A colleague offered me a copy of the Hunger Games a few months ago, and I put it on a shelf to get to after I finished up my dissertation. I have to admit that the title and much of what I heard about the book did nothing to motivate me to read it. But after seeing the enthusiasm of my niece for the trilogy, and needing something to read one night this week, I picked it up.
It is a compelling read, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’m not embarrased to admit it. Twain and Tolkien wrote young adult lit and while they were blasted by their contemporaries for writing for children, we now recognize that they wrote on several levels. Hemingway and many others recognize Huck Finn as the greatest American novel ever written.
Boing Boing points out that a Time columnist writes
The only thing more embarrassing than catching a guy on the plane looking at pornography on his computer is seeing a guy on the plane reading “The Hunger Games.” Or a Twilight book. Or Harry Potter. The only time I’m O.K. with an adult holding a children’s book is if he’s moving his mouth as he reads.
I agree with Rob Beschizza that “The only people I’ve ever met who shared Stien’s sentiment were children who wanted grown-ups to know how smart they are.”
I might enjoy discussing these books with a class. I have some theories about the characters – the similarities between Katniss and Heymitch – that would be interesting to explore. Also I’m confused by a quote that, “ever since the bloodbath, I’ve been featured on the screens more than I care” (242). If she’s in the game, she has no access to the video of herself. How could she know that. The following sentence reads, “Eventually, I wrap up my food and go back to the stream to replenish my water and gather some” (243). Isn’t gather a transitive verb (particularly if followed by an adjective) and an object is needed?
Is this a passage that slipped by an editor – a flawed passage or lapse in the proofreading? This kind of thing keeps me up at night.
Works Cited
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic. 2008 Print
No, not necessarily in this case its stating that she knows for a fact from watching the previous games that if there is not a mass murder then the most resourceful tribute will be featured. as for the grammar thing i am not quite sure, hope i helped!