The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
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Book Summary Information
Author: Suzanne CollinsBrand: Scholastic
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-14
ISBN: 0439023483
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Book Reviews of The Hunger Games
Book Review: "All of this is wrong."
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember the moment when I realized that 'The Hunger Games' was not just a good book, but a great one. It was the moment after the main character, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers as a "tribute" for her district in this year's Hunger Games. She volunteers because her younger sister, Prim, was originally selected. She volunteers because Prim is just 12 years old. She volunteers because the Hunger Games is a competition to the death.
"I stand there unmoving while they take part in the boldest form of dissent they can manage," Katniss says. "Silence. Which says we do not agree. We do not condone. All of this is wrong."
This sums up what I love about 'The Hunger Games' nicely - As a book it is challenging and complicated and so well done from start to finish. There are moments of almost lyrical beauty and moments of shocking brutality, all paced steadily to a satisfying conclusion.
'The Hunger Games' is set in a future where there has been some sort of cataclysm (war or environmental disaster seems likely), and what we know as North America today has been divided into twelve Districts. Each year, every district must send two tributes, one boy and one girl, between the ages of 12 and 18 to the annual Hunger Games, where they will fight to do the death in a closed arena. All but one of the 24 tributes each year will die, with the survivor winning a life of luxury.
The premise of the book, and the focus on adolescent relations in an extreme life-threatening setting, reminded me in all the right ways of Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game.' In both books, children are portrayed as being as being capable of great calculation, great humanity, and even great brutality when placed in extreme situations. The honesty and the keen observation of the book is one of its strong points.
'The Hunger Games' tells a compelling story with a believable and interesting cast of characters. It draws you in from the first page and keeps you reading, despite the fact that much of it is difficult to face. It's not easy reading about children killing other children, but it is the complexity and the challenging nature of the story that makes it so worth reading. There are not clear lines of good and evil, but only survival, while keeping some shred of humanity intact.
Expect to be drawn into this story. You may not agree with it. You may not condone it. You may feel that all of it is wrong. But you will want to read it anyway, because it's just that good.
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