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Post by Spidey 1923 on Aug 11, 2010 4:00:54 GMT -5
The series is stunning. The Hunger Games is a young-adult science fiction novel written by Suzanne Collins. It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy. It introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where a powerful government called the Capitol has risen up after several devastating disasters. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the ruthless and evil Capitol randomly selects one boy and one girl from each of the twelve districts, who are then pitted against each other in a game of survival and forced to kill until only one remains. There are 3 books in the series. The Hunger Games: The book received mostly positive reviews from major reviewers and authors, such as Stephen King. Reviewers praised the action, characters and violence. Catching Fire: Catching Fire has received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers praised the prose, ending and how Katniss' became more sophisticated. And the final book, Mockingjay is being released in a fortnight.: Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which will be produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company. Collins will adapt the novel for film herself. Collins anticipates the movie will have a PG-13 rating. www.thehungergames.co.uk/
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Post by Spidey 1923 on Aug 25, 2010 1:27:17 GMT -5
It's out now, my copy should be delivered tomorrow!
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May 1, 2024 23:40:15 GMT -5
sic
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Post by sic on Sept 4, 2010 10:08:45 GMT -5
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Post by Spidey 1923 on Sept 4, 2010 22:37:43 GMT -5
I did mention that in the first post. Nice to see that they are making progress! By the way Mockingjay is fantastic!
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May 1, 2024 23:40:15 GMT -5
sic
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Post by sic on Sept 5, 2010 6:41:47 GMT -5
I did mention that in the first post. Nice to see that they are making progress! By the way Mockingjay is fantastic! oh... I only saw that now
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Jul 19, 2010 10:56:13 GMT -5
Spazz
Renowned Contributor
Posts: 871
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Post by Spazz on Sept 9, 2010 12:06:28 GMT -5
My sister is reading the first one now. I think it's for school or something
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Post by Spidey 1923 on Sept 15, 2010 19:20:21 GMT -5
Word is director Gary Ross ('Pleasantville') has emerged as the front runner to direct the adaptation of 'The Hunger Games'.
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Post by Spidey 1923 on Jan 24, 2011 17:49:55 GMT -5
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Post by Caveboy0 on Jul 31, 2011 18:18:28 GMT -5
i just started reading the book. its is fantastic. very entertaining. it gets quick into the story and places short flashbacks when important. personally i feel it can slow down the story, but once back to reality it keeps going.
what really strikes me is how unique Katniss is as a main character. Instead of going for a character that acts like us she is entirely the opposite of common society. She's survivalist in nature, almost cold, vaguely feminine even. She is very complex and someone you have to learn to like almost.
As unhappy as she can sound it brings me joy to see her loosening up a bit. Like joking with her sister or for instance having fun at the opening ceremony.
Because she acts different it compliments this totally alternate world. She isn't a fish out of water like most stories do to bring us in and I find that incredibly engaging. A very immersive story.
That let post is kind of funny to me because at this point in the story Katniss treats Peeta more like an enemy then a friend let a lone a love interest.
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Post by mr. excellent on Mar 27, 2012 19:38:16 GMT -5
I actually just finished reading the first book in the series. I liked it, it seems like a great introduction to literature for kids around 12 and 13, and simultaneously it can be enjoyed by older audiences as well.
The book didn't floor me in any way, but I liked it in all aspects across the board. The romance was okay, the Games itself was okay, the author's pros and narration through Katniss's voice, etc. I'm definitely interested in seeing the story expand, and glad that I read the book.
My only complaints are that the author's style for this particular book left nothing to surprise. If you're thinking, "Hey, this character hasn't shown up in a while, could they be trouble?" then Katniss will soon after tell you "Hey, this character hasn't shown up in a while..." Then literally in the next sentence they show up and cause trouble. It didn't stop the story from being engaging, but it made the plot feel contrived, even though it actually wasn't. I feel that this is a minor complaint though because I still enjoyed the book.
The cruelty of the Capital and its abuse of power feels a little cartoony to me as well. I mean, the horrible things done to the districts' inhabitants are not cartoony per se, but the excessiveness of their cruelty does feel like it's laid on a bit thick. Again, I still enjoyed the book.
EDIT: I'll be seeing the movie tonight too. There's a shit load of big name actors doing it, I'm actually surprised I didn't follow the production closer.
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Post by Caveboy0 on Mar 27, 2012 20:40:27 GMT -5
never heard of an oppressive government? its referencing the Roman Empire, which had the gladiator fights because people loved to see them, but also show the people that "hey, this is what we can make you do"
same logic for the capital. after the rebellion they put their foot down.
just from my impression of your impressions i wonder if you considered the deeper themes i know you mean well with the 12 and 13 age group, but pardon me if that offends a 19 year old who very much enjoyed the series.
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Post by mr. excellent on Mar 28, 2012 1:25:08 GMT -5
[EDIT: I revised the whole thing to sound less confrontational. Remember, this is coming from the perspective of someone who has only read the first book. Not sure if that makes any difference, but for all I know the series will resolve things that I've seen as issues as it goes along.]
Right after the 12 and 13 remark, I said "[comma] simultaneously it can be enjoyed by older audiences as well." To elaborate though, the reason why I think the book is appropriate for 12 and 13 year old's because the author's pros are really accessible. It can be enjoyed by older audiences because it contains deeper themes. Beyond that though, the way that I meant it wasn't critical in the slightest. Think of Animal Farm; a lot of teachers have kids read that book around Freshman year of high school, if not 8th grade. It's good reading because its pros are accessible to younger readers but it can also be mined for various levels of depth.
As for the rest of my above comments,.. I just thought some of the shenanigans pulled by the Game makers were shoe horned into the story to drive the action along, even though the action was doing quite fine on its own. Now, I said "some of the shenanigans", not ALL of them. I like the idea that the game makers are screwing with the contestants "just to show that they can" as Katniss said. Perhaps the details I'm about to mention are elaborated on later on in the series. If that's the case, the way I've thought about them will become more positive probably. But anyway, 2 examples that come to mind are:
1. The way that the genetically engineered dogs were revealed to have been created from the fallen contestants. We know that the Capital scientists genetically engineer life forms like insects and birds and that their medicine is super advanced. But human splicing is a whole new level of weird and that revelation was thrown into the mix in the middle of an important scene that didn't need it. The author could've waited for a more opportune time to drop that bombshell, even if it meant saving it for another book. When I was reading that part of the book yesterday, I thought "WTF? Whatever, keep reading".
2. The way that they switched the rules to allow Katniss and Peeta to survive together, then changed it back for the hell of it, then changed it back again. It's more of the same "they do it because they can" stuff, but I don't think it was executed very well in the writing itself. It felt kind of awkward when I read it. I actually just saw the movie, and it was a little bit more fleshed out as to what's going on in the background politically with that stuff. I didn't recognize some of the characters during the film's equivalent scene however, so I'm guessing that they were introduced in the movie-verse at an earlier time than they were in the book series.
Here's the thing, I have no objection to using an excessively oppressive government in a story, as history has attested to the existence of such governments. It's more the way that the author presented certain things as part of the action ( which played a big part in creating the readers perception of the Capital) that caused my gripes. And saying that makes it sound like I disliked the authors style, which isn't entirely true. I enjoyed the way that the pros flowed, and the characters' dialogue. The story progression was so-so for me in that Katniss almost always revealed what would happen next (I explained in more detail what I mean by that in my earliest post), but other than that I had only basic qualms. I do like Katniss as a character though for similar reasons you do. Jennifer Lawrence made my affection for the character grow.
To conclude, it's not that I failed to see some of the deeper themes in the book. Ebert said it pretty well when he claimed that "like many parables, "The Hunger Games" will show you exactly what you seek from it." That's just what a good parable does, and I definitely pulled some heavy stuff from it. For example, this book reminded me of "The Giver", and "Utopia" in the way that the society is set up, managed and manipulated.
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Post by Caveboy0 on Mar 28, 2012 9:36:27 GMT -5
you understand that the hunger games is a tv show right? its both a gladiator fight and reality tv. its trying to make the games interesting for the capital and the wealthier districts who actually consider the hunger games a fun event like the super bowl.
they alter the situation because that is how they have always done the games. the point is to throw curve balls.
and its later explained in the series that the mutts were most likely not the contestants. they just engineered them to look like them vaguely with eye color and fur, but not actually them.
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Post by mr. excellent on Mar 28, 2012 13:19:24 GMT -5
To be honest, I wrote my review of the book just before seeing the film (which reminded me of the tv aspect of the games) Collins made it pretty clear that the Hunger Games is a TV show among other things, and yet when I read the book I didn't put it in that frame. I mean, I knew it was a tv show, but I just didn't give that as much weight as it needed to be given. That actually changes things for me.
I'm also happy to hear about the mutts not being as they seem.
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Post by Caveboy0 on Mar 28, 2012 18:21:00 GMT -5
i was too. it was one of those book endings you seem to get with these stories. where they just throw in this ending that kind of works, but really wasn't necessary.
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