‘Hunger Games’ takes on ‘Twilight’

It seems everywhere I go I keep hearing about Suzanne Collins’ recent trilogy “The Hunger Games.” When a book club friend first suggested it to me, my only motive for finishing the first book was a sort of unsaid compromise, assuming that afterwards we could move on to more serious literary fodder.

But, while a bit sophomoric, it was actually a pretty good read. You definitely have to be forgiving when it comes to writing style itself, which can be somewhat hokey and of course the characters are pretty much of the two dimensional persuasion.

If one keeps the perspective that you are reading a young adult/children’s novel it’s really quite enjoyable. As I made my way through the trilogy, I began to notice certain correlations between Suzanne Collins’ books and the ever-popular “Twilight” series. So, does the “Hunger Games” have the makings of the next big teen saga? Is it the new Twilight?

Well if rank is any indication, I would say Suzanne Collins’ series is well on its way. The first book in the series, titled “The Hunger Games,” was a No.1 New York Times bestseller, while “Twilight” also debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at No.5. “New Moon,” the golden child of the “Twilight” series, spent more than 25 weeks at the No.1 position on The New York Times bestseller list. “Catching fire” also had its share of the limelight at No.1, and “Mockingjay”, the last of the “Hunger Games” series, followed suit.

I could not find evidence that “Eclipse” was ever in the No.1 position on the New York Times bestsellers list; perhaps by then fans were just waiting for the movie, which came out a few months afterward.

In terms of plot based similarities, without saying too much, we definitely see the team Edward/team Jacob angle in this new series. The heroine floats ambivalently between her close companion Gale and Peeta, a boy whose fate has been thrust together with hers.

The story is set in a socialist society somewhat akin to Orwell’s (sans the “thought control” aspect), but the political side is not really developed. The book is more concerned with young Katniss’ struggles, as she is randomly selected among the youth in her town to represent her district in a gladiator-like event that is held annually by the “capitol” as sort of yearly punishment for an uprising by the districts that occurred some time ago. It’s a story of courage, survival and what happens when you throw a bunch of kids into an arena with an assortment of lethal weapons and only one way out.

I will say that it does differ in a positive way from “Twilight”; you have something more of a plot, rather than just angsty vampire love punctuated by scuffles with neighboring werewolves. I could easily see this series being translated into a movie, and it seems that Lionsgate Studios agrees. “Hunger Games” the movie is already set to come out in 2011, which only seems to confirm its Twilight-like status. But only time will tell whether or not giddy young girls will soon be sporting team Gale/team Peeta shirts. Oh, and just in case you were wondering — I’m team Peeta.