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juushikaTitle: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: New York: Scholastic Press, 2008
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 374
Total Page Count: 76,711
Text Number: 225
Read For: personal enjoyment, borrowed from the library
Short Review: Once a year, the Capitol choses two youthes from each of its twelve districts to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. When her sister is selected, Kantiss volunteers herself and so begins a journey to the Capitol and to the arena where she must use all of her skills—and perhaps sacrifice her morality—in order to survive. Something of a flashy Battle Royale, The Hunger Games is compulsively readable and yet, filled with moral quandaries, unexpectedly intelligent. Unfortunately, its televised gloss and forced romance drag it down. While the book could be better, on the whole I enjoyed and recommend it.
The Hunger Games is a distinct case of "so good, and yet..." and as such, it's difficult to review. I take issue with some aspects of the text, yet on the whole I liked it and I don't want my grievances to overwhelm that fact. It is a compelling book: vivid, immediate, vicariously thrilling and violent, yet wrapped in tangled moral quandaries. Stranded in the wild, Kantiss's survival in nature is compelling enough, detailed with descriptions of dehydration and food gathering to make the reader acutely thankful for grocery stores. But worse, she's shoved into a life or death situation where she has ever right to kill in self-defense—yet most of her would-be murderers are in the exact same position. This quandary is sometimes solved by a convenient deus ex machina, but Collins often meets the tangled moral situation head on—which is remarkably discomforting and brave. The Hunger Games is always a compulsively readable page-turner, but it is sometimes remarkably intelligent as well, and that's a brilliant and satisfying combination.
And yet. For all that I enjoyed the book, my pleasure was tainted by niggling annoyances. The Hunger Games are a national event, wrapped in glitzy ceremonies, controlled by Gamemakers, televised for the Capitol and districts to see. All of that flash and outside influence opens the door to unnecessary complication: spontaneous forest fires, gifts parachuting from the sky, and constant playing to the camera, all of which detract from the story's authenticity, some of which open the door to unwelcome deus ex machinas. Worst of all, it leads to a staged romance which is unbelievable, unnecessary, and messy. The story would have been better preserved without the complications of romance, least of all a faux romance. (It gets worse: in playing up this faux romance, Kantiss finds strength not in her quick mind or survival skills, but in her ability to act like a lovestruck girlfriend. Would that her survival didn't rely on acting weak and foolishly dedicated to a male character.) So the glitz and tacked on love story sour the book, but The Hunger Games is nonetheless riveting and surprisingly intelligent, a compelling and swift read. It could be better, and I don't think I'll pick up the sequel (I rarely do), but I recommend this installment.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Suzanne Collins
Published: New York: Scholastic Press, 2008
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 374
Total Page Count: 76,711
Text Number: 225
Read For: personal enjoyment, borrowed from the library
Short Review: Once a year, the Capitol choses two youthes from each of its twelve districts to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised fight to the death. When her sister is selected, Kantiss volunteers herself and so begins a journey to the Capitol and to the arena where she must use all of her skills—and perhaps sacrifice her morality—in order to survive. Something of a flashy Battle Royale, The Hunger Games is compulsively readable and yet, filled with moral quandaries, unexpectedly intelligent. Unfortunately, its televised gloss and forced romance drag it down. While the book could be better, on the whole I enjoyed and recommend it.
The Hunger Games is a distinct case of "so good, and yet..." and as such, it's difficult to review. I take issue with some aspects of the text, yet on the whole I liked it and I don't want my grievances to overwhelm that fact. It is a compelling book: vivid, immediate, vicariously thrilling and violent, yet wrapped in tangled moral quandaries. Stranded in the wild, Kantiss's survival in nature is compelling enough, detailed with descriptions of dehydration and food gathering to make the reader acutely thankful for grocery stores. But worse, she's shoved into a life or death situation where she has ever right to kill in self-defense—yet most of her would-be murderers are in the exact same position. This quandary is sometimes solved by a convenient deus ex machina, but Collins often meets the tangled moral situation head on—which is remarkably discomforting and brave. The Hunger Games is always a compulsively readable page-turner, but it is sometimes remarkably intelligent as well, and that's a brilliant and satisfying combination.
And yet. For all that I enjoyed the book, my pleasure was tainted by niggling annoyances. The Hunger Games are a national event, wrapped in glitzy ceremonies, controlled by Gamemakers, televised for the Capitol and districts to see. All of that flash and outside influence opens the door to unnecessary complication: spontaneous forest fires, gifts parachuting from the sky, and constant playing to the camera, all of which detract from the story's authenticity, some of which open the door to unwelcome deus ex machinas. Worst of all, it leads to a staged romance which is unbelievable, unnecessary, and messy. The story would have been better preserved without the complications of romance, least of all a faux romance. (It gets worse: in playing up this faux romance, Kantiss finds strength not in her quick mind or survival skills, but in her ability to act like a lovestruck girlfriend. Would that her survival didn't rely on acting weak and foolishly dedicated to a male character.) So the glitz and tacked on love story sour the book, but The Hunger Games is nonetheless riveting and surprisingly intelligent, a compelling and swift read. It could be better, and I don't think I'll pick up the sequel (I rarely do), but I recommend this installment.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
