Katniss now realizes she has feelings for Gale that she was ignoring. Almost every time she thinks about Peeta in a loving way that might be more than just for survival or friendship she comes back to thinking about Gale. *****SPOILER*****
At the very end of the book (Chapter 27), Katniss talks about seeing Gale and her stomach is churning. She says, "I only know that I feel like I've been lying to someone who trusts me. Or more accurately, to two people." Peeta then finds out about what her true feelings in the arena were. Is this the point where she realizes that 1) she loves Peeta like a friend and they share a bond that brings people together but not necessarily to love and 2) that she has stronger feelings for Gale than she was allowing herself to feel out of a need to protect herself?
I'm enjoying rereading for that same reason. I paid a lot more attention to the opening scenarios than I did the first time, especially when it comes to Haymitch and Peeta. The first time, I didn't even know if Haymitch and Peeta would stay important characters or not. Katniss is trying to get some water now, so back to listening!
I read The Handmaid's Tale for the last challenge, and now I've read this book - both are such great books. They're both well written and so creative, and more importantly, they both describe a futuristic world that scares the hell out of me. I definitely think I'll move on to the rest of the series as I am now hooked.
I am just about to the end of my audio reread of Hunger Games and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time! I'd forgotten how emotional a couple of the scenes were and how well written. I may have to listen to Catching Fire, too, as a reread before Mockingjay comes out.
Seemed like a interesting cross between Stephen King's Running Man and William Golding's Lord of the Flies. Enjoyed the story, but not sure I need to read the second book - Catching Fire.
Dugger--I agree, it reminded me of Stephen King's short story "The Long Walk".
I nearly read this book for the last challenge. I took it from the shelf at the library and had a good look at the cover and decided that it screamed in big letters 'DON'T READ ME' and put it back. However, I am not ready to reread either of the other group reads, so I blanked out the cover and borrowed it. I didn't feel that it started slowly. I quite enjoyed the early part of the book when we were meeting the characters and learning about their world. I was a bit frustrated that, being written in the first person, we only got one point of view. I would have enjoyed seeing it all from another person's viewpoint. Looking back, I would love the whole story told by Haymitch, but I suspect that that would be an adult novel.
I really quite enjoyed it, but I have no great desire to read the sequels. To me Katniss's story has been told. I would prefer to read about someone else from another district.
It reminded me of Tunnel in the Sky by Robert A. Heinlein. (I'm showing my age here.)
OH my gosh! Why did I wait so long to read this book?! I'm definitely getting the next one in the series. When I was writing up my review/obsessing over the book..I kept thinking about how it would be to be in her position. How would you justify your own survival versus the lives of all those people? I always thought about that during 24 because there was always this debate about whether torturing people was justified because it could help save lots of people. Jack (the main character of 24) always would do WHATEVER was necessary to get the info he needed to save the day. It's a hard topic I feel like. Do the ends justify the means?
Anyways..I reviewed this on my blog if you want to check it out. I had fun reading this and writing my review. Great pick for a group read guys!
www.perpetualpageturner.blogspot.com
Coralie wrote: "I nearly read this book for the last challenge. I took it from the shelf at the library and had a good look at the cover and decided that it screamed in big letters 'DON'T READ ME' and put it back...."Coralie: The second book is just as good as the first book. You should give it a try. I am counting down the days until the third book comes out.
***********SPOILERS***********I just finished this book as well. I really liked it and gave it 4*. I agree with alot of the comments here it did read a little young but the story caught my interest. This surprised me as I was not expecting to like this book at all but thought I would give it a try and see what all the hype was about. I agree that if I lived in such a society I would not have any children. It is hard enough to raise a child and to add the fear that their name will be called and they will have to go through that awful ordeal. I also believe that is the reason that Haymish is so lonely which contributes to his drinking. Imagine being put into a situation for the enjoyment of others where you have to kill children in the same situation to survive. And then you are the only survivor and you have no one to talk to about this experience who will understand. Then to top it all off you have to mentor children for years to come only to see them go to their deaths. I would drink alot also.
Jamie wrote: "How would you justify your own survival versus the lives of all those people? " I think the author was so clever here: the "contestants" were given the incentive that their entire Area would eat well for the year, and the knowledge that their families would be treated well. So that whole self-vs-group issue was off the table. Because, of course, once you, as a contestant, are faced with doing the actual killings, it is hard enough!
Mod
great point - I hadn't thought of that. When you add that in, you're really working for an entire group, not just yourself, and a bigger group than the number of other contestants.
Ashley wrote: "Jamie wrote: "How would you justify your own survival versus the lives of all those people? " I think the author was so clever here: the "contestants" were given the incentive that their entire A..."True! Good point! I kind of forgot about that aspect of it!
This was my second time reading the Hunger Games and I have to say that I loved it more than I did the first time. This is a book that really made me think. I can't imagine a world where children are forced to commit such unspeakable crimes against each other. And while the content of the book is horrifying at times, I couldn't put the book down. I am really torn about this book being made into a movie. I really love the book but I fear that it will be given the cheesy Twilight treatment. I don't really see how they can put all that violence on screen without it having an R rating.
I will have to read Catching Fire again before Mockingjay comes out.
I re-read Hunger Games earlier this week in anticipation of the August Mockingjay release. As soon as I finished the last page I picked up Catching Fire and started to re-read it too. Collins' writing is just so good that you have to keep reading; you're so attached to her characters you just have to know what happens to them next. I was just as "on the edge of my seat" the second time as I was the first time, even though I already knew what was going to happen. Hunger Games is so fast paced and action filled that you can't help but get pulled into the story. Plus Katniss and Peeta are just such wonderful characters.
I'm counting down the days until Mockingjay comes out.
I loved this book! It was very entertaining, and always had me wanting to know what was next; can't wait to get ahold of Catching Fire! :DI also wrote a review of this book: http://ikissbooks.blogspot.com/2010/0...
I just finished reading this for the first time a few days back, and I have to say that I LOVE it! I heavily read in the YA fantasy genre, so this wasn't anything too "childish" or "brutal" or out of the blue for me, personally. What I thought was a little awkward was how Collinns used present tense instead of past tense - threw me off at first, but I got used to it at the end. Other than that, no complains! Certainly a LOT more speedy than most of the other novels I've been trying lately, and VERY quick action that kept me reading and reading and reading ... not many books do that anymore! I think I would have preferred third person more; the first person made Katniss sort of "blend together" with other female first-person protagonists in my mind a little (namely, Max from Maximum Ride), but that's probably just me ;D I highly recommend it to any YA enthusiasts!
I read The Hunger Games after a few of my students told me about it. I couldn't put it down. I had to rush back the library and get the second one in the series. I am glad that they are making a movie of it. I am waiting for MockingJay to come out.
I just finished reading this about half an hour ago and... wow. I have no idea what I thought this book was going to be, but it couldn't possibly have been this. No doubt I'll be reading the next book.What I would love would be if she would do this book again from another character's perspective. Kind of like Orson Scott Card did with Bean after "Ender's Game." Imagine what it would be like to read it from Katniss's mother's point of view. Or one of Peeta's parents'. Or Gale's. Or if it was Haymitch and he was reliving his Games, the ones of the people he coached and the current Games. So much potential...
Mod
What a cool idea! I would love to read about this from Gale's perspective - what it was like to be back home, seeing all that on the television, thinking about what was going on with Katniss and Peeta.........
Just finished this last night. I'm torn between giving it 4 or 5 stars. I would give it 5 because it was like nothing I've ever read, but I feel like for my personal taste, I would give it 4 just because I get really bored with survival/adventure/wilderness stories. So, my giving 4 stars to a book of that type is really saying a lot about what Suzanne Collins can do!I thoroughly enjoyed all of Part 1. Learning about Panem and the Games was fascinating. Also, a very eerie detail was the fact that Panem used to be North America. Parts 2 and 3 went downhill for me, since it was essentially a story out of one of my least favorite genres, but I was still very interested to keep reading to see what Katniss would do if it came down to just Peeta and her or just Rue and her at the end.
I had a hard time caring completely about Katniss. I think it's because she seems so closed off, but I guess she's really not to blame because she's just a product of the messed-up society she was born into. But I did like her to some extent because she did have a good heart, and I admire her for never becoming ruthless when she so easily could have gone that way.
I liked that the narration was in the present tense. Sometimes it's annoying when reading a first person book, and the narrator is looking back to events that happened in the past and often foreshadowing events to come. With past tense narration, you know for sure that the character survives to tell his/her story. With the present tense, the character could possibly not make it at the end.
I enjoyed this book and immediately had to read the 2nd. I can understand how Katniss can miss Peeta feelings for her. She has closed herself off from others because of having to fend for herself.She also doesn't see her own worth. She just does what she has to do to make ends meet.She doesn't relize the way a lot of people shee her. She doesn't see that Peeta's dad has a soft spot for her and she was taken by surprise when Gale asked her to run away with him.
Also there is usually only one victor. Wouldn't you suspect Peeta of deception?
Liz wrote: "It's encouraging to know that Suzanne Collins is writing the screenplay at least."THANK GOODNESS! I hadn't heard that, but WOW, is it comforting!
Paige wrote: "Interesting! I would've thought the South would've been especially damaged by floods. I wonder if they ever receded & the people were just kept fenced up like in District 12. If not, I suppose it would have to be a mountain range too. Been a while since I took geography, all I remember is the Ozarks, but there's gotta be other ones too. "
That's the thing though—we don't know what happened to cause the downfall of the United States. To me, it doesn't feel like an Armageddon situation—weather and all that... more like a political overhaul/civil war/??? I don't know. I hope we get more insight into Panem's history in Mockingjay! That's one of the things I'm MOST curious about: WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED??? But yeah, there's more information about some of the districts in Catching Fire. Rue's District 11 (which totally sounded like Texas to me) sounds GIGANTIC! Katniss sure thought so. So some of the other Districts may very well be quite quite large.
And of course, the other thing I'm dying to find out in Mockingjay is PEETA OR GALE???!?!?!!????!?? (Excuse the excessive punctuation there, please!) I'm a Gale fan, personally... although I can't really put my finger on WHY... Maybe it's that I really think Peeta deserves better than Katniss! I mean, I like Katniss fine and all, but Peeta's a WAY better person than Katniss is, sorry to say.
Did the 1st person present tense bug anyone besides me? I checked this book out from the library 2 or 3 times before I actually read it, because each time I picked it up, I'd read a page or two and go, "UGH! HATE THE WRITING!" and give up. But once I finally made myself sit down and read it—well, I was hooked by the end of chapter 1. So I guess it took me 20 pages. Not TOO bad, I guess... Relatively speaking.
I too loved this book. I love smart girl books, beats the hell out of Nancy Drew. The repetition is reflective of the age of the protagonist and likely not an error on the part of the author. The concept is so Shirley Jackson meets Mad Max(ine) with a little Truman Show. Oh heck, I'm too old! LOL
The Seasonal Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Catching Fire (other topics)Mockingjay (other topics)
Tunnel in the Sky (other topics)
Lord of the Flies (other topics)
Battle Royale (other topics)
More...
