Thursday, December 23, 2010

Reading Hunger Games

I borrowed my niece's copy and read it yesterday. It's a disturbing book, maybe more disturbing to an adult than to a kid? I hardly slept last night, partly because of the book.

Anyway, it's an amazingly quick read. Compared to what I usually read, wow, quick.

I'm intrigued by some of the plot points: the protagonist is a teen girl, and already thinking about how she doesn't want to have kids. But there's no sense of how one might have sex and not get pregnant. There's some sense of her not being ready for a sexual relationship, but being on the verge of being ready.

The book also plays a bit with compulsory heterosexuality as compulsory, but the protagonist sees it as compulsory and resists somewhat.

I can't decide if I want to read the next book in the series. I have to admit I was disappointed at where it ended, but I really want a sense that there's a beginning of change.

3 comments:

  1. I recommend reading the rest of the series. The other two books are also quick reads. The second book was my favorite. I didn't think that it was possible to top the first book, but it did. The third book was not as good as the first two, but still pretty good. And of course, I wanted to know how it all ended up.

    I'm teaching The Hunger Games again in the spring. Students totally love it, and I think that, as you said, there are a lot more haunting issues in there for adults than for children. I enjoy the social commentary on our media-rich society, as well as the political angle. My students seem to get into those issues as well.

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  2. My 9th-graders totally love this entire series, and I've been meaning to read it, but I wasn't sure I trusted their taste -- but I trust yours! I'll give it a read.

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  3. I just started it because I thought it was the perfect book to read to get used to my new Kindle. So far I really like it. Not only does it have a smart, resourceful heroine, but it's pretty smart on class -- not something you can say often about adolescent fiction. And bonus -- Robin Hood references!

    I don't have a lot to compare it to -- I haven't read most of the recent really popular YA Fiction. (Nope, not even Harry Potter.) Last YA fiction I read was when I TAing for a Children's and YA Fiction class, pre HP. And before that I was a Young Adult myself.

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