Just Finished Reading: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (FP: 2008)

16 year old Katniss Everdeen is not exactly your average teenager. Ever since her father died in a mining accident she has been providing food for her family, keeping a watchful eye on her younger sister and trying desperately to keep her mother focused on the here and now. But in the here and now there is the ever present fear of the Hunger Games. A contest that involves two children from each district fighting to the death for the entertainment of the Capital and the education of the 12 Districts that have survived both war and violent rebellion. Kat knows that, in its 74^th year, she has only two more years to be chosen and then she’ll be free. But in her first eligible year Kats 12 year old sister is inexplicably picked to represent the District. Knowing that this is in effect a death penalty Kat offers herself as Tribute in her sister’s place. Almost written off from the start Kat and her co-Tribute Peeta start the long process of wowing the crowd and training for inevitable combat. As they prepare for the upcoming event in the Capitol Kat begins to find within herself the strength to challenge the odds which she knows, from bitter experience, have never been in her favour.

I’d heard the buzz about this book when it came out in 2008 but put it down to the hype surrounding much of the Young Adult market in paperbacks – especially when the hero is a young woman. I certainly had no intention of looking out for it and probably would never have read it except for several things. Firstly I saw the movie. Now to be honest I wasn’t that impressed. The story was pretty run-of-the-mill and, apart from Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, not particularly well acted. So why read the book(s)? Mostly, I have to say, because several of my friends had already read them and a few of them recommended it/them highly. The final piece of the puzzle was that I was offered all three books for the ridiculously low price of £5 ($7.65). It was an offer this bookaholic just couldn’t refuse.

So…. Did I like it? Oddly, yes I did. I say oddly because the book was very close to the movie adaptation that I thought was merely OK. What I think made a huge difference was what was missing in the film – partially the historical and political background to the society that Katniss and Peeta grew up in. But the big difference, and the most interesting thing from my point of view, was the internal dialogue that we, as readers rather than viewers, were privileged to have access to. Rather than simply seeing what she did and trying to understand her motivations and reactions we, again as readers, knew exactly why she was reacting as she did. This I think made a huge difference. As I knew exactly what was going to happen the book could have been incredibly boring – indeed I was fully expecting it to be a slog rather than something I would enjoy – but I found it to be anything but. It also makes me look at the movie in quite a different way and I almost wish that I had read the book before seeing the movie rather than the other way around. I’m now even looking forward to seeing the sequel when it’s out which I wasn’t prior to reading this. If you have managed to miss the book because of the hype or your reaction to the film I can recommend that you give this a try. Although far from ground breaking stuff it is still a good story well told. Surprisingly recommended.