The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Let's just get this out of the way, first thing, so that those of you who are so inclined can declare me insane and go on with your lives: I thought this book was very mediocre.
Yeah, sorry. I really did try. I will admit that I tend to avoid things that are insanely hyped up. I've also recently become very tired of reading books in a series; the commitment is sometimes exhausting. And so, I have been avoiding these books like the plague for a while. But, as often happens, I decide to stop being a curmudgeon and see what all the fuss is about. And just so you know that I am always willing to admit when I'm wrong: I started reading the Harry Potter books after #4 came out, and became a huge fanatic. I mean, I can admit now that they're fun and inventive, but not necessarily terribly good from a literary standpoint, but I do love 'em dearly. But anyway. Back to the present day.
The Hunger Games is the first book in the new YA series hotness. It depicts a dystopian, post-apocalyptic state in the mid-Atlantic region of what was once the United States. The denizens of the Twelve Districts are poor, hungry, and extremely repressed by the people of the Capitol, who are effete and shallow. The worst of the situation is the annual Hunger Games, in which twenty-four children (a boy and a girl from each district) are thrown into an arena and forced to fight to the death. The game ends when there's one contestant left standing. The winner is set for life: returned to his or her district, given a large house and large sums of money. It's crowd-control at its most sadistic: the people are forced to first watch as their children are randomly selected as participants (called tributes), and then the games are televised as "entertainment". It's really a pretty disturbing, albeit interesting, concept for the central idea of a young adult fantasy novel.
Our main character is Katniss Everdeen, a teenager who lives with her mother and younger sister in the lowest district of them all, District Twelve. Katniss is the street-savvy one: she illegally hunts game and trades it on the black market in order to provide for her family. When her little sister, Prim, is selected as a tribute, Katniss of course volunteers to take her place. She is joined by a young man named Peeta, who showed her a kindness long ago. They journey to the Capitol, where they are paraded around, celebrated, and trained to survive. They are naturally at a disadvantage, being from the poorest District, which has only ever had two winners in the history of the Games. The lone surviving winner is their coach, Haymitch, and he's a drunken lout.
Now, let me ask you this: is there really anyone that doesn't think they don't already know how this is going to end?
I'm not suggesting that a predictable storyline is enough to ruin a novel, and in fact, one of the things Collins does best is keep the tension running high. She also succeeds in using first-person narrative (the story is told by Katniss) to really bring home the sense of isolation and danger that exists for the tributes. Katniss struggles constantly with the question of who to trust and how her own feelings are going to affect her chances.
For me, though, the first person narrative is also the main weakness of the novel. Katniss, despite her clear bad-assness, is kind of a bore. The language and descriptive passages are very terse. I do acknowledge that this brevity adds to the picture being painted, but being descriptive with fewer words is an enviable skill, and I'm not sure Ms. Collins has it as much as, say, Hemingway. I know, I know, it's "only YA". But so are some really excellent pieces of work, like the Narnia Chronicles. A book can be for young adults and still be beautifully literary. I found the writing to be rather uneven, as well. Throughout, Collins managed to keep the excitement and thrill of danger moving at a good pace, but in the final chapters, it's as though she realized she was two days away from her deadline, so decided to rush. The climax barely even gives you time to catch your breath, nor does it measure up to the events of the Hunger Games up to that point. Collins seems in a hurry to lay the groundwork for the rest of the series, which is understandable, but perhaps not worth rushing the end for. The foundation's laid pretty well throughout the novel, I think.
The last thing I'll say, and this is truly nit-picky, is that somebody needs to lay off the commas, or be less concerned about her word count, or something. Part of the problem with the writing style is that it is trying to be brief and to the point, but is also trying to sound conversational. Again, that's a hard skill to master, and I think that had Ms. Collins chose to be the tiniest bit more free with her words (say, using an "and" instead of merely a comma) the result would be more enjoyable and natural to read.
As I said before, I'm a little over YA fantasy fiction, so feel free to discount my opinions here. The Hunger Games was a fine way to spend a couple of afternoons, but I didn't feel that it was particularly deserving of all the hype. Maybe the next two books get better? I'm not really sure I'm inclined to find out, and that's kind of the gist of what I have to say about this novel. If a first book doesn't truly compel me to want to read the others, then it hasn't done its job.
PS: Jennifer Lawrence is, IMO, a really crappy choice as the star of the inevitable and upcoming film adaptation. I wish her luck.
No comments:
Post a Comment