I recently whipped straight through the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I have to say, for someone who doesn’t normally enjoy dystopian literature, I was quite surprised at how quickly they sucked me in and completely engaged me. The stories follow main character, Katniss Everdeen, as she goes on a physical, mental and emotional journey representing her home “district” in a survival of the fittest competition put on by a self-indulging, self-serving government. Plot spoilers would abound if I were to get too much into the storyline, but suffice to say, Collins's writing struck a chord and satisfies a niche of readers that books like 1984, Lord of the Flies, and Brave New World just can’t. Partly this is because the books are written with a middle school audience in mind and they are telling a story through an age appropriate filter. This doesn’t mean the savagery is watered down too much, but they are refreshingly unsexed. My own seventh grader has studied WWI, the Great Depression, and the Russian Revolution so far at school this year and is about to go into the Holocaust and WWII. While I’m not sure he’s completely there yet, I think these books would provide a nice summer bridge for him after the history he’ll have been exposed to this year. For parents who are not thrilled with some of the content of the aforementioned books, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay provide a good compromise that cover many of the same themes and characterizations.
My only complaint would be that the last book feels a bit rushed and doesn’t tie the story up quite as neatly as it could have had it been two. I think there was definitely some room to develop Katniss’s character further and explore and bring better closure to some relational dynamics. Overall though, a thoroughly enjoyable read that I will probably pick up again in the future.
Currently on my couchside table: Jane Slayre, The Lost Hero, and The Twelfth Imam. Then, of course, there’s my new acquisition of a UK set of the Harry Potter books. I’m told they’re not drastically different than the US, but when I start reading them I’ll let you know. I may just have to keep up a running tweet of the anglo-isms.
