In the future, North America is controlled by a nation called Panem. Divided into 14 ‘districts,’ one of which is the Capital, the remaining thirteen districts are effectively ghettos that survive only by the Capital’s whims. Due to a rebellion in the past, one of the districts was nuked into oblivion, and the remaining twelve are required to send a pair of randomly chosen ‘tributes’ to participate in an annual televised death match.
In the incredibly poor District 12, Katniss Everdeen supports her family by poaching, an act that defies the law and her station in life. But if she wins the Hunger Games, Katniss will become famous and her District rewarded with food. The Games are strenuous – mentally, physically, and psychologically – and not to mention stacked in the favor of the richer Districts (whose tributes are often much better fed and illegally trained for the task). Will Katniss survive the Games? And, even if she succeeds, will she be able to return to her life back in District 12?
The Hunger Games, a novel for young adults written by Suzanne Collins and published by Scholastic, has been out for some time now. It has spawned two sequels and is being made into a movie by Lionsgate Entertainment (with Collins writing the script). Victor purchased a game based on it, which prompted me to seek out the source material. I’m glad I did, although not without some frustrations.
Katniss Everdeen (Ranger level 3)
One other note before I begin – some people may read the description of the book and immediately think it’s a rip-off or American knock-off of Battle Royale, an excellent Japanese novel about an out-of-control government forcing kids to kill each other. These two books are only similar in that respect. Whereas Battle Royale focused on the horror of high school kids fighting to the death, The Hunger Games is definitely more about the voyeuristic ‘reality TV’ and its desensitized audience.
The one area The Hunger Games succeeds wildly at is establishing the world in which it is set. Little details are interspersed throughout in such a way that they only add to the narrative. For example, the cover of the book features a gold circle encasing a bird with an arrow in it’s beak; this is in fact a pin given to Katniss early in the novel to be worn during the Games. This pin, coincidentally, is a subtle form of rebellion against the Capitol, as the bird in the pin is a mockingjay. Mockingjays are a symbol of complete failure for Panem – they originally engineered some birds to act as intelligence-collectors during the rebellion, but the rebels easily neutralized their effectiveness. The Capitol attempted to wipe these birds out, but they escaped and mated with mockingbirds, and are now their own species of bird. Mockingjays are referred to repeatedly during the book, establishing them as a living part of the setting.
Peeta Mellark (NPC; part-time deus ex machina, part-time escort mission liability)
The actual Hunger Games take some time to actually get started. I was wondering if they would ever get to it, but what self-respecting ‘reality TV’ show doesn’t milk the suspense to disgusting proportions? The kids first have to be presented (in chariots, no less), then sent to a quickie training camp, scored by judges on how impressive they are, and then given an easy interview by Dick Clark on live TV. Okay, so it isn’t actually Dick Clark, but that’s what he seemed like to me from his description. The Games are held in a fully controlled environment, allowing the gamemasters to make the environment as harsh or dangerous as they wish in order to maintain viewer interest. If a tribute does particularly well, their sponsors may send them a gift, which appears instantaneously in a small silver parachute.
Katniss (named after an edible type of plant; as her father says at one point, “if you can find yourself, you’ll never go hungry”) is a fully realized character, with a wide range of emotions and aspirations. She symbolizes both defiance against ‘big brother’ and an over-reaching government, as well as fierce independence and self-reliance (since her mother nearly starved the family to death by being a worthless lay-about after her husband’s death). She hates owing favors, and has a motherly side due to raising her little sister. I’d go so far as to say that The Hunger Games would’ve fallen apart if it weren’t for the strength of the main character.
Most of the other characters are interesting, although the secondary protagonist, Peeta Mellark, is entirely wasted. The book builds up some promise that he could be a surprisingly cool character, but ends up mostly being “the dude in distress.” It’s never a good sign when I’m hoping the author kills off a character, in this case to speed things up and free up the main character to kick ass.
The Hunger Games is told entirely from a first-person perspective, which is both immersive and frustratingly restrictive at the same time. Due to this, you never get a really thorough taste for what the Capital is like, and the villains are both distant and mysterious. The actual text becomes repetitive by necessity, which occasionally drove me to distraction and back to reality. And the editing? Someone should’ve told Mrs. Collins that an anticlimax is not the best way to end a book if it’s supposed to initiate a trilogy! Sure, there’s a climactic final battle…and then two agonizingly boring chapters to wrap things up. To make things worse, the novel ends with only one apparent complication to overcome. I’ll sum it up as “Team Jacob or Team Edward.” Having not read the sequel (Catching Fire), I have absolutely no idea what even necessitates a followup.
Some 'Hunger Games' fanart (by Disney's Clio Chiang)
Up until the end of The Hunger Games, I greatly enjoyed this book. It was well worth the time spent reading it. Based on how it ended, it may be a while before I pick up the second installment. Hopefully, much like how The Fellowship of the Ring movie doesn’t end at the same point as the book it’s based on, The Hunger Games adaptation will end with a more interesting incentive for a sequel.
This novel was published by Scholastic. They also publish novels like the Harry Potter series, the Percy Jackson series, and Bone.
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