My youngest sister told me to read this book a year or more ago. I've always been too preoccupied to give it a shot. I now see what a mistake this has been because the book was incredible!
The story follows Katniss as she is thrown into a cruel game of survival, where children fight each other to the death as punishment for their forefathers rebellions against a cruel government. Katniss tells herself that she will survive for the sake of her younger sister (and mother). The idea of the glory that the Capital shines on the victors of the Hunger Games is not something that she cares for, it's not something she wants to be proud of, it's not something she thinks anyone should be proud of. The Capital turns the children into a circus like act. Many coming from the deepest poverty and starvation to be pampered before turned loose to slaughter one another. The lives of the children being bet on like they meant nothing. Katniss is bitter the entire book because of what life has dealt her, but she is impossible not to love.
Ms. Collins' writing shocked me. It is very hard to pull off a present tense story. I myself would be much too afraid to do so, but she makes it seem flawless. I never felt like it would have been better in past tense, I never felt like it would have been better in anything but first person. The simple structure of her writing technique makes her amazing, but her story content takes her to the realm of the extraordinary. She found a way to piece together a story about coming-of-age, romance, war, death, loss, poverty, indulgence, and so on, and do it in a way that speaks to a wide range of audience. The vocabulary was never pretentious, and every word felt as it should. There is nothing worse than a writer who tried to "smart up" their piece, which in the end usually takes away something far greater. One of her greatest talents in the story is how real it all feels, she mixes elements of our world with her "future" land of Panem so brilliantly that I almost expect to see a mockingjay out in the woods at some point in my life.
Taking a step back I have tried to piece together her influences. I felt a Romeo-and-Juliet theme going with the romance between Katniss and Peeta. He, from a merchant family, her from the Seams. From his first sight of her he knows that she will be the only one for him, and as a young boy even puts her well-being before his own. He is every mother's dream for her daughter. Unfortunately, Katniss can't decide if she wants to be his Juliet, and she always has her friend Gale in the back of her mind making her wonder if she doesn't want that instead. This torn-between-two-amazing-guys theme is very reminiscent to the popular Twilight series to me. Peeta would be Jacob, and Gale would be Edward. Following this logic, I can only assume that she will break Peeta's pure heart for a man who, while also good, just can't compare. The theme of people hunting each other reminds me of "The Most Dangerous Game" taken to an even more grotesque level.
All in all this is an excellent book, one that everyone should check out.
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