Review: The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Coming to a bookburning near you.

 

     

From Scholastic Press’ synopsis of the first book:

     "In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Each year, the districts are forced by the Capitol to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the Hunger Games, a brutal and terrifying fight to the death – televised for all of Panem to see.

     Survival is second nature for sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to feed her mother and younger sister by secretly hunting and gathering beyond the fences of District 12. When Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, she knows it may be her death sentence. If she is to survive, she must weigh survival against humanity and life against love."


     When the boxed set of this trilogy showed up under the tree Christmas morning(thank you Dennise!), I was elated, but I really didn't know what to expect. I was just happy to have the opportunity to get through these before the movie comes out this March. Anyway I guess I predicted a three-book-long "Goblet of Fire/Brave New World" mash-up, your standard adventure tale set in the relatively near future. And yes, the books do contain my favorite elements of the young adult and dystopian genres. What I wasn't expecting was a gripping tale of survival, spin, and sedition. I'm willing to defend that use of "gripping", by the way. I spent three solid days absorbed in this world and was loathe the part with it. It's that addictive. Be prepared to sacrifice days of your free time and attention.
     "Panem et circenses(bread and circuses)". I'm sure that phrase was drilled into my head by some history teacher back in high school, but it took me a long time to recall it while I was reading. It's the main thread of the books, an examination of Panem's governmental exploitation of it's citizens through the Hunger Games and the state-run media frenzy that surrounds them. There are many reasons to read and many further developments in Katniss' tale, but I'm not one for spoilers. Just try reading the first few chapters and before you know it there's a hook through your cheek and you're being reeled in. Willingly.
     Make no mistake, these books are deeper than your typical action-packed young adult fare, loaded with many uncomfortable, thought-provoking passages relevant to life in our artificial, war-torn and distraction-hungry age. The pace is brisk, the (first-person)narrative is clear-voiced and convincing, the characters and their world seem heartbreakingly real. This isn't hard sci-fi or a literary love affair with language: this is first and foremost a story, a damned good one. There is no other series I'd hand to an adolescent with hope that it might deepen their understanding of our world. I encourage everyone to read, and gift, these wonderful, incendiary books.