The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games is a trilogy of young adult dystopian novels written by American novelist Suzanne Collins. The series is set in The Hunger Games universe, and follows young characters Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.
This three part book series from Suzanne Colins is one of the best I’ve read. Told from I’m the main characters point of view it gives us an insight that is common but undoubtedly different. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire.
Reading through the books, I was drawn into this harsh world where happiness —like the meadow— is a restricted area. I was introduced to Katniss’s world of survival and after reading I couldn’t stop going back to them. Sure enough I was touched by the deaths of certain characters that it’s impossible to not get attached to but it was more than that. It was something more than reading through little bits to keep the characters alive and fresh in mind.
Something about Katniss’s story. It was her life itself. The way it had changed irreversibly. It was the way the lives of everyone that lived in that world had changed. How none of them could come back. It was the harsh truth of our mortality. Katniss would never go back to life as it was, none of them would. It was a change that would not —well—change back, despite part of it being good.
To tell it right I will use words from the book, Katniss Everdeen’s own words: “we are not just beautiful, we are dark and powerful…..” The words perfectly describe the book. It isn’t just another beautiful story, it is dark in a sense that the hardships, pains and deaths, the lack of freedom and the evident human brutality, the selfishness she so openly speak about and the reality of just how messed human nature has become, portrays it that way.
It is powerful because it make whoever is reading realize that unchangeable things will happen, things beyond our control. That we will watch those things happen and we will remember that those things happened and maybe how helpless you felt as they did. Because it makes us realize that often we are slaves to the happenings of this world, to odds and to circumstance and many a time we can change that and yet at the same time, equally, we cannot. Those very things become a part of us, they either break us or build us.
The books reminds us that someday our loved ones will no longer be with us and we will no longer be with them. We will have to accept that we are all human. The story also depicts the outcome of conflict. The scars that remain after and the evident losses. Did they not suffer more than they celebrated? Again in Katniss’s own words she says: “who suffered so much and enjoyed so little the rewards of our victory….” while they buried their enemies they buried their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, their comrades. They endured a lifetimes worth of suffering and obtained freedom in the end. And we get to see what becomes of them afterwards. Colins does not give us a happy ending but she does not give us a sad one either. The ending we are given is merciless at best because other than their joy we see that they are still haunted and they will never be the same. It is an honest ending, presenting life as it is, smiles and tears.
In my own opinion, the books is far better than the movie series. I do not blame the producers, Colins gave them much to work with! The books has scenes and explanations that were omitted (for good reason probably) but it is those very things that make it easier for the reader to truly connect to the story. It is not exaggerated and so it is relatable. The Hunger Games is a good choice for a reader looking to truly live inside a book.
– Tehilla .J. Chanda
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