Again, my blog titles are awesome. I can't believe how proficient I am at winging out these loaded epitaphs.
Before I proceed to bag on the books and give my closing compliments I must admit that I knocked them out in two days, so I really have to admit that they made for quick and (for the most part) entertaining reading.
That said, let me continue my criticism from the last book. The reason I titled my post the way I did is that I felt that there was an incredible discord in Suzanne's writing from when she was describing the scenes of the Hunger Games to when she was pathetically attempting to construct a deeper narrative involving a sappy and overdone love triangle, an unbelievable political revolution, and the dynamics of teenagers and their ragin hormones.
The reason I loved the scenes with the Hunger Games is that they were written from a primal perspective, I'm following Katniss, the Hunter, the fierce and independent problem-solver who is just another animal in the midst of a scene of depravity and the fact that she cares about anything besides her personal survival is a triumph of humanity. Then I'm thrown into the mix with Katniss the teenager and finally Katniss the Mockingjay, and I have a really hard time not wanting to throw up at all the lame lines spewed by pretty much everyone.
I absolutely cannot stand to hear Katniss discuss how angry she is with District 13 for hanging back as they did rather than full-on engage the Capitol, and how angry she is with Haymitch for not saving Peeta, and how confused she is by all her feelings for everyone as revolutions transpire and people expire, it is too lame for my weak prose, but it sufficeth me to say that there were many moments where the excess made me give serious thought to reading the summary online and skipping all the terrible dialogue.
However, to counter my own criticism, I must admit that these books were written for teenagers and maybe that's the level that Suzanne wants everyone to engage on. I suppose it is a little ridiculous for me to huff and puff over a book that effervesces with teenage girl influence when the book was written for that very audience.
Still, it bothered me.
The other complaint I shall file is the absolute unbelievability of the revolution. It seemed more like the filming of an extended episode of 24 covering the war btwn two competing cable companies w/a mockumentary twist than a serious political movement. I suppose Suzanne is a novelist, not a social scientist, and while her literary betters could capture the essence of conflict in ways that make you wonder, I shouldn't hold it against her for failing to live up to the potential of her context. It just seems cartoonish, the whole affair, and not once did I take it seriously, kind of like watching an episode of Power Rangers.
However, those complaints listed, let me praise the action scenes and the heroine. I finished the two books within the space of 24 hours, and even though I was exasperated with the above-mentioned complaints almost to the point of abandonment, I kept reading and was amply rewarded with awesome drama in the conflicts portrayed. I loved how I could almost viscerally sense the smells of blood and roses, I could imagine the villains and mutts, the fog, the water, it was all so well described. And Suzanne's penchant for action sequences is undeniably.
With the major exceptions of the sappy love triangle, pathetic political posturing, and teenage bopping, Katniss was an awesome heroine. She was fierce, independent, and able to poke someone's eye with an arrow from 50 yards away with her magic talking bow. Very cool. I found myself continually rooting for her despite the circumstances and understanding her conflicted feelings in the midst of immoral demands on her character. It was very good.
Overall I'm glad I read the series, but I won't be rereading any but the Hunger Games in any foreseeable future. I appreciated Suzanne making the morals about the horror of conflict and war and the power of the will, but I think she strayed from a strong story line to one she couldn't manage as well. Ce la vie.
The books are scored as follows:
The Hunger Games 8.5 / 10
Catching Fire 6.5 / 10
Mockingjay 7 / 10
SO THERE!
9 comments:
KENNNNNN but oh my gee didn't you love the part where she was getting chased by those albino lizards and they were eating all the Avoxes or whatever DIDN'T THAT MAKE YOU CRY
Seriously, action-wise, the last book was ... the best, for me. I will admit that a lot of the dialogue was contrived and the political whatnots seemed shallow, but for goodness' sake. Also I was impressed because before I read the last book I placed bets on Who Would Die and I didn't make ANY of the right guesses.
We can start talking in detail, right? Cause everyone's read the books, right?
The action of the last half of the book was pretty awesome, I totally admit. Those albino lizards were terrifying and I despised them for their unending rampage as they decapitated everyone I thought was cool (really just Finnick).
And I also totally guessed wrong on who would die. I was sure that Peeta was going to die and Katniss would have to choose Gale but couldn't really love him b/c she totally had fallen for Peeta, and then I thought Katniss had to die. But I was wrong. Totally wrong.
I thought that either Gale or Peeta HAD to die, and then she would just have to choose the other one.
I was sure that Haymitch was going to die. Dead positive. And I thought her mom would, too.
HOWEVER, I specifically thought that Prim WOULDN'T die, because she was the whole reason Katniss was there or whatever. I was so far off.
I thought Haymitch would have died in the second one and was kind of surprised that he didn't. I expected Cinna to die and thought Haymitch would have been similarly retaliated against.
Speaking of character endings: I was really disappointed with the slip-shod wrap up of the books stories with the various characters, especially Gale, Haymitch, the mom, etc. I didn't mind the ending for Katniss and Peeta, but more time could have been siphoned from other pointless stories to give a little closure. DON'T YOU THINK?!
I'm also interested in what everyone else scores the books at. ASSUMING ANYONE ELSE EVEN CHECKS THIS THING ANYMORE.
First I loved the word play Ken, "winging them out" with pics of birds on the book covers. I must agree with all that's been said. But I did allow myself to get wrapped up in the whole thing, even the sap. I must ask Ken if you had the same experience I did that whatever Katniss felt or experienced at each moment I felt. When Prim (That's her sister right?) died Katniss lost hold of reality and so did I as the reader, the prose became disconnected. Also when she settled on Peeta I, who had prefered Gale, settled and said OK, if he's too dumb to move on he'll do.
The Hunger Games: solid 8
Catching Fire: 7
Mockingjay: 8
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