It was a race but I managed to read The Hunger Games before the movie comes out this Friday. The first of a trilogy, it’s a very easy topic to get excited about. I’ve always liked reading about surviving the elements and other challenges. The books are quite raved about and the trailers are generating a lot of intrigue. I thought I would be seeing the movies this Friday for my wife, who has read the trilogy a long time ago, but after reading the book I’m just as excited to see the story adapted to the big screen.
Trying to not spoil anything, from the book description:
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games,” a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed.
The main character is very approachable and conveys her thoughts and feelings to the reader naturally. The book has a perfect tone for her. The language of the book is also very visual. You can picture all of the elaborate scenes as you read along, like you’re there, without getting bogged down in detail. The book is also well-written to keep you in suspense. As each chapter ends, you want to keep reading the next one. Something tense just happened and you want to find out how it is resolved. Now that I have finished the book, hopefully I’ll get back to falling asleep at the appropriate time.
I have been avoiding the most recent trailers since I planned to read the book but here’s one to show the book’s movie adaptation.
Seeing the early trailers did help me picture some characters so there will be less of a disjoint that you can frequently experience where the actor cast for the part does not match up with what was in your head.
Upon reading the books though, I also have to fear the inevitable – the places and plot points where the movie deviates from the book. Regardless, I am looking forward to seeing the movie this weekend and perhaps I’ll read the rest of the trilogy a bit earlier than their cinematic debuts.
I would give The Hunger Games 4 out of 5 stars.
