Book reviews + The Hunger Games
May. 25th, 2012 10:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ayascytheCivil War: Iron Man by Christos N. Gage, Daniel Knauf, Charles Knauf, Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev
Irische Märchen by Frederik Hetmann
Alles ist erleuchtet/Everything is illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Okay, is it just me again or did anyone else think that Alex is a closeted gay man?
Pu Der Bär/Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Die Schule Der Egoisten by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The review is for the entire series, so beware spoilers for all three books.
Also, some more thoughts about the Hunger Games that I didn't want to put onto Goodreads.
Katniss
So, I really liked Katniss but maybe those kudos need to go to Jennifer Lawrence for that. Because she did a great job portraying her in the movie and, imho, made her much stronger than she actually is. In the book she comes across as strong, too, but not quite in the same way. Lawrence made her look braver and more likeable, but in the book she was mostly level-headed, calculating and sometimes just really hostile, condescending or unforgiving towards other people. Which was actually a refreshing thing. No, I'm not being ironic here, I really mean it. It's nice to read a character not being overflowing with goodness and kindness (and anyway, that's what Peeta's there for).
I didn't quite like her in the second and third book, though, because her behaviour was so terribly inconsistent and she was going through the motions a lot of times. I know the Hunger Games left their marks on her, wrecked parts of her character, and that justifies a certain change. But it all felt so over the place. But then, maybe that was just the romance (to which I'll come later).
If I had to sort Katniss into a Hogwarts house, it would probably be Slytherin. Because, yes, she is a fighter, she has compassion for others, but in the end, she always thinks of her needs first. Her family, as the people she cares most about and couldn't live without, is just an extension of those needs. Katniss cannot live with the thought of Primrose dying, so she offers herself. She takes a liking to Rue, but that is also strongly based on the fact that she reminds her of her sister. She can't stand the thought of being the only surviver and Peeta's murderer, so she pulls out the berries. The list goes on and on.
Romance
So, I'll get it out in the open right now, because I'm having one of those Unpopular Opinions again: I was rooting for Gale since book 1. Just the few mentions in book 1 and all the times Katniss ever thinks about him felt more natural, more real than any moment she ever had with Peeta. Only in book 3 did I start to see something that could be called romantic feelings towards Peeta, but then, maybe that was just hurt vanity on Kantiss' part. Because, you see, even though I was rooting for Gale, I not once bought into either of the romances. It was all wrong.
I felt peeved out by shipping Peeta with Katniss, because it was so incredibly forced. Everything that happens between them in book 1 happens out of Katniss' desperate wish to get through the games. It reads like Stockholm Syndrome, maybe being brothers in arms, but not much more than that. It's a lot like Natasha and Clint in The Avengers: they're each others first priorities, they will always have each others backs, Katniss has red in her ledger and she wants to pay her debts. But the romance? Not necessarily there. It gets even worse in Catching Fire, where I felt even more peeved out by the star-crossed lovers thing, because just like the people in the Capitol we were supposed to think Katniss and Peeta were made for each other. I thought "somewhere out there in the Capitol, someone is writing Katniss/Peeta RPF" and "the Capitol ships them really hard" and then I went "ugh". Because no.
The sad thing is: they have true potential. And I could have bought into that "happy" ending with Katniss and Peeta and the kids, but not the way it happened in the books. Katniss doesn't know Peeta, not the way she knows and appreciates Gale. To form that sort of a bond, that connection, to fall in love, it takes time and effort and quiet moments without pressure. Things Katniss never gets in the books. She is in fear of her life, of the lives of her loved ones and then there's a war going on. When is she supposed to develop true feelings for Peeta?
And then there is Gale, of whom she seems to be so much fonder and more comfortable with. And okay, they just work well together in my eyes, because it feels natural. Not so forced.
But then Collins starts to do the truly horrible thing: she starts pushing them both into Katniss' face. Over and over again, back and forth, and not even her moments with Gale feel right anymore. ("Oh, it's Gale, this time I'm sure, no wait, Peeta's back, what am I supposed to do? No, wait Gale again. This time I'm sure. Not."). You know why it's like that? Because Katniss, as a character, is so thoroughly averse to being in a romantic relationship during the timespan in the books that it just. Won't. Work. It was almost amusing to see how Collins kept pushing the romance at Katniss and Katniss was all "BUT I DON'T WANT TO, CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" Almost, if it hadn't been so frustrating.
Gale gets cheaply written out of the picture, to disappear forever in District 2. When Katniss finally gets together with Peeta (in one sentence on one of the last pages), it reads like a surrender. Like "yeah, alright, alright, I'll be with him, because he's the only one left and the author is too lazy to give us proper development to make it look reasonable".
ETA: After all the ranting about the fail that is the romance in this series, I completely forgot one more thing. From a fannish POV, I could actually see an OT3 working. I'm not one to agree easily with OT3s (in a sexual way, yes, but on an emotional level they're just rarely convincing to me), but this? This I could see. Katniss seems to be fond enough of both of them, Peeta is the kind of guy who can end up liking almost anyone because of his big heart (and let's be honest, Katniss and Gale are very similar, why shouldn't Peeta see the things in Gale he sees in Katniss?) and Gale. Well, he does say certain things about Peeta (like "It would be easier to hate him, if he wasn't so damn likeable") and even though he sometimes wants to, he can't bring himself to hate Peeta.
Katniss & other characters
Katniss is best when she's with characters other than Peeta and even Gale. I loved her with Prim, because that was when she showed true affection (I was tempted to ship them, but eugh, no, too young), she was awesome with Johanna, because they had great interaction. (Maybe that's the true problem, after all? Katniss just isn't into boys. ;)) I especially loved her relationship with Haymitch. Not in a romantical way, but in a mentor/uncle/kindred spirits kind of way. They're both somewhat cold, calculating and disillusioned, they think very much alike and they're not afraid to be harsh to each other. Still, they have also respect for each other.
Mockingjay
My first thought at the beginning of book three was: "so, this is like Steve Rogers punching Hitler in the face 300 times." Because, omg, it is. Katniss is used as a propaganda puppet by the rebels. While I do see the importance and impact a figurehead and good press can have, it peeved me out a little. Because unlike Steve, Katniss never really loses the purpose of a puppet and never makes any real attempts to break free of that role. Oh, she does fight in District 8 and has a couple of other important scences, but she always comes back, never stops being the Mockingjay. It peeves me out because I expected more of her. I thought she would say: "I will fight. Film me doing that, if you have to, but don't get in my way." But the suggestion to put her into real situations has to come from Haymitch, and even then it's all pretty harmless. It's all just dresses and make-up all over again. But maybe that's exactly it: that appearance and manipulating crowds with television is whatour this world is about.
District 13
I'm sorry, I just couldn't unsee the parallels. XD
Omg, that got really, really long. I don't even know, maybe I got it all wrong, but tell me if you think differently.
Irische Märchen by Frederik Hetmann
Alles ist erleuchtet/Everything is illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
Okay, is it just me again or did anyone else think that Alex is a closeted gay man?
Pu Der Bär/Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Die Schule Der Egoisten by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The review is for the entire series, so beware spoilers for all three books.
Also, some more thoughts about the Hunger Games that I didn't want to put onto Goodreads.
Katniss
So, I really liked Katniss but maybe those kudos need to go to Jennifer Lawrence for that. Because she did a great job portraying her in the movie and, imho, made her much stronger than she actually is. In the book she comes across as strong, too, but not quite in the same way. Lawrence made her look braver and more likeable, but in the book she was mostly level-headed, calculating and sometimes just really hostile, condescending or unforgiving towards other people. Which was actually a refreshing thing. No, I'm not being ironic here, I really mean it. It's nice to read a character not being overflowing with goodness and kindness (and anyway, that's what Peeta's there for).
I didn't quite like her in the second and third book, though, because her behaviour was so terribly inconsistent and she was going through the motions a lot of times. I know the Hunger Games left their marks on her, wrecked parts of her character, and that justifies a certain change. But it all felt so over the place. But then, maybe that was just the romance (to which I'll come later).
If I had to sort Katniss into a Hogwarts house, it would probably be Slytherin. Because, yes, she is a fighter, she has compassion for others, but in the end, she always thinks of her needs first. Her family, as the people she cares most about and couldn't live without, is just an extension of those needs. Katniss cannot live with the thought of Primrose dying, so she offers herself. She takes a liking to Rue, but that is also strongly based on the fact that she reminds her of her sister. She can't stand the thought of being the only surviver and Peeta's murderer, so she pulls out the berries. The list goes on and on.
Romance
So, I'll get it out in the open right now, because I'm having one of those Unpopular Opinions again: I was rooting for Gale since book 1. Just the few mentions in book 1 and all the times Katniss ever thinks about him felt more natural, more real than any moment she ever had with Peeta. Only in book 3 did I start to see something that could be called romantic feelings towards Peeta, but then, maybe that was just hurt vanity on Kantiss' part. Because, you see, even though I was rooting for Gale, I not once bought into either of the romances. It was all wrong.
I felt peeved out by shipping Peeta with Katniss, because it was so incredibly forced. Everything that happens between them in book 1 happens out of Katniss' desperate wish to get through the games. It reads like Stockholm Syndrome, maybe being brothers in arms, but not much more than that. It's a lot like Natasha and Clint in The Avengers: they're each others first priorities, they will always have each others backs, Katniss has red in her ledger and she wants to pay her debts. But the romance? Not necessarily there. It gets even worse in Catching Fire, where I felt even more peeved out by the star-crossed lovers thing, because just like the people in the Capitol we were supposed to think Katniss and Peeta were made for each other. I thought "somewhere out there in the Capitol, someone is writing Katniss/Peeta RPF" and "the Capitol ships them really hard" and then I went "ugh". Because no.
The sad thing is: they have true potential. And I could have bought into that "happy" ending with Katniss and Peeta and the kids, but not the way it happened in the books. Katniss doesn't know Peeta, not the way she knows and appreciates Gale. To form that sort of a bond, that connection, to fall in love, it takes time and effort and quiet moments without pressure. Things Katniss never gets in the books. She is in fear of her life, of the lives of her loved ones and then there's a war going on. When is she supposed to develop true feelings for Peeta?
And then there is Gale, of whom she seems to be so much fonder and more comfortable with. And okay, they just work well together in my eyes, because it feels natural. Not so forced.
But then Collins starts to do the truly horrible thing: she starts pushing them both into Katniss' face. Over and over again, back and forth, and not even her moments with Gale feel right anymore. ("Oh, it's Gale, this time I'm sure, no wait, Peeta's back, what am I supposed to do? No, wait Gale again. This time I'm sure. Not."). You know why it's like that? Because Katniss, as a character, is so thoroughly averse to being in a romantic relationship during the timespan in the books that it just. Won't. Work. It was almost amusing to see how Collins kept pushing the romance at Katniss and Katniss was all "BUT I DON'T WANT TO, CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?" Almost, if it hadn't been so frustrating.
Gale gets cheaply written out of the picture, to disappear forever in District 2. When Katniss finally gets together with Peeta (in one sentence on one of the last pages), it reads like a surrender. Like "yeah, alright, alright, I'll be with him, because he's the only one left and the author is too lazy to give us proper development to make it look reasonable".
ETA: After all the ranting about the fail that is the romance in this series, I completely forgot one more thing. From a fannish POV, I could actually see an OT3 working. I'm not one to agree easily with OT3s (in a sexual way, yes, but on an emotional level they're just rarely convincing to me), but this? This I could see. Katniss seems to be fond enough of both of them, Peeta is the kind of guy who can end up liking almost anyone because of his big heart (and let's be honest, Katniss and Gale are very similar, why shouldn't Peeta see the things in Gale he sees in Katniss?) and Gale. Well, he does say certain things about Peeta (like "It would be easier to hate him, if he wasn't so damn likeable") and even though he sometimes wants to, he can't bring himself to hate Peeta.
Katniss & other characters
Katniss is best when she's with characters other than Peeta and even Gale. I loved her with Prim, because that was when she showed true affection (I was tempted to ship them, but eugh, no, too young), she was awesome with Johanna, because they had great interaction. (Maybe that's the true problem, after all? Katniss just isn't into boys. ;)) I especially loved her relationship with Haymitch. Not in a romantical way, but in a mentor/uncle/kindred spirits kind of way. They're both somewhat cold, calculating and disillusioned, they think very much alike and they're not afraid to be harsh to each other. Still, they have also respect for each other.
Mockingjay
My first thought at the beginning of book three was: "so, this is like Steve Rogers punching Hitler in the face 300 times." Because, omg, it is. Katniss is used as a propaganda puppet by the rebels. While I do see the importance and impact a figurehead and good press can have, it peeved me out a little. Because unlike Steve, Katniss never really loses the purpose of a puppet and never makes any real attempts to break free of that role. Oh, she does fight in District 8 and has a couple of other important scences, but she always comes back, never stops being the Mockingjay. It peeves me out because I expected more of her. I thought she would say: "I will fight. Film me doing that, if you have to, but don't get in my way." But the suggestion to put her into real situations has to come from Haymitch, and even then it's all pretty harmless. It's all just dresses and make-up all over again. But maybe that's exactly it: that appearance and manipulating crowds with television is what
District 13
I'm sorry, I just couldn't unsee the parallels. XD
Omg, that got really, really long. I don't even know, maybe I got it all wrong, but tell me if you think differently.
