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I watched the two films a couple weeks ago, and enjoyed them so much that it prompted me to download the books on my Kindle. I enjoyed the books so much that I spent this past week reading all 3 books non-stop to the point of losing sleep. I'm now on my second reading of the first book.
My god, these must be the most disturbing and moving books that I've ever read, bar The Lord of the Flies. Reading the last 50 pages of the final book Mockingjay, I was almost sobbing, something that no book has ever caused me to do.
I found the series disturbing, for its depiction of what is effectively human sacrifice in the gladiatorial fights to the death of children, the use of child soldiers by the rebels (the District leading the rebellion being a highly militarised regime in which everyone over the age of 14 is considered a Soldier) and the several atrocities committed by both sides.
And I found it moving, for the main character's struggle between her compassion for her enemies (the Arena 'Tributes' and the Citizens of the Capitol) and her desire for revenge; the psychological damage she suffers (to the point of suicidal depression by the end of the 3rd book) due the atrocities she witnesses and participates in and the loss of her loved ones; and the solace and love she finds in an equally damaged but still kind and compassionate victim of the war.
The Hunger Games are a futuristic version of the Spartacus story, with Spartacus as a 16 year old girl and Rome as a technologically advanced Totalitarian regime. I strongly recommend the books for adults, its a great story about the resistance against tyranny and oppression; the conflict between compassion and darker aspects of human nature like the desire for revenge; and the psychological cost of war.
I wouldn't call this a children's book - nobody under the age of 16(ish) should be reading this, unless they're particularly emotionally mature.
Several of my gaming friends were shocked when I said I'd never read them - they maintained that I should have read them in High School.
I pointed out that they hadn't even been WRITTEN when I was in High school (and I finished HS some 20 years before the first book was published).
Not that I read books about teens IN HS, either.
Not quite as old as Chrome here, but I like the sentiment. There is far too much actual literature out there waiting to be read to be wasting my time on Teenage Angsty books/teen targeting marketing ploys (movies)
The protagonist loses her father in a mining explosion that drives her mother into a long depression. On the verge of starvation, shes forced to hunt illegally so she can support her depressed mother and younger sister.
Then she is kidnapped from her home and forced to fight other children (and adult Victors of previous games) to the death twice. She's forced to fake a romance with a fellow tribute, Peeta to manipulate the audience so they can both survive. She unwittingly becomes a symbol of rebellion, is rescued from the arena by the Rebels and coerced into acting as a figurehead, whilst her friend is captured by the capitol, tortured, brainwashed and paraded publicly on TV to psychologically undermine her.
She witnesses several atrocities and even participates in a few through the war. She's manipulated by ambitious political leaders of both sides to further their own agendas. When she's reunited with her (fake) lover Peeta after a costly rescue mission, his brainwashing drives him to attempt to kill her. She joins an Elite team of former Hunger Games Victors and rebel soldiers, and they're sent to the Capitol to film propaganda behind the front lines. Then they discover they've been betrayed by the rebel leader Alma Coin, seeing Katniss as a threat to her own political ambitions. Shes left with no choice but to continue further into the warzone of the Capitol on a desperate mission to assasinate the dictator and end the war. Her friends and allows are killed off one by one by deadly traps and horrific genetically engineered mutants.
When she finally reaches the Presidential palace, she witnesses an atrocity when a crowd of children refugees from the Capitol are bombed by incendiary weapons, staged by the Rebel Leaders to frame the now defeated Dictator and undermine what little support he still has. A second wave of incendiary bombs kill the Capitol and rebel soldiers who had abandoned the fighting to assist the wounded and dying children. Her own 13 year old sister, serving as a medic for the Rebels is burned to death in front of her, and Katniss herself is severely burned.
Her relationship with her childhood friend and hunting partner is destroyed forever when she realises the bombing that killed her sister and maimed her (psychologically) was similar to a tactic invented by him.
As the figurehead of the rebellion, she is chosen to personally execute the captive Dictator, but is shaken when he denies responsibility for the bombing that killed her sister, reminding her that they both agreed to never lie to each other. When the execution comes, she instead assasinates the Rebel leader Alma Coin (who she believes will be just another Dictator), and tries to commit suicide but is stopped by Peeta.
She is tried for the assasination of Alma Coin, found not guilty by reason of insanity and is sent back home to the burnt out ruins of her District where she mourns her lost loved ones, and begins the process of psychological healing with the support of the equally damaged Peeta.
After all that, I'd say angst is very appropriate.
It covers themes of tyranny and oppression; slavery; cruelty to children who are made to fight to the death for the entertainment of the rich; rebellion and war; war crimes; the use of child soldiers by the rebels; psychological illness, depression and suicide. This is by no means a children's book.
To just dismiss it out of hand as a marketing ploy about angsty teenagers strikes me as very ignorant and premature. You havn't even the first book.
Is it really just because its from the perspective of a child that you dislike it? Do you dislike books like Lord of the Flies too? What exactly is wrong with stories that examine the motivations and emotions of young people and explore events such as war from their perspective?
The "problem" that I have with them, is that, like Harry Potter, and Twilight and numerous other books/movies... they use a "I'm a special snowflake teenager" as the main character.
If you look at "The Mortal Instruments" the main character is a counter-culture ish character, who is a teenager that feels that no one in the world understands her... which are labels we can apply to most of these sorts of movies that are specifically marketed to teens and girls.
Ensis Ferrae wrote: The "problem" that I have with them, is that, like Harry Potter, and Twilight and numerous other books/movies... they use a "I'm a special snowflake teenager" as the main character.
If you look at "The Mortal Instruments" the main character is a counter-culture ish character, who is a teenager that feels that no one in the world understands her... which are labels we can apply to most of these sorts of movies that are specifically marketed to teens and girls.
Well, I suppose thats where we differ then. I can look past the fact that its marketed to teens and girls, and still enjoy the wider story of the rebellion and war.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 01:40:38
We obviously fairly well differ. My personal choice of books that I like to read are things like Hemingway, Melville, etc. My favorite modern author is Chuck Palahniuk. Maybe I'm too old and "battle hardened" as it were, but I just prefer my books to be written in an adult mindset, with an adult market envisioned.
I can't help but echo the sentiments of pretty much everyone else in this thread, I've read the first book but I found it was very obviously a "young adult" novel and put the series down for good.
"Different" main character with tragic background (often a lack of one or more parents)? Check.
Overly bureaucratic or outright facist government that impedes the progress of the main character? Check.
I just read whatever stories and books I find interesting, whether its marketed to kids, teenagers or adults.
Books I've read recently have been... the Horus Heresy (First Heretic and Deliverance Lost); the Saxon Stories series by Bernard Cornwell; Game of Thrones by GRR Martin; The Walking Dead comic series; the Halo:Forerunner Saga; and several non-fiction books about politics, religion (the God Delusion by R.Dawkins) and history.
And I'm currently listening to the LOTR Fellowship of the Ring audiobook.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/12/16 02:06:40
It's not a matter of who they are marketed to, it's a matter of who they are written for.
Generally speaking books written for children or "young adults" (read teenagers) will follow certain patterns and conventions that tend to make them dull reading for those older than the target audience.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 02:08:23
I must be an oddity then. I can enjoy mature books like the Lord of the Rings (which I first read about the age of 12) and Game of Thrones (which I finished last year), and still enjoy "kiddies' books" like the Hunger Games too.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/12/16 02:08:42
Yup, angsty. I don't 'do' Angst. Not teen angst, not adult angst. Angst is just apprehension or fear. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to suffering and insufferable star wars prequels. Doesn't matter if it's Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Enders' games or any other kind.
I don't do sturm und drang much, either.
I'm OVER 50 (and so far over everyone's BS, too).
Old enough to know better, young enough to not give a ****.
That is not dead which can eternal lie ...
... and yet, with strange aeons, even death may die.
some free online dictionary I googled wrote:
angst:
A feeling of anxiety or apprehension often accompanied by depression.
Sounds like appropriate emotions for a protagonist of any age who's...
Spoiler:
forced to fight to the death in an arena, fakes a romance to survive and then have to maintain that false romance in public for fear of retaliation against her family, coerced into acting as a figurehead for a resistance movement, see her love interest brainwashed and tortured, witness and participate in several atrocities, be betrayed by your own side's Leader who views you as a threat to her political power, witness several of your friends be killed in horrific ways by sadistic traps or genetically engineered monsters, witness your younger sister burn to death along with dozens of other children, find out your childhood best friend may have been responsible, assassinate the Rebel leader who you thought ordered the atrocity, try to commit suicide, and then be labelled insane and sent back home to your ruined, mass graveyard of a District so that you can't cause any more trouble for your countrys new political elite.
I mean, what are you supposed to do? Go through all thoses experiences and still maintain a cheerful outlook on life?
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2013/12/16 02:37:26
My sister loves them and convinced me to read them. I found them to be OK. The first one was the most solid, and the quality sort of decreases from there.
The movies appear to be following the same formula, because the second movie was essentially half of a 4 hour film, instead of a second volume that stands on it's own feet.
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Several of my gaming friends were shocked when I said I'd never read them - they maintained that I should have read them in High School.
I pointed out that they hadn't even been WRITTEN when I was in High school (and I finished HS some 20 years before the first book was published).
Not that I read books about teens IN HS, either.
Not quite as old as Chrome here, but I like the sentiment. There is far too much actual literature out there waiting to be read to be wasting my time on Teenage Angsty books/teen targeting marketing ploys (movies)
While I haven't seen the movies or read the books, I'd imagine that, especially compared to tripe like Twilight, The Hunger Games is actually pretty good reading material for highschoolers. Something fairly light that will keep the classroom interested. There are plenty of great classics out there, but a lot of them just won't be able to keep your average highschooler actually engaged.
Yes, the Hunger Games is in a whole different league from Twilight. I have seen the Twilight movies (for free, online...I wasn't stupid enough to pay for it ), and they are far inferior to this.
Compare the Protagonists. Bella Swan is a stroppy, love sick teen who quickly forms a pathetic attachment and dependence on Edward, and might as well be attached at the hip to him for the rest of the series, and falls into depression the moment they're seperated.
Katniss Everdeen is a strong, independent teen who becomes her family's main breadwinner (by hunting illegally, on pain of death) at the age of 12 when her father is killed in a mining accident and her mother falls into a several year long depression. She's reaped and forced to fight other children to the death, and fakes a romance to survive. Yet she rejects genuine romance as a weakness detrimental to the survival of herself and her family. Becomes a reluctant figurehead for rebellion, resolves to sacrifice herself for Peeta out of guilt for rejecting his unconditional love and the selfless sacrifices he makes to protect her. She tries to retain her compassion and desire for peace when her closest friends become motivated by revenge and hatred, is remorseful for the atrocities she participates in and intervenes to convince hundreds of (slave) soldiers to surrender (getting shot in the process). And Katniss only embraces romance when she realises the only way she can heal psychologically is companionship with someone whos experienced the same traumas as she did.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/12/16 03:37:46
For what it's worth, however, the two Twilight movies I saw (the first and the last ones) were some of the most entertaining examples of film that I have ever seen in my life.
Fafnir wrote: For what it's worth, however, the two Twilight movies I saw (the first and the last ones) were some of the most entertaining examples of film that I have ever seen in my life.
Why do I get the feeling you were entertained in a very sarcastic sort of way??
Fafnir wrote: For what it's worth, however, the two Twilight movies I saw (the first and the last ones) were some of the most entertaining examples of film that I have ever seen in my life.
Do you mean that in an ironic sense?
I sort of enjoyed them, in a "well this was ok, it wasn't as bad as people said it was but it certainly won't make my top 1000 movies list" sense. I did have to disengage my brain and embrace my inner teenage girl though.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 03:36:08
I would recommend the movie of Battle Royale. It took a few attempts to get past my initial "What the fething feth?" reaction, but it's a damn good movie.
I would not recommend the books of the Hunger Games. There are good bits, but they exist despite the author rather than because of her. For the most part, she does a massive disservice to the premise, which is pretty damning when you're talking about institutionalised child murder.
"When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
-C.S. Lewis
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: Yes, the Hunger Games is in a whole different league from Twilight. I have seen the Twilight movies (for free, online...I wasn't stupid enough to pay for it ), and they are far inferior to this.
Compare the Protagonists. Bella Swan is a stroppy, love sick teen who quickly forms a pathetic attachment and dependence on Edward, and might as well be attached at the hip to him for the rest of the series, and falls into depression the moment they're seperated.
Katniss Everdeen is a strong, independent teen who becomes her family's main breadwinner (by hunting illegally, on pain of death) at the age of 12 when her father is killed in a mining accident and her mother falls into a several year long depression. She's reaped and forced to fight other children to the death, and fakes a romance to survive. Yet she rejects genuine romance as a weakness detrimental to the survival of herself and her family. Becomes a reluctant figurehead for rebellion, resolves to sacrifice herself for Peeta out of guilt for rejecting his unconditional love and the selfless sacrifices he makes to protect her. She tries to retain her compassion and desire for peace when her closest friends become motivated by revenge and hatred, is remorseful for the atrocities she participates in and intervenes to convince hundreds of (slave) soldiers to surrender (getting shot in the process). And Katniss only embraces romance when she realises the only way she can heal psychologically is companionship with someone whos experienced the same traumas as she did.
Except she really isn't in the 3rd book and about half of the 2nd book. She's incredibly "teenage girl" during the latter half of the trilogy, which made the books far weaker than they should have been.
The movies have thusfar successfully cut out a lot of that thanks to Lawrence playing everdeen. If they can take the appropriate artistic license and kill the angst in the final two movies I'll be pleased.
Additionally, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit aren't exactly adult reading. They're pretty standard fare for 12-14 year old boys.
Fafnir wrote: For what it's worth, however, the two Twilight movies I saw (the first and the last ones) were some of the most entertaining examples of film that I have ever seen in my life.
Why do I get the feeling you were entertained in a very sarcastic sort of way??
You could call it sarcastic, in a way, but I assure you, I have rarely felt more passion than for the very distinct form of genius that is on display in those films.
Corpsesarefun wrote: Well the hobbit was intended for parents to read to young children before bed... Though LotR is definitely for early teenage boys.
Really? I doubt the average early teenage boy today has the attention span to read LOTR.
Corpsesarefun wrote: Well the hobbit was intended for parents to read to young children before bed... Though LotR is definitely for early teenage boys.
Really? I doubt the average early teenage boy today has the attention span to read LOTR.
Read Fellowship of the Rings when I was 11... >_>
As for the hunger games series, as a high school English education major in college, I had to read arseloads of YA literature, and while I was going through my studies, these books came out and became extremely popular. I enjoyed the first two novels, but disliked how the third one ended. The first film kind of ham-fisted the relationship between the protagonists because it's a film and constrained by time limits, but overall I felt the first movie lived up to the hype of the first book. I'll probably go see the second one at the dollar theatre because time and money are precious things atm, and I'd rather go see something different first. I'll probably pass on the third film unless they change pieces of the ending .
For those that are decrying the books about the 'special snowflake' syndrome or what you want to call it. You have to remember that YA lit is meant to pose problems that teenagers are experiencing and give them an outlet for getting through it. One of the greatest 'YA' books of all time (though I don't think many teens appreciate it) is Catcher in the Rye. Holden is a teen who feels that all adults are stupid, he's immature, he thinks he know of how the world is/should be and tends to be entirely incorrect about it. He is most teenagers almost to a T. He has his own issues, and winds up in his own tragic ending, but at the same time, Holden holds out hope that things will get better, whether they will or not is left up to the reader.
These are all problems almost every teen tends to go through at one point or another, and so these books all try to tell the same message. "Hey, gak might seem terrible now, but it gets better billions of people have come before you and have been through what you're going through, and we've all made it and you can too." It's just the backdrop that changes.
*shrugs* I still read YA lit as a palette cleanser of some of the heavier books I tend to read.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/12/16 16:49:38
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