The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

[felicityking]

I never thought it was possible to dislike something more than The Twilight Saga, but I really loathed this book. I can understand why they are popular: the love story falls in the archetype that includes such films as Titanic, The Notebook, and The Terminator films. As it just so happens, those are the very types of love stories that I hate. Which is probably why I loathed this book, but I had other problems with it as well.

THG takes place in the future. The USA no longer exists and in its place is Panem. Panem is formed of 12 districts and a Capitol. The Capitol is made up of extremely rich people (who surgically improve themselves, have access to the best food, and wear unique fashion) who control the Districts. The people in the Districts are impoverished (and needless to say aren't worried about surgically improving themselves or any other than basic fashion),  There used to a 13 District, but it was squashed when it tried to rebel. To quell any further rebellion--and force people to remember what happens when you rebel--each year a game is held. It involves 12 boys and 12 girls, selected at random. They have to fight each other to the death. At the end, there is one victor who gets prestige for their district and food and security for their family.

Now, obviously, you understand why someone as political as I might find that fascinating. Child soldiers, fighting the status quo, issues of money and class. But none of that is really addressed. It's just brushed over and all the focus is given on...

Duh do Duh Dah! The love story! And it features all the contortions that makes me hate this archetype so bloody much. However, I must start with the under-development of the characters.

Katniss Everdeen is the caregiver of her family. She has a sister (Prim) and a mother. Her father died in a mine accident. She volunteers to replace Prim when Prim is chosen at the Reaping (the lead-in to THG). Now, Katniss keeps telling us "everybody loves Prim." Well, why? We are told but never shown what is soooooo special about Prim that everybody loves Prim. (And seriously if everyone loves Prim so much, how come Katniss was the only 1 to volunteer?)

Katniss hunts and her hunting buddy/friend is Gale, who is in similiar circumstances to Katniss. However, he isn't chosen to play in the games, so let's skip him for now. There's also Marge who Katniss speculates is a friend but Katniss doesn't really know.

Peeta Mellark is the boy chosen in the Reaping. Now, I've been told this book is ambiguous, but I think it's clear from the get-go just what he thinks about Katniss and how Katniss feels about him. The author just lamely tries to hide it. Peeta is the baker's boy and once upon a time, he threw Katniss some bread which helped save her family from starvation. In case you forget that fact, Katniss reminds us at least once a chapter. If not more.

Onto the Hunger Games. I'll spare you the details of how people die but never I have seen more blantant usage of "plot device" characterization. Not to mention strategiously obvious manipulation from the author so that Peeta and Katniss end up at the end as the Romeo & Juliet starcrossed pair. Of course, she places doubts in Katniss about Peeta, but Collins emphasizes that thing I hate about this love story archetype: the male is always right even when he is wrong.

Peeta says at the beginning of the Games that he's worried that the Games will make him change, but he doesn't. At all. It's Katniss that undergoes the charge--and arguably she didn't need the Games to come to these realizations about trust, the Capitol, what is real and what isn't.

Characters like Peeta are Gary Stus to me. In Peeta's case, we are told he basically has a more sheltered life due to coming from a more secure background than Katniss. Yet, somehow this guy who knows nothing about the woods, doesn't have to fight for his survival (he never is in the forbidden sections of District 12 like Gale and Katniss are: the forbidden section enable their families to survive) and isn't that strong, he is somehow able to outthink, outsmart, outfight every opponent in the Game....all without killing anybody either!

And he claims Katniss is the love of his life. But yet, time and again, we see Katniss having to lie to him. She lies to him to placate his ego, to sell the love story, to keep her family safe. And he buys every word. One eye-opening scene: he tells her she's a poor liar, then she drugs him to make him fall asleep. When he wakes he's angry, but he understands but he also lectures her. When he's asked at the end why he loves her, he says she's like no other girl he ever met. BUT all other girls in the book are dismissed, invisible. And he doesn't describe why makes Katniss so special, so different from the other girls. (And given that book hints that all the children help out, figure out how make their families survive--even Katniss isn't that special from Panem children in general.)

Oh, and even though Peeta isn't a hunter, he's always explaining to Katniss what the other gamers are up to. Now, he did time with them, so one knows he would have ~some~ insights, but it's always HIS insights that are given the importance. Meanwhile, Katniss is like "Cato might be wounded?" She's a hunter. She's skilled at it. She has some insights yet those are always made secondary to Peeta's.

Something I really hated about the book was that women were basically absent and everything that is good was associated with a guy. Katniss's mother is an apothecary yet it's her father who taught her all she needed to know to survive, to hunt. Katniss even mentions several times not being able to trust or forgive her mother. Katniss obesses over Peeta giving her bread once upon a time, but is shocked when Madge (local student from a rich family) gives her a mockingjay pin, even though she's spent TONS of time with Madge. She lamely says "I guess Madge did care about me after all." (Meanwhile, she never speaks to Peeta until the games, but he can do no wrong even though he's a complete stranger.)

Back to Gale. He taught Katniss how set snares and they share hunting knowledge. Katniss makes clear they are equals to each other. She never has to lie to him. He knows her, he understands her. Yet, somehow this friendship is considered as lesser than to (you guessed it) Peeta (isn't that name annoying? Pita Bread. Seriously? That's the best Collins could do?) giving Katniss the bread once upon a time.

All the issues mentioned in the book get brushed to the wayside. Katniss does mention them from time to time, and unlike Peeta, they actually do affect her. While he dismisses a field of wheat, she understands why how another competitor survives within it. When a competitor dies, he says "one step closer to home," while she says "that person could have been my friend" or "even though we're enemies, that person was smart and it was sad that they had to die so I could live."

Oh, and the ending! Collins tries to make Katniss seem less radical. Katniss rebels and then is shocked that the Capitol identifies her as the instigator. I'm like: "that's because you were, Katniss! Own the fuck up to that fact even if you have to lie about it." Instead Katniss waffles.

Furthermore, the book keeps commenting on govt manipulation in the characters lives, but the author herself maninpulates things to make sure stuff happens in a certain order. Need to get Katniss to find Peeta? Tell the reader "the games made a change to the rules because the love story must have been popular with the audience." (Meta much?) Also, I hate how she tells us--actually tells us--that Katniss is not good enough on her own. That she needed Peeta declaring his love for her on national TV for the audience to root for her. Katniss protests this but then goes along "I saw what the audience saw." I'm like "NO! You should have stood your ground and said 'I'm awesome even if I can't vocalize it.' If sponsers can't see me for who I am that's their loss.'" Actually be the girl on fire as she keeps being referred to. Instead, time and again, straight to the ending, she lets Peeta how frame how we should see her. Not as a Girl on Fire, but as one who has to lie to guy to feed his ego, to pretend she loves him to make it to the next stage of the game, to sacrifice her health and safety so he can be healthy and safe.

It probably doesn't help that I finished Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell a few weeks ago. That book is highly manipulative too, but the class and money issues are actually addressed. Also, when the heroine gets tied to a specific male, Gaskell makes very sure we know the heroine's reasoning through and through. Furthermore, the heroine is never dismisssed as being lesser than the male.

Comments

[lolilie.livejournal.com]

I can't believe you hated this book so much. I quite enjoyed it. I don't think it's great literature or anything, but I certainly wouldn't lump it in with Twilight.

[felicityking.livejournal.com]

Well, it was more of a gradual dislike rather than intense hate from start to finish.

HA HA! I suppose nothing will ever top how badly written TTS was/is, but I think this could have been written better. It felt more like a draft than a novel. But I also have an intense dislike of pseudo-populism love stories like this one (as well as the other examples I've mentioned: I think I'm the only person in the world who loathes The Notebook. I can tolerate Titanic and The Terminator movies which also feature the same type of love story but T has the historical background and TT movies have interesting sci-fi. But I hate the celebrated love stories in them!) (Yes, I have a love/loathe relationship with James Cameron.)

I do like pop culture books, but I guess I expected more from this one. Maybe because it's the It Book series of the moment? Everyone always talks about them so positively (I've never heard it ridiculed the way TTS is) that I expected to like them.