Author: Suzanne Collins
Once you have read The Hunger Games, you want to read Catching Fire as soon as you can. I did. I did.
Once you have read Catching Fire, you want to read Mockingjay even sooner! I do! I will.
Katniss Everdeen is a sixteen-year old girl living in a future which finds most of the population of the former North America subjugated under the stifling, cruel rule of The Capitol. As Catching Fire begins, Katniss has survived the annual Hunger Games, where young people from each of the twelve Districts participate in a kill-or-be-killed event used by The Capitol to demonstrate their power over their subjects. She survived, but now what? With her actions, she forced The Capitol to change the Hunger Games, and The Capitol does not like to be forced to do anything. What will the repercussions be? And how with they affect Katniss and the people she loves?
I cannot really tell you much about this book's plot without spoiling it for you. Once again, author Suzanne Collins tells a story which makes perfect sense when you read it, yet rarely does it follow the path you expect. A key to that masterful story-telling is the point of view used -- as in The Hunger Games, Catching Fire is told in first-person present tense. We are experiencing Katniss's life as she does. And, very importantly, she is a teenage girl.
True, Katniss is not a typical teenage girl in some key ways. But in her desire for independence, in her belief that she understands the motivations of others, in her intense desire to be in control, she is very much a teenager. These characteristics help her, but they also lead her -- and us -- to be surprised often as her next year unfolds.
I will not spoil this book. Once you have read it, I'd be glad to talk to you about it. And when we talk about it, I will ask you how many times you were frustrated with Katniss for doing something, or saying something, that was completely opposite what you'd have done. And then we can discuss teenagers.
2 comments:
I laughed at your last sentence Steve. I rather suspect that we would have similar (high) counts. This is the best summary of the way I felt about the book I have seen. Nice work. I have already read the final book - which I also thoroughly enjoyed.
Susan is just working on Hunger Games (I want to go see the movie) so I'm waiting to see what she thinks.
I also loved The Hunger Game series. One of those book series where you read it at every down moment.
Such an interesting perspective. Of course I couldn't help but constantly compare it to current society.
Aaron Bartell
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