Of Morphine and Hunger

There are two silver linings to my recent predicament:

1.  While I am a terrible patient it is nice to have some quiet time with my Lady.
2. I can catch up on some reading.

 I have finally got around to finishing The Hunger Games the other day so thought ti would make a good post. While you may already know the plot here is a brief synopsis:

In a dystopian post apocalyptic future the state of Panem sits on the ruins of what was once the USA. Panem consists of thirteen districts each with a economic speciality; agriculture, horticulture, lumber, fishing etc. And the capital is the city state that rules them. Seventy five years before the setting of the book, all the districts rebelled against the authoritarian rule of the capital and lost. District 13 was firebombed out of existence and the other districts quickly surrendered. In retribution every year the capital holds the 'hunger games', A high tech gladiatorial battle between tributes from each of the districts.

Katness Everdeen is a young girl from district 12 whose twelve year old sister is selected for the 74th hunger games. Katness volunteers in her sisters stead leaving her family behind to battle for her life for the entertainment of the capital. As  she fights not only to survive, but also against the capital her strength and humanity becomes a symbol for a a growing discontent amongst the districts.

Ensue gladiatorial death hijinx!

Suzanne Collins is a compelling author. She writes an engaging story with quite flawed characters. And when I mean flawed I mean human. Katness is a teenage girl who is forced into the position of caring and providing for her mother and little sister from age 11. And to do that she is effectively a criminal, poaching game from capitol land. Katness has severe trust issues and, is well a bit of a bitch. But that is good because don't we want human, relatable characters with flaws. Well I do. And whether you may now be doubting whether you will relate to a fifteen year old girl with trust issues I think you will be surprised by how engaging the story is. Collins has a easy writing style that I found entertaining and hard to put the book down.

I enjoyed it very much, and also enjoyed observing her inspirations from ancient Greece and Rome. And while this has been done many times before this isn't some trite post apocalyptic story reinventing history under the guise of science fiction, and certainly no Battle Royale.  While I do enjoy that movie, this story is a little more sophisticated.

Interesting point for me coming from watching the film first before reading the novel is that I think I prefer the film over the book. That is probably a terrible crime some where, but I do. I think that the actors in the  movie add a humanity and a complexity to the supporting characters that I found a little lacking in the novel. But then the novel is entirely from Katness's point of view so this is understandable and doesn't detract from the novel at all.

Woody Harrelson creates empathy for his portrayal of Haymitch

Over all I understand why these books are so popular and I am glad that they are. It is also refreshing to have a young woman who is a strong protagonistin a novel.

Give it a try, it is good.

6.5 Monkeys