Friday, July 30, 2010

Hunger Games

Yup, I'm finally reading Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I've waited to read it. To be honest, I can't promise that I'll finish it, though I probably will. I've heard so many people say how much they loved it even though they didn't like the subject matter that it got me curious.

STOP READING HERE if you don't know what it's about and you don't want to know.

The writing would have to be excellent for people to rave about the book in spite of the fact that it's about children killing children for sport, right? It is not my intention to bash the author for her subject matter, I'm sure she had her reasons and we as the consumers decide what we will read and what we won't read. In fact part of my curiosity that led me to pick up the book revolves around why this author would ever choose to write about this? And why we would all read it.

Perhaps if I went to her website or blog I could find an answer but I don't want to do it that way--yet. I want to find the answer from the book itself. See if it has something to teach me, something to say. If I get to the point in the book where I have to put it down and say I can't finish, it's too disturbing then I will go to her website and discover it there. But I don't think I'll have to.

And so I'm reading it slowly. Carefully. (Slowly meaning 2 or 3 days instead of finishing tonight) And yeah, it's well written.


I readily admit that I'm selective about what I watch and read. I don't have a stomach for scary movies. I went off PG-13's for several years, until I could see that it made dates with my husband way too hard. Now I'm just careful. I don't like books with anything raunchy and swearing bugs me. So I'm nervous. A few things that might make me put down the book:

1. If Katniss sends one of her arrows through someone. Don't know if I could handle that.
2. The amount of time and depth of description given to the deaths that must happen.

 So we'll see. But one opinion I have already. Suzanne Collins writes very well and I applaud her success.

1 comment:

  1. I read them all. As I said, well written and the story was interesting. The characters were well developed.

    Did I enjoy them? Hmm, I enjoyed the writing, but the story left me feeling depressed unstead of uplifted at the end of each book. The final ending was okay but still kind of depressing. I must admit that my favorite books always leave me feeling great when I'm done reading. I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

    Maybe it's because I've seen enough personal tragedy lately. A few years ago i would not have balked at picking up a tear jerker. Not now. Can't do it. I've shed enough tears over real life tough stuff, I don't need to read made up tough stuff. So perhaps I read these too soon. Maybe in a couple of years I will learn to appreciate a book that can draw out my emotions.

    But I'm not ready yet.

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