The Hunger Games

laughing paradox · January 09, 2012, 08:43:48 PM

Are there any fans of The Hunger Games around these parts?

The Hunger Games is being released as a movie in a few months and is based on a trilogy of books, written by Suzanne Collins, that are impossible to put down. It's been described as a mix of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. I'd describe the story is more detail, but the trailer does a decent job in providing the plot.

Here's the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGRhAEn6K0

lugaru · January 09, 2012, 10:36:48 PM

That book is for sure the hot book around the people I know, so I might try it sooner or latter. While something like Harry Potter is extremely unapealing to me, this sounds like an actually lighter and more enjoyable version of The Road. Less poetic, more cathartic. Huge fan of Battle Royale too.

JeyNyce · January 10, 2012, 01:06:39 AM

A friend of mine told me about the movie and the book, that same day I found the book at a bargain bin for $5, so I picked it up.

XStream · January 11, 2012, 05:08:37 AM

I received a kindle for Christmas. One thing that I like about ebooks is having the ability to read the first chapter or two in order to decide if I want to buy it. I had heard about the Hunger Games and read the first two chapters... It seems really good. I plan to buy it once I finish the books that I already own, and do plan on seeing the movie.

detourne_me · January 11, 2012, 03:34:17 PM

I heard good things and bought the book in the airport on the way home from a vacation... read it the entire time on the plane, the bus from the airport to my place, and finished right after i walked in my door... almost 8 hours in total... loved every second of it. i have a copy of catching fire but havent had time to read it yet... maybe for my vacation in 2 weeks

laughing paradox · January 11, 2012, 08:37:38 PM

I'm a major Battle Royale fan, too!

Glad to see some interest in The Hunger Games.. I think it deserves it. I find it interesting that the author was inspired by reality tv and the tale of Theseus from Greek mythology.

BentonGrey · January 11, 2012, 09:00:33 PM

It seems like this is going to be a much better treatment of these ideas than the alternately clever and awful movie, Gamer. Anyway, one of my best friends has been on our group to read this, so I'm picking it up in the next few days. I'm glad to see it get such strong recommendations here. Hopefully the movie will live up to their praise of the book.

Uncle Yuan · January 19, 2012, 12:33:18 AM

Everyone I've spoken to about these books really seems to enjoy them. My understanding of them is entirely second hand, but I must admit that the target audience of these books being middle school kids really disturbs me. What do you guys think? Are these appropriate reading material for an 11 year old?

lugaru · January 19, 2012, 01:19:31 AM

Sounds like exactly the stuff I was reading at that age, only you know... on the sly. Nah, actually not on the sly, my parents BOUGHT me like compilations of horror stories. I grew up to be a total wuss yet in love with horror, which is a very weird relationship to have.

laughing paradox · January 19, 2012, 02:45:07 AM

I think it's fine for that age.. I was reading that sort of stuff, too. I was knee-deep in books by R.L. Stine (and I don't mean Goosebumps.. I'm talking Fear Street here!) and Christopher Pike, which all dealt with horror and murder and more horror. They were popular with my classmates, too.

herodad1 · January 19, 2012, 02:33:05 PM

i read them all and liked them alot! now i'm reading the series of books by Jim Butcher...novels of The Dresden Files. Book 1 is called STORM FRONT. He's a P.I and a Wizard.

juancho · January 19, 2012, 05:01:42 PM

I'm almost done with book one, and I have to admit i LOVE it.
heeh i'm a sucker for this kind of stories that combine andventure, a bit of fantasy and teenage love

BWPS · January 25, 2012, 05:44:24 AM

Quote from: Uncle Yuan on January 19, 2012, 12:33:18 AM
Everyone I've spoken to about these books really seems to enjoy them. My understanding of them is entirely second hand, but I must admit that the target audience of these books being middle school kids really disturbs me. What do you guys think? Are these appropriate reading material for an 11 year old?

It's a book about kids killing each other. It definitely condemns this(without being preachy) but much of the entertainment value comes from murder. What is our isn't appropriate for children is totally something I just realized I have no answer for and only a few years before I have to decide on these things and stop letting my son watch Breaking Bad with me at night.

detourne_me · January 31, 2012, 01:12:53 PM

as is my newfound tradition (i guess?) is just read catching fire in transit from my vacation last week. Interestingly it kind of went to extremes in terms of writing... a lot more young adult romance-y but also a lot more political intrigue too.
i just don't want to wait for another vacation to read the third.
my friends are going to force me to read the dark tower series after this, so i hope i'm prepared to make the leap into some more substantial reading.

BentonGrey · February 07, 2012, 08:00:16 PM

I just finished the first book and really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to this movie now, but I haven't a clue how they're going to dramatize all of the strategizing and such without a Dune-style narration. That first book is quite good. It doesn't really say anything new, just the classic distopyian, self-focused future, but the blending of that with the survival narrative and the focus on life in harsh conditions...it's really interesting. Anyway, I'm reading the second one now and wishing for a bit more action, but I'm still interested in the story she's telling.

laughing paradox · March 23, 2012, 09:09:08 PM

So did anyone watch it/going to watch it?

I loved it. It was very true to the book and used some clever ways to allow the audience to get inside the main character's head. For example, we get disoriented when she appears in front of a large crowd for an interview, and a little deaf over the applause. It was just done well. The acting was great, too. However, I did feel like there was a pacing problem near the end.

thalaw2 · March 24, 2012, 01:01:04 AM

I gave up reading fiction novels after The Da Vinci Code (it turned me completely off to fiction novels) but I find myself being sucked in by this latest hysteria so I'll see if HG can get me back into fiction.

stumpy · April 10, 2012, 10:01:53 PM

Just finished reading the book. My gf's mom actually left us her copy of the whole series and recommended we try to read at least the first one in time to catch the movie in the theater.

Anyway, the book was fun and it is such a quick read. I was a little worried that it would be too much in the vein of other teen, self-obsessed, boo-hoo!-it's-so-unfair-that-i'm-involved-in-the-adventure-of-a-lifetime books. But, at least in this first book, that wasn't a problem. I am looking forward to seeing the movie next week and looking forward to the next book (though once again a little worried about potential drift toward a teenage romance story).

BTW, as much as there is a dystopian future focus for the book, the angle Collins takes makes it interesting to me. The dystopia is segregated, where some regions are really oppressed while the political class enjoys the privileges typical of that sort, as well as the benefit of technological advancement. I am interested to see what direction Collins goes with that in the subsequent books, seeing that it has become a big issue for the protagonist.

Tomato · April 10, 2012, 10:13:31 PM

I have yet to read the books myself (my sister has been pushing this series for months, but given that this was the same girl who wanted to push a certain other series I refuse to admit exists on this earth on me, I was more than a little skeptical) but I was talked into seeing the movies and I've since discussed the series with her. From what I understand, there's very little to worry about with regards to teenage romance garbage.

stumpy · April 11, 2012, 02:00:51 AM

Quote from: Tomato on April 10, 2012, 10:13:31 PMFrom what I understand, there's very little to worry about with regards to teenage romance garbage.

Good to know.

I will probably start the second book tonight.

UnfluffyBunny · April 11, 2012, 11:45:10 AM

Quote from: laughing paradox on March 23, 2012, 09:09:08 PM
It was very true to the book

This must refer to the second half.... because I actually -left- after the first hour.... there was SO much neglected, or just re-written in ways that made NO sense.

Spoiler

some STRIKING examples:

despite focusing on the pin, they never used the actual character that gave her the pin (the mayors daughter) instead they had it given to her by her sister, which changed their conversation, which then led to her interview where she told the world that she promised her sister she'd win, which... she never did, because they switched the dialogue with the mayors daughter and the conversation never happened.

Peeta never explains about the bread, a niggling example, but I imagine when Rou dies they probably still sent her the bread, so how would she know where it came from?

Haymitch was won over in a split screen with literally none of the interaction and zero introduction, and none of the dialogue that really hammers home why they need to act the way they do, so they apparently get taken, are all upset, and instantly want to win over the crowd, which makes no sense.

also the scene with president snow, I imagine will bear more significance with the rest of the books, which I haven't finished yet, but as far as I can see in this film they spent too much time defining elements that didn't pertain to the character's it should have been getting you attached to.

in short, I fully plan on finishing the books, but I'll skip the movies thanks.

[edit]
well I started book 2 last night 8 chapters in and it's safe to say

Spoiler

removing the mayors daughter is a HUGE mistake and will leave alot missing from a presumed 2nd film.
not introducing some of the background characters, such as the peacekeepers also leaves already obvious holes.
not having peter explain the bread is far more than a niggling concern now.

the more think on it, their way of handling flashbacks is only going to hurt them, where they seem unwilling to use younger actors to show that events happened 5 years ago rather than last week.

at this point I can only presume they considered the actual storytelling portions of the hunger games "fluff" and concentrated on the "action" of the games, in the hopes that people would ignore the obvious plotholes and poor arrangement.

I also see when Glenn Hetrick got so annoyed at people just re-doing Burton designs on the Tim Burton week of face off, he was obviously feeling guilty that he did it to THE ENTIRE CAPITAL

BWPS · April 17, 2012, 12:49:46 PM

Movies aren't books so a lot of things must be done to make a movie work right. That said the first 10 minutes left me very worried about the rest of it. I was wrong, the second half of themovie was better than the book. The mayors daughter and the rush job of the beginning not included, they cut out things that were begging to be cut out. I loved how they filmed the action and kept the violence interesting while keeping it pg13. It worked as a movie in itself rather than a visual companion to the novel, which is important and most movies don't try to stay too close. Of course, it pisses me off when they change things for no reason, Watchmen and Hitchhikers Guide movies can both die in fires, so I understand where people people might be angry at some differences.

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The Hunger Games