Ok, here is a tangent that is pointless, and I won't be offended if nobody reads this...but I must get my thoughts out to at least someone, even if it's just my computer.
I finished reading the Hunger Games series late last night. It wasn't my first time reading them. I listened to the first 2 while working custodial at school back in the summer of 2010, so almost 3 years ago. Mockingjay came out that September I think so after patiently waiting for my roommates to finish it, it was my turn to read it. I remember being really emotional as I read it, but my heart was kind of in a silly fragile state, so I figured it was just me overreacting because of that. I couldn't decide at that time how I felt about the books. I wasn't sure that I really liked them. They had definitely kept me captivated and I couldn't wait to go to work everyday for a couple weeks that summer because I got to listen to them, but at the end I wasn't sure how I really felt about them.
So last week when I went to my closet to find a book to read before falling asleep, I found that my mom had bought the series and read them, probably about this time last year (she was in young womens and she decided that she should find out for herself what the big deal was about these books and movies all the teenage girls were obsessed with). I had always had the intention of rereading them because it drove me crazy that I hadn't come to any conclusion about how I felt about them, so I figured, why not now? (It also helped that I realized that Percy Jackson is safely in a box in Clarkston, Utah so I had to settle for something else.)
I finished the series in like 5 days. They had me captivated. I will admit for the hundredth time that one of my favorite things is rereading a book. I love it when you're reading and some detail or event you'd forgotten totally surprises you all over again. Anyways, I tried to really pay attention to what I thought about it this time around. And here's what I decided last night after I finished: Suzanne Collins is a fantastic writer and the books were really good, but I don't like them.
Why don't I like them? They're so desensitizing. I mean...a bunch of kids thrown together to brutally murder each other? War and rebellion where human life is thrown away like a candy wrapper? Self-centered, superficial, manipulative people plotting selfish things while mercilessly using others as their pawns? The only characters that I really like are Peeta and Prim. The rest are all kind of jerks. Oh, Cinna is good too. But I mean, I don't even really like the main character. Katniss is just a self-centered brat who throws a fit if she doesn't get what she wants.
But, despite the fact that I decided I don't really like them, I still think that they are wonderfully written. I always judge a book or movie to be good if they make me laugh and cry. These books did this. I find that the ability to make me laugh and cry are essential qualities because it means that I was emotionally connected with the book somehow. And Suzanne Collins definitely made me feel connected with the characters in her books. I felt what they were feeling. And not just Katniss, but a lot of the other characters too. I almost felt like I was there in the book alongside them. That's why even though I didn't like Katniss much, my heart still broke with every fallback she had with Peeta. And the third book was almost unbearable. I cried just as much this go around as I did last time. Ugh, especially that last page or two! Suzanne Collins knew just how to tug on my heartstrings.
So there's my random ramblings about The Hunger Games. Hopefully I can put this behind me now and stop having dreams about it.
I promise that the quality of my posts will start to improve after this one...
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