By Symone Yancey
The Hunger Games, a trilogy by Suzanne Collins, is set in
the future ruins of North America, where a Capitol City, Panem, is surrounded
by twelve districts. In order to remind
those twelve districts who is in charge, the Capitol began the Hunger Games, in
which each district must send one girl and one boy to participate in a fight to
the death for the enjoyment of the capitol audience. When 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen’s sister is
chosen to compete, she volunteers as a tribute to save her. Though you might expect a fast-paced
adventure novel and bloody fights, the book gives you much more than that. It also shows you the more tender moments;
instead of glossing over the brutal deaths, Collins shows the pain, loss, and
emotional toll that the games take. The
children, some as young as twelve, are forced to bear witness to such
horrifying acts of cruelty and barbarity that, in the end, the games not only
steal their lives but their humanity as well.
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| The Hunger Games debuts March 23 |
This is
the world that Katniss enters when she steps into the arena. However, Katniss's mother, younger sister, and
best friend Gale hang onto every scrap of hope that she will come home. Katniss stands strong and fights, even as she struggles watching the dying children
around her. There is also a romantic
element thrown in when Peeta Mellark is chosen as the boy tribute from District
Twelve. Remembering a time when Peeta
was there for her, Katniss finds it hard to see him as an enemy, and we soon
learn that Peeta is not exactly indifferent to Katniss either. Still, Katniss is unsure of her feelings and
grapples with how she might connect with her friend Gale back home.
To add
to the popularity of the series, it is now being turned into four movies, the
first of which is set to come out on March 23rd. The anticipation for the film adaptation of
the books has been astronomical as fans count down the days. The production company has been encouraging
this, releasing music from the sound track by country star Taylor Swift
featuring the Civil Wars. All of the
book’s hype is completely deserved. It
is a page-turner that will grip you from the very beginning.
Collins
does a great job of dragging you into the story and making you feel for each of
the characters. However, be warned that
the final book in the series is a bit rushed and she doesn’t quite tie up all
of the loose ends. Since this is the
only flaw, I am also very excited to see it hit the big screen. There will be plenty of action, teary
moments, and romance, so it will appeal to pretty much everyone, as long as it
is done the right way.
It is usually true that the
books are always better than the movies, but I know I speak for many fans when
I say that I hope they stay as close to the text as possible. From the trailers and interviews with the
people involved, it seems like this will be the case. I will most definitely be at the midnight
premier on March 23rd, 2012; hopefully you are too.
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