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.
Did you finish the series yet? Mockingjay blows Breaking Dawn out of the water. It's incredible…
Love Love these books! I loved Twilight, but I actually loved these betters! I like the trilogy because the entire story did not revolve around love. It had everything!
I loved this whole series, but I would absolutely HATE it if they turned it and the movies into a team gale/team peeta twilight thing. The series isn’t all about love, but rather rising against the capitol. As a guy, it would be utterly annoying if all the girls started the teams or w/e and thus making me “not cool” if I liked the books and watch the movies.. So Lionsgate, PLEASE don’t make The Hunger Games into the next Twilight!
I agree with you. This movie has to be like the books. A little bit of romance is okay…but if we want this to be really popular for both sexes, keep romance to the minimum…..we want FIGHTING!!! That's what the guys like…not all that mushy gushy twilight stuff……but the girls like that so I have to say there should be some Peeta/Kat or Kat/gale stuff going on…but not too much. Keep it like the books exactly is my opinion!!!
I really hope the movie adaptions are not going to focus around the romace aspect of the novel.
Katniss is not an affectionate person. At all.
The book is about rebellion, strength, coruption, and survival.
Not love.
I'm team Peeta too! I love you already. =)
YOU know edward and jacob can't compete with gail and peeta.
ok i feel almost rude for saying this, so i’m sorry, but i don’t really think you got all the facts right. yes you were mostly correct with your information, but some was a little off. i do agree with the team peeta statement though. i love him because he is kind of the twisted hope in the story and when he is broken, everything crumbles.
i wouldn’t say that this trilogy could be compared to twilight though; nothing is really comparable between the two. twilight is a vampire love story and hunger games is a story about finding strength in death. you gotta love them both, but they are too different.
Well, Izzy, you never really wrote how she didn't get all the facts right. Anyone can just say "You're wrong." So if you could clarify, that would be nice.
I don’t comment too often on these sort of blogs, mainly because I just love reading everyone's opinion. But i had to say something. Twilight and the Hunger Games yes and no are similar. mainly with the basic points of Love(who do i love more), Two power struggles(capitol/rebels; werewolves;vamps), and the populous trying to find their peace. But Twilight is more for service in forbidden love. truly aimed at young girls fantasy. (hence the low plot) which, imo, every girl should have a favorite book to fantasize in.
The main reason Hunger games shot an arrow in my heart was not the love rival (although the cave scenes were definatly delicious) but the fact that she had the strength to survive. The knowledge, the will, her hidden rebellion. Everyone has a background, everyone has a struggle, everyone has a story to tell. and Suzanne Collins did a wonderful job at hinting this in the first book, and only to unleash it all by the end of the trilogy. Why you compare this to Twilight only. I don’t know, maybe because its the most recent teen sensation, but im still all about HP(hooray two part end-movie!!), plus MANY movies were adapted from books, its just few and far between when a movie is actually as good as its paper counterpart.
(check out Eragon lol total flop or City of Ember.. poppy was suppose to be like 2-3 and that little girl was totally like 5), i think making it a point to having to constantly remind yourself that this was initially a young adults book you totally missed the feel for the characters. could you not hear the ragged breathing when Katniss ran to Rues aid? did you not feel the fear threatening to rip you apart? could you imagine the beauty of a dead child soaked in blood, only to disappear as the flowers covered her body? Of course its not going to have much Political development, it was written for 14yr olds, im 22 and still don’t care for Politics.
and may the odds be EVER in your favor
thats why i hate most movies the came from books, they kill the whole thing like Eragon
i can't beleive it's all over, from the time i picked the first book up, i knew it was going the be a smashing series. the second book 'catching fire' kept me on my feet, i wanted to read the next book 'mocking jay' straight away, but i had to wait until it was out like everyone else. the last book was very emotional for me because after three books we ended up loving katniss's sister prim who grew with every boook.
It's not just Prim whom we grew to love. I also really loved Finnick as a character by the end. Even Johanna really grows on you by the middle of Mockinjay.
I agree with everyone that romance is NOT the main focus of these novels, but it certainly is a component. Katniss isn't an inherently affectionate person, no, and the Hunger Games mess her up hugely, as do all the war experiences in book 3. But part of her growth as a person over the cycle is that she learns to love. Other critical themes include the power of the individual versus the state, and the power of symbolism and media (esp. with how Katniss gets used by both sides).
It would be unfortunate if it got reduced to just "Team Gale vs. Team Peeta," true. I sincerely hope they translate this into a decent script, true to the books, and that the movie doesn't ruin it like Eragon, or The Golden Compass, or A Series of Unfortunate Events. Better examples are Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and of course the HP movies. (Even those examples have some differences with the books, but mostly the changes were justifiable or forgivable, due to the differing nature of film vs. book.)
aaahhh SleeplessDemelza you said it perfectly!!!