Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim_A
I hadn't even heard of these books until I saw the trailer for the movie. But having sat confused through Dragon Tattoo because I hadn't read the book, I decided to go and read it before seeing the movie, which I did.
I liked the fact that the book was written in the first person. It gave it a narrow focus and a certain naiveté - we don't know what Katniss doesn't know, and have to figure it out just as she does.
Spoiler:
I didn't find myself investing in Peeta's character, even after the 'bombshell'. I guess that's because katniss herself is largely indifferent. Rue on the other hand... she only makes a relatively brief appearance, and from the outset we know how it will end, but for me this was the pivotal point of the book, for this is where Katniss breaks, and ultimately that's what the book is about - the breaking of Katniss.
Just how broken, we don't find out till book 2.
Books 2 and 3 I read after seeing the film (thanks to Kindle, the next book is just a click away...), and so now Katniss Was Jennifer Lawrence, Haymitch Was Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci Was Caesar Flickerman (both expertly cast IMHO) and so on. It's in book 2 that we realise just how bad things are, and what have been the unforeseen consequences of the first book. To the victor, the spoils, but at what price? Things go from bad to worse, and as soon as the Quarter Quell is announced, we just know what's going to happen. This time around though, the games feel somewhat rushed and underwritten. Tick tock... come on let's get this bit over with... Again though it's written in the first person and we're often just guessing what's actually going on. Oh, but there's a doozie of a cliffhanger!
Book 2 is really a bridge to book 3. I guess if I'd had to wait a year for it to be published that would have made it somewhat disappointing, but Kindle-click and off we go. This is where the rebellion really kicks off, and the body count keeps rising. People we don't like die. People we like die. People we *really* like die. By now we have a lot invested in many of these characters, and their deaths come like body blows (although some of them could be better written). We do really share the sense of desolation by the end. And then it all falls apart.
Unfortunately the last few chapters degenerate into a poor, rushed, unsatisfying mess. We've had 1200 pages of being put through the wringer: Can they survive; will they survive; will they; won't they; which one; tragedies; agonies; more screaming nightmares than you've had hot dinners; an entire box of Kleenex (and I'm a 50 year old man, for crying out loud!), and the payoff is a throwaway "oh, x got a cushy job in district 2". I nearly threw my Kindle across the room!
Overall though, I'd say it works well as one long book. Shame about the ending. |
I think the first book was great from Katniss' point of view. The second book suffered a little because of it and the 3rd book was terrible, only partly because of it.
Spoiler:
The third book misses so much being from Katniss' point of view. She blacks out/passes out about 30 times in the 3rd book and each time she wakes up, some new development has happened. "Hey, we're going to rescue Peeta but you can't come. Go to bed, wake up, Peeta's back."
I couldn't believe the author killed off Prim....it kinda made the whole story pointless to me as the entire point of the first book was Katniss taking her place to save her. Not only that, Prim was killed while Katniss was blacked out...so again, being written from her perspective, she wakes up, finds out her sister is dead and the plot moves on. Poor Prim didn't even get a decent send off!
IMHO, I think Katniss should have died in the explosion, saving Prim. The remainder of the 3rd book should have been written from Prim's point of view. Especially since I think Peeta and Gale both became kinda unlikeable and by the end you dont' really care which one she ends up with...