So it has been nearly a month since my last
entry and even though so much has happened in the last few weeks, the only
thing I feel like writing about is the Hunger Games. Yes, I am officially obsessed.
I regularly ask Facebook friends for book
suggestions and several friends mentioned the Hunger Games ages ago. I always
check out my friends’ suggestions so I went on to Amazon to read the book
descriptions and I found myself not interested. At all. The books sounded way
too depressing and dark and I didn’t think I’d have the energy or the interest.
But then for some reason, before we left for
our Cape Town holiday, I loaded up my kindle with books, and just for fun, I
bought The Hunger Games. I didn’t read it in airports or on planes on the way
to South Africa, but when Marcus and I were in Franschhoek and were traveling
sans baby for two days, I thought I might have the emotional and mental energy
needed for the book so I started it. And read and read and read. I was so
horrified by the concept of the Hunger Games, and was disturbed and stressed
out by the things that happen in the book. But I couldn’t stop thinking about
Katniss and the arena and everything she was dealing with. I totally speed-read
and finished the book in a day. Then I had
to buy Catching Fire, and I read that over a few days (not as much time to read
when chasing after a small boy!) I started Mockingjay right before we flew back
to the Philippines and finished it in the middle of the night, sometime over
the Pacific Ocean. And then a few days ago I read Mockingjay again. My nephew,
Andy was reading Mockingjay right before our trip and got my mom interested so
she read the books around the same time I did, too. Marcus has been reading the
books over the last week and he’s nearly done with Mockingjay. Whenever he’s
reading I ask what’s happening and he fills me in and we discuss a bit before
he goes back to it.
What is weird is that while I was reading
them I thought that I totally wasn’t enjoying them. I felt on edge, totally
stressed out, and kept having weird dreams that bordered on nightmares. But
clearly I did like the books, because I’ve reread my favorite parts and I can’t
stop thinking about the story.
Marcus actually heard about these books years
ago because the elementary school he was teaching at in NYC had copies. I don’t
know how appropriate I think these books are for kids. I think I would have
been scarred and really super disturbed if I’d read these books as a 12 year
old. But maybe not.
We were recently in Hong Kong and had the
chance to see the movie and I really loved it. I think it is one of the best
movie adaptations of a book that I have seen. (To Kill and Mockingbird is
the other standout in my mind). I don’t
think I would have liked it as much if I hadn’t read the books since I wouldn’t
know what Katniss was thinking, but I really enjoyed the film. I loved the
style the director used – especially the choppiness in some scenes. I think the
actors playing Katniss and Gale are both too good looking but it is Hollywood
so that isn’t too surprising. I can’t wait for them to make the next two books
into films as well.
What do you all think of the Hunger Games
(books and film?)
