I am going to write my review of The Hunger Games by Suzanne
Collins. In a very choppy fashion. Using fragmented sentences. Like this. Very
redundantly, too. Because this is how Katniss Everdeen chooses to speak. For
374 whole pages. And it annoys me.
No, I can’t write like this. It goes contrary to everything
I ever learned about writing, and I refuse to encourage the current trend of
painfully short, and sometimes, not even complete sentences in young adult
literature. I sometimes speak in abrupt, three-word sentences, but, when it
comes to a novel, I wouldn’t dare write that way outside of quotation marks.
However, if I start writing in three- word sentences and other such
colloquialisms in this blog, please forgive me. I write fiction far better than
I write anything else.
Anyway, I am in a very conflicted position when it comes to
this particular novel. I love the story (so much that I finished the book in
two days), the characterization, and the similarity to the concept of a set of
gladiatorial games. I strongly dislike the writing style Collins uses, for two
chief reasons.
1)
Having the book written in such a fast-paced
manner almost denies the reader of the chance to absorb the lovely imagery, and
almost encourages you to rush through the book without soaking in any of the
plot. In fact, I found myself forgetting various details of the story until
they were mentioned again, because you don’t really have time to notice things.
This is why some people are so upset about the whole deal of Rue being black
and getting killed in the movie- they read the book, and didn’t notice that she
was black, because they were rushing through it, because the book is written in
such a way that you rush through it.
2)
This is one of the most widely-read pieces of
young adult literature of recent years, having spent over two years on the New York Times bestseller list, last I
heard. It is encouraging young people that writing poorly structured sentences
is alright- that they can use the excuse that ‘they’re doing it to make a
point,’ or ‘it makes the novel more fast-paced’. What kind of teacher would
allow a high-school student to use these kind of fragmented sentences in a
research paper, whether it’s for ‘emphasis’ or not? Yes, I have the
intelligence to reason that fiction and nonfiction are two different spheres of
writing, and should be treated differently, and I have no doubt that you, my
reader, can determine the difference as well. However, many high-schoolers of
today do not have that kind of understanding, and will write in a way that is
similar to what they read. If they eat, sleep, and breathe The Hunger Games, where will
that leave them?
Also, I think it might turn into overkill if I start talking
about how angry the ending made me. I’ll just say that it was a cheap trick to
make the ending so awful and unfulfilling that you must read the sequel. Even Twilight, which I strongly dislike, had
a better ending.
However, the story is so intriguing, the imagery is so
lovely, and the characters are so authentic, that I can’t help but to be a
fan-girl. Gale is heartless, and Peeta is slightly effeminate, in my opinion,
but, since I have to pick one for the sake of any obsessed teenage fans who may
be reading this post, I choose Team Peeta. I’m a hopeless romantic, so I feel
poignantly for him- I just wish he hadn’t confessed to loving Katniss on live
TV. No wonder she thought he was faking it.
I’ve made plans with a friend of mine to go see the film
this Friday, now that I’ve read and enjoyed the book. So, last night, I went on
Google to see who was playing my favorite character, Cinna the
gold-eyeliner-wearing stylist, and saw a picture of Lenny Kravitz. I’m not sure
how that will work. I can’t stop picturing him taking Jennifer Lawrence’s hand
in his, and saying, “Katniss…ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY?!” He did a remarkable
cover of “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35” on the Chimes of Freedom album, by the
way, if there are any Bob Dylan fans reading this who haven’t heard it.
Scary movies are a guilty pleasure of mine, I must admit, so
I’m looking forward to seeing Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) and Elizabeth Banks (The
Uninvited), since they are the only two actors in the film that I’m very
familiar with. I haven’t seen Josh Hutcherson in a movie since Zathura, and haven’t lost a bit of sleep
over it.
Anyway, I’ll tell you what I thought of the movie at some
point next week. I hope you’ll come back to hear me rant some more. Whenever I
read Catching Fire, I’ll tell you how
that goes.J
