I must confess that when all the hype about Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games came to a head last year, I was totally clueless. Which was quite out of character for me, not knowing what was new or what was "in" in matters concerning the printed page.
Because I frequent the major bookstores (NBS, Powerbooks, Fully Booked) and have the discount cards to prove it, I usually am quite up-to-date when it comes to bestsellers. Popularity is not my only criteria though; I have been known to pick up the random obscure title.
I'm quite proud of having bought a number of books a couple of years back that have now been made into movies, which have consequently catapulted them to the top of the charts. There's a certain smugness in me that I did not ride the popularity bandwagon, and recognized their worth long before it was fashionable to do so. As long as a volume catches my fancy, it does not matter whether it is currently in the bestseller lists or not. They are all equal in my eyes.
I tended to steer clear of young adult books because they were, well, for young ones. And I believed that they would be tackling themes that would be too shallow or juvenile for my taste. Jumping on the bandwagon of the flavors-of-the-month was not my cup of tea.
But then I tried some (the Artemis fowl series, for starters), just to prove a point. And then I got hooked.
I had been seeing The Hunger Games in bookstores for some time already, but I consistently ignored them. Snobbishness? Maybe. Or it could be that I was just not that attracted to the synopsis. The book designs weren't appealing to me as well.
Maybe all the positive feedback finally broke through my self-imposed barriers. This was one time when I jumped on the bandwagon. And I'm glad I did. I zoomed through the first volume, and was engrossed in the lives of Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne as they tried to survive in a world controlled by the Capitol.
Since I had a paperback edition of the first part, I waited for the paperback editions for the second and third parts as well. You know, so that they would all look nice when stacked up on the shelf. Yes, I have these idiosyncracies when it comes to books.
Thankfully Powerbooks came up with volumes two and three in paperback not too long ago. I wasted no time and grabbed them as well. I eagerly devoured the pages and was able to finish the two books in two days. Yay!
The Hunger Games introduced us to the world of Panem, with its twelve districts that currently provided two tributes each annually to the brutal survival games, all orchestrated by people from the Capitol. Strategy, skill and survival instinct differentiated who won from the other, unfortunate ones.
The concept of districts being compelled to provide "tributes" in the annual Hunger Games, and having them fight with one another to have a single victor emerge was a bit too bloodthirsty for me at first. The alternative reality presented in the book seemed to be a bit far-fetched. But when I started reading, I realized that it was much more than that.
Catching Fire brought to the fore the theme of rising up in arms against oppression, with Katniss unwittingly becoming the symbol of hope for the revolution. The Quarter Quell, which occurs every 25 years for the Games, brings new, unexpected complications to the rules. The latest pool of tributes will come from the roster of previous winners. New characters are introduced, with alliances formed on the field of battle. The story does not lack action and energy, and book closes off with a cliffhanger, which of course is designed to leave readers yearning for the third installment.
The long-awaited Mockingjay brings us all back to Panem, and follows the progression of the rebellion against the Capitol, spearheaded now by District 13, which had long been thought of to have been completely destroyed. The tributes' roles in the war are emphasized. The triangle of Katniss, Gale, and Peeta continue, with the proverbial wrench thrown in to further keep the reader on his toes. The ensuing showdown between Katniss and President Snow provides a further twist in the tale.
The story closes off with Katniss speaking from a vantage point twenty years into the future.
On top of the readability factor, I could blather on about friendship, oppression, sacrifice and survival. About familial love, desperation, betrayal and honor. The trilogy has all of these, and more. The reader will just have to discover it for himself.
I can honestly say though that the series is undeniably one of the most interesting reads I have had in a long time.
Because I frequent the major bookstores (NBS, Powerbooks, Fully Booked) and have the discount cards to prove it, I usually am quite up-to-date when it comes to bestsellers. Popularity is not my only criteria though; I have been known to pick up the random obscure title.
I'm quite proud of having bought a number of books a couple of years back that have now been made into movies, which have consequently catapulted them to the top of the charts. There's a certain smugness in me that I did not ride the popularity bandwagon, and recognized their worth long before it was fashionable to do so. As long as a volume catches my fancy, it does not matter whether it is currently in the bestseller lists or not. They are all equal in my eyes.
I tended to steer clear of young adult books because they were, well, for young ones. And I believed that they would be tackling themes that would be too shallow or juvenile for my taste. Jumping on the bandwagon of the flavors-of-the-month was not my cup of tea.
But then I tried some (the Artemis fowl series, for starters), just to prove a point. And then I got hooked.
I had been seeing The Hunger Games in bookstores for some time already, but I consistently ignored them. Snobbishness? Maybe. Or it could be that I was just not that attracted to the synopsis. The book designs weren't appealing to me as well.
Maybe all the positive feedback finally broke through my self-imposed barriers. This was one time when I jumped on the bandwagon. And I'm glad I did. I zoomed through the first volume, and was engrossed in the lives of Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne as they tried to survive in a world controlled by the Capitol.
Since I had a paperback edition of the first part, I waited for the paperback editions for the second and third parts as well. You know, so that they would all look nice when stacked up on the shelf. Yes, I have these idiosyncracies when it comes to books.
Thankfully Powerbooks came up with volumes two and three in paperback not too long ago. I wasted no time and grabbed them as well. I eagerly devoured the pages and was able to finish the two books in two days. Yay!
The Hunger Games introduced us to the world of Panem, with its twelve districts that currently provided two tributes each annually to the brutal survival games, all orchestrated by people from the Capitol. Strategy, skill and survival instinct differentiated who won from the other, unfortunate ones.
The concept of districts being compelled to provide "tributes" in the annual Hunger Games, and having them fight with one another to have a single victor emerge was a bit too bloodthirsty for me at first. The alternative reality presented in the book seemed to be a bit far-fetched. But when I started reading, I realized that it was much more than that.
Catching Fire brought to the fore the theme of rising up in arms against oppression, with Katniss unwittingly becoming the symbol of hope for the revolution. The Quarter Quell, which occurs every 25 years for the Games, brings new, unexpected complications to the rules. The latest pool of tributes will come from the roster of previous winners. New characters are introduced, with alliances formed on the field of battle. The story does not lack action and energy, and book closes off with a cliffhanger, which of course is designed to leave readers yearning for the third installment.
The long-awaited Mockingjay brings us all back to Panem, and follows the progression of the rebellion against the Capitol, spearheaded now by District 13, which had long been thought of to have been completely destroyed. The tributes' roles in the war are emphasized. The triangle of Katniss, Gale, and Peeta continue, with the proverbial wrench thrown in to further keep the reader on his toes. The ensuing showdown between Katniss and President Snow provides a further twist in the tale.
The story closes off with Katniss speaking from a vantage point twenty years into the future.
On top of the readability factor, I could blather on about friendship, oppression, sacrifice and survival. About familial love, desperation, betrayal and honor. The trilogy has all of these, and more. The reader will just have to discover it for himself.
I can honestly say though that the series is undeniably one of the most interesting reads I have had in a long time.
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