Marsilia got me hooked on the Hunger Game series of books and now the first of the movies is coming out this spring. I'm geekily excited about it, because sci-fi with a strong, young female lead isn't exactly a plentiful genre.
The Hunger Games films
Marsilia got me hooked on the Hunger Game series of books and now the first of the movies is coming out this spring. I'm geekily excited about it, because sci-fi with a strong, young female lead isn't exactly a plentiful genre.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
You're welcome, Zuul.One of the things I love about the series is that, while the author might shy away from graphic descriptions of violence (I'm okay with that, actually), she doesn't flinch from the way the way the violence effects those who experience it, and draws a nice dichotomy between those who have some stake in the "reality show" of the Games and those who watch it strictly for entertainment value.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Also,Originally posted by Katniss
Gah! Can! Not! Wait!
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
How many times have you watched the trailer now?
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
I'M AT WORK AN CAN'T WATCH THE TRAILER UNTIL I GET HOME.
::snit::
Eleventy billion.
How many times have you watched the trailer now?
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
That trailer is very promising. I hope the movie is as good! Does anyone know whether the movie is just the first book, or they are going to cram the entire series into one movie? (I assume the former.)
Last edited by Hatshepsut; 14 Nov 2011 at 08:54 PM.
They have three movies planned, so this should only cover what's in the first book.
I'd been iffy when I heard they cast Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, but he really does fit the role in that brief clip.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
They have four movies planned, actually. I think they're going to split Mockingjay.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Hmm. I'm not sure about that. I felt like it was the weakest of all the books, TBH. I guess it gives them time to wrap up the series, though.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
I ordered the books into my shop last week, far behind the curve with them but two online acquaintances have been raving about it, so thought it worth the punt.
I think part of the reason they're planning it is to flesh out some of those weaker aspects. Since the movies won't be limited in POV, they can actually get into more of those moments that Katniss is unaware of, or the ones she hears about second-hand.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
I thought he'd be perfect, it's Lenny Kravitz as Cinna that I was concerned about.
Also: EEE. EEEEEEEEEEEE.
See, I was concerned about that for a second, then I got to thinking about it, and Kravitz has a centeredness to him that I think will work well for Cinna. Plus, he and Jennifer Lawrence were already apparently fairly good friends from time she and other X-Men castmates spent at his home n France. So, I'm hopeful that they connect well on screen.I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!?!?!
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
It's going to be the next Harry Potter/Twilight isn't it?
Oh wait - it's Battle Royale isn't it.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
They're hoping for that kind of money, but I doubt it'll be quite as big.Nope.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Group of kids chosen - hunting each other until one survives - live on TV - what did I miss?Nope.
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Would you nice people please sell me (figuratively; I can get my hands on the books when I decide to) this book series? My first exposure to their existence was my oldest son (11 at the time) saying he was reading and enjoying them, and since then, I've had quite a few adult friends (overwhelmingly female) say they're great as well. Questions:
- What's awesome about these books?
- Is this a case of "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll love...?" Because I enjoyed those books, but most of the other YA fantasy that's sprung up in its wake - Eragon, Percy Jackson, etc. - has left me rather cold.
- Should I avoid this movie until I read the books?
The whole rest of the plot? There are, of course, surface similarities, but the stories diverge on a lot of key points. From what I understand of Battle Royale, you don't know too much about that version of Japan, while Collins uses The Hunger Games, in part, as a world building exercise, with a lot of points that are strikingly allegorical to the times we live in now (wealth gap, obsession with and corruption of youth, disconnect between reality and reality television, dehumanization of celebrities, and sending people barely out of childhood off to kill). Also, as there are twenty-four separate lotteries to choose Hunger Games contestants (two for each of the twelve districts), there's a chance that a tribute might know one other person in the arena with him or her. Battle Royale, as I understand it, involves a whole class of kids being dumped into an abandoned area with no idea they're about to become contestants.Group of kids chosen - hunting each other until one survives - live on TV - what did I miss?Nope.
Beyond that, there are a lot of little similarities and differences. The Hunger Games isn't as graphic in its violent content, but I've been told by people who've read and enjoyed both that it packs more of an emotional punch. And, of course, it goes on from the basic premise of "kids killing kids" to become a very different story.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
A strong young female character is the main character, one who is deeply devoted to her family while also having a fierce defiant streak against the corrupt Capitol which controls the country. She's a neat character because she's very flawed and real, but her flaws aren't stereotypes. She's tough, without being an action movie cliche. There's a lot of tragedy in the books, but the emphasis is on how the characters respond and deal with it rather than "action porn."
No. It is science-fiction, so the focus is primarily on the ways that this future society reflects our own. It really felt to me like its own thing, rather than trying to capitalize on any particular trend. It does have some aspects that are very common in the YA market targeted towards girls, but they're pretty secondary to the plot.- Is this a case of "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll love...?" Because I enjoyed those books, but most of the other YA fantasy that's sprung up in its wake - Eragon, Percy Jackson, etc. - has left me rather cold.
I don't think so, but I would recommend the books.- Should I avoid this movie until I read the books?
And I know people keep making the "Battle Royale" and "Running Man" comparisons, but the idea of a bunch of people being sent off to fight to the death together for the pleasure of an elite class has been a part of literary tradition for a few thousand years. You might as well discount Harry Potter because there have been books about neglected young boys discovering they have a remarkable heritage before. There's much more to it than simply the arena.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
Zuul went over a lot of it, and in a much more concrete way than I really could. All I can say is I had dreams about these books long after finishing them. There's an immediacy to them, and a pacing that was amazing. And, as Zuul mentioned, the characters tend to knock some cliches on their heads, where the cliches aren't avoided entirely.Well, I enjoyed the Percy Jackson books, but they're no Harry Potter. This is also not a Harry Potter. It's really one of those series you have to go into without already having a comparison in mind. I'll admit that was one of the things that made it a tough sell early on. I would have customers ask me to explain the first book, and I would draw a blank, because these were the Twilight crowd, and they wanted Twilight, but I wanted people to read these damned books.- Is this a case of "If you liked Harry Potter, you'll love...?" Because I enjoyed those books, but most of the other YA fantasy that's sprung up in its wake - Eragon, Percy Jackson, etc. - has left me rather cold.
I don't think it'll be necessary. Then again, the movie comes out in late March, and we're only just in mid-November. You have plenty of time to read the books (they're quick reads) and let the details get murky before March 23.- Should I avoid this movie until I read the books?
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
A strong female protagonist who is still believably flawed. Supporting characters who are likewise sympathetic and flawed. (Like Haymitch, who won his Hunger Games and all the rewards that come with that, and is consequently a barely-functional bitter alcoholic. I love him.) Interesting world-building. Engaging writing style.
The only book I might say compares to The Hunger Games is Lois Lowry's The Giver, in that they're both YA books dealing with dystopian futures through the eyes of young people. But even then, the plot and tone is very different.
I wouldn't say so, but they aren't long reads. I plowed through the whole series in les than a week.
Like Haymitch, who won his Hunger Games and all the rewards that come with that, and is consequently a barely-functional bitter alcoholic.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
The whole idea that "winning" becomes such a curse is one of my favorite themes through the series.Like Haymitch, who won his Hunger Games and all the rewards that come with that, and is consequently a barely-functional bitter alcoholic.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Thanks for the replies; it's nice to have it laid out cogently by people whose opinions I've come to respect.
My son will be so stoked that Dad wants to borrow his books. He was eyeing the Mistborn trio as I read them; maybe an exchange of prisoners is in order?
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."
find me at Goodreads
Not to brag about my new toy or anything, but the trailer looks better on my Nook Tablet than it does on my laptop.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
I cannot tell you how many warm-fuzzies this gives me. Reading being a shared familial activity =
Wow, I don't mean to bring the tone of this wonderful conversation down to a crasser level, but I have to admit that one thing I like about really good YA fiction (like Hunger Games) is that it's good literature, but since it is written for a younger audience, it's accessible and I feel like I can get the full enjoyment of reading (thinking about plot and character development, admiring good foreshadowing, approving/disapproving of particular similes or nice turns of phrase) even when I'm too tired for something that's a bit more demanding.
Of course, since I have a son who does a pretty good job of reading YA stuff (he was never into Harry Potter, or - strangely, but I think he started too young - A Series of Unfortunate Events - but he's read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Book Thief, His Dark Materials, The Giver, and others) I have a great excuse to read these books. I'm not sure what I'll do as he ages out of YA. (Luckily, people have to look really close to see what it is you're reading on a Kindle.)
BTW, I haven't read all of those books mentioned yet, but both my son and I agree, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman is THE. BEST. EVER. If you haven't read them yet (it is a trilogy), do it now. They are amazing.
Amazing indeed, but I think everybody finds themselves at the end going "Huh? That was it?" Or were you and your son exceptions to that, Hat?
I can't speak for my son, but for myself: the end wasn't my favorite part, though I do think it was well foreshadowed throughout the trilogy. But the trilogy as a whole was imaginative and thought-provoking. The concept of daemons is very cool, and the entire worlds he describes are worthy of the best science fiction. The ending of a book or series is important, yes, and I wish the ending had been more ... rewarding, somehow. But it didn't destroy the overall effect. I know the series is disliked by Christian fundamentalists because they see it as anti-Christianity. But I don't take that message from it at all; it's just anti-stupid.Amazing indeed, but I think everybody finds themselves at the end going "Huh? That was it?" Or were you and your son exceptions to that, Hat?
I despised the last book of His Dark Materials so profoundly that it pretty much ruined the other two retroactively. Even the armored bears.
See, I wasn't that happy with the last book, but nothing can ruin armoured bears for me.
It's difficult for me to imagine a book that wouldn't be improved by adding armoured bears.
I remember being in seventh grade and reading through the first four Dune books along with my dad. (I wouldn't get around to the last two until long after he passed away.) In hindsight, I now realize it must have been as gratifying for him as it was for me; I was surprised at the time, as he was not a fantasy/sci-fi guy at all.I cannot tell you how many warm-fuzzies this gives me. Reading being a shared familial activity =
Last edited by OneCentStamp; 17 Nov 2011 at 10:40 AM.
I remember reading His Dark Materials and thinking "That was it?" but not because of the ending. I found them sluggish, and a bit preachy (even Pullman has said that he felt like he let the moral get ahead of the story in a couple of places), and not nearly as amazing as the fans had built them up to be.
Of course, I also thought the film version did a disservice to the first book, same as The Lightning Thief, but I'm optimistic at this point that Gary Ross and company have at least done service to the source material with The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins, the author, has experience writing for television, so the writing has a fairly cinematic style to begin with, and she also was apparently heavily involved in the process when Ross did a near-complete overhaul of Billy Ray's original script (which I've heard enough about to wonder if Ray was just given a synopsis and list of character sketches).
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
If the armored bears are allowed to kill off the main characters within the first ten pages, I completely agree, and even have some suggestions.
This is very true. They messed up a movie with armored bears. How is that even possible.
That is very good to hear.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of HOLY SHIT A TALKING POLAR BEAR."If the armored bears are allowed to kill off the main characters within the first ten pages, I completely agree, and even have some suggestions.
Harry Potter and the Half My Friends Have Been Killed By Panserbjorn
Are you there, Iorek? It's me, Margaret.
Now that I think of it, I think Rue could use an armored bear in the arena.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune will quake in terror if confronted by an armoured bear.
Hwaet! We Gar-dena in geardagum,
theodcyninga thrym gefrunon,
hu tha aethelingas ellen fremedon.
(The original armoured bear).
Back to the Hunger Games, I'm getting kind of a Atwoodesque vibe, or at least the look of the film reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale. is that noticeable in the books?
Is the mention of "tribute" meant to be a Theseus reference? Is there more to it than that? I unfortunately watched The Immortals and I'm not sure if the myth can be more mangled than that did.
parzival, it is. In the book, an even number of teenaged boys and girls are sent to die as tributes because of a past war. The author has said that she was thinking of the legend of Theseus and the minotaur when she worked out the plot.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
Have you seen Braveheart?
In the land of the blind, the one-arm man is king.
Think televised gladiatorial games in stead of the Minotaur. Collins has stated she grew up fascinated by the ancient Greek and Roman stories and cultures, and modeled Panem (the former USA) after the Roman Empire to an extent, including using Roman names for many of the Capitol citizens.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
So a bump for "I finished the trilogy last week."
I tried not to let my friends' comments color my own expectations and impressions too much, but sure enough, the first book was great, the second good, and the third kinda sucked. I'm really glad I read them before the movie came out.
As a bit of a side note, major props to Suzanne Collins for eschewing the whole I'm-gorgeous-and-I-don't-even-know-it-because-I-was-an-urchin trope of female fantasy characters. I read the Dragonriders of Pern books thirty years ago, I read the Mistborn books three months ago, and plenty more in between, and in a disproportionate number of them, the girl turns out to be jaw-droppingly beautiful once she's cleaned up a bit. It's really trite.
Last edited by OneCentStamp; 18 Jan 2012 at 10:55 AM.
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."
find me at Goodreads
My kid got them for Christmas, and was quite pumped. He's started reading them and got to sleep too late last night since he was so engrossed.
Yeah, it is trite. One thing I enjoyed about Katniss is her attitude regarding all of the image polishing they inflicted on her. Having been a hairy legged teenage tomboy, I could relate. Sure, it's nice to feel pretty, but geez is that a lot of pointless work.
As for the third book...
Spoiler (mouseover to read):
It had some good moments, particularly regarding Peeta and the mindwashing he'd been subjected to. It felt like Collins got a little lost in there, though, and didn't really know how to handle the resistance. Returning to the Hunger Games style traps when they entered the Capitol was painful and just felt like she was trying to shove the book back into her comfort zone. The very ending regarding their return to the victors' village and their struggles to simply live after what they had experienced was the strongest part of that book, IMHO.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
Yeah. That was a fantastic touch. One of the things Zuul and I have talked about at length with the series is the way that Collins uses the subversion of traditional literary gender indicators with her characters in her world building.
I think part of the issue Collins had withSpoiler (mouseover to read):
the siege on the Capitol is that she set out to write a war story, first and foremost, but also seemed to want to tie together the battle and the Games (going back to the idea of watching war the same way we watch reality TV) and it came across as more video game-y than I think she probably intended. Either that, or it was totally supposed to look like that in an effort to show the stupidity of using a war as its own kind of propaganda. Or, maybe she wanted to keep her heroine's human kill count down for the sake of her YA book deal.
I totally agree about the ending, though. After watching my dad,Spoiler (mouseover to read):
I really feel like the way she showed Katniss and Peeta dealing with what they'd seen and done was really...real. And, while I know a lot of people felt the ending was a downer, I thought it was really hopeful, because you saw that the two of them had made the decision to not only not give up on their own lives, but not give up on eachother.
So, I'll whisper in the dark, hoping you'll hear me.
Spoiler (mouseover to read):
I actually liked the very end a lot. In my Goodreads review, I mentioned that my biggest take-away from the trilogy was "that war is a game where everyone loses, violence leaves lasting scars on the perpetrators as well as the victims, and these effects are all magnified when it comes to children," and lamented that the last book's hamfistedness kind of trampled that message. The idea of Katniss and Peeta trying to make a life for themselves after what they'd been through was a nice return to that core message; not enough to redeem the whole last book, but a good touch.
"You laugh at me because I'm different; I laugh at you because I'm on nitrous."
find me at Goodreads
It's almost midnight and my kid is not going to sleep until he finishes the first book. (Hey, tomorrow is Saturday.). He's a pretty voracious reader, but I haven't seen him this much into a book for a while.
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