No Appetite for The Hunger Games

I finally read the Hunger Games (Book 1) after a long semester in which the borrowed book sat under a pile of audiology textbooks. I'm generally a slow reader but everyone promised me that I wouldn't be able to put this book down. The hype on the web and among my friends was pretty high. Ok, you got me, I'm excited.


Except I finished the book, disappointed. I used to be a huge Harry Potter fan so I can appreciate a good fantasy. In fact, all the hype made me feel like this was going to be a nouveau-Harry Potter and I liked that idea.


But it didn't hold a candle to Harry Potter... and that is only the wisps of the shadow of Harry Potter that used to be my extreme fandom. Admittedly the movie does look better, so perhaps I will favor this series more once I watch it, but in the meantime here is my review.


Katniss (some of the name etymology is awesome, others are just peculiar) irritates me. I love how she is the protector of her sister and her family, because I can relate to those feelings (albeit on a much less desperate level). However the way she deals with Peeta frustrated me. He is so sweet and kind to her. How does she not realize how much he loves her? Perhaps it was the competition that made her paranoid suspecting his motives, but I think it was more a matter of her being a girl oblivious to her worth and good attributes. I suppose she is 16 so there's room for immaturity, but I see this theme on a regular basis. Amazing, pretty girls befriend guys, not realizing what they're doing to them, and when you suggest that the guy likes them they completely deny the possibility. It doesn't even dawn on them that they might be leading the male friend on. These girls need to have more self-esteem and realize that with their attributes they are desirable! It's better to anticipate this and modify the "friendship" accordingly than to wait to be surprised and uncomfortable when the guy you thought was just your friend actually wants more than that. You'll have missed the signs all along. Just stop. Acknowledge your strengths, Be careful and Consider being more guarded around guys you don't want falling for you. You definitely cannot blame a guy for liking you (if anything I blame the guys for not liking you! Yes, I'm that kind of friend).


Along the same lines of the Katniss-Peeta relationship... it was not a fulfilling romance. That was a disappointment. I have no interest in 50 Shades of Grey style but a bit more development would have been nice. Again, I keep having to remind myself that they're only 16...


Which brings me back to the question of why 20-something year olds are so enamored with this series? The mindset is not really on our level. Most of what I read involves Katniss being hungry, Katniss on the verge of dying of thirst, Katniss hunting for food and Katniss walking to/along the stream. Katniss tending to her wounds. A few pages about a cave. It seemed like too much of the same to me.


A few people have tried telling me about the symbolism and psychology behind the Hunger Games, that the games show us how the worst sides of people really shine through when they are pushed to the extreme. However, from the start the Districts were depicted as primitive. The Hunger Games comes across as a terrible punishment yes, but it did not feel like the behavior required from the tributes was so far from their ordinary lifestyles. Remember, I am talking from a perspective of having read the book alone. Most people watch the movie and then read the book with lots of imagery processing the book from top-down. I watched the trailer on youtube last night and even the scene with Katniss stepping up for Prim made me far more emotional than the book did. The book was way too cold.


There were a few constructs in this fantasy that I enjoyed a lot, such as the Tracker Jackers, the Mockingjay and my favorite- the silver parachutes. The cornucopia overflowing with supplies was a cool idea to picture. I liked how Rue's death was played out, with the flowers in her hair. I love how Katniss manages to read Haymitch's mind. The canons and pictures of the dead tributes in the sky was also an interesting ritual, but it reminds me of the Death Eaters from Harry Potter and their emblem in the sky. In fact, the whole forest/cornucopia scenario with magical qualities to manipulate the participants reminds me of the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.


All in all... maybe it was the expectations that I set too high, maybe it was the stark contrast to the last book I read (Mean Little Deaf Queer, A Memoir by Terry Galloway), or maybe I've simply outgrown this genre, but books like these make me wonder why some series make it to the big screen and others do not. It seems so arbitrary. There's other fantasy/sci-fi out there that is just as good if not better, but for some reason it does not end up becoming a million-dollar franchise.


I know I'm the minority on this one, so what did you think of the Hunger Games? All opinions are welcome, but please no spoilers for the movie yet!