"The Hunger Games"

Monday, June 25, 2012

Sometimes I am completely oblivious to what's happening around me! People might be going on and on about a new super cool gadget or an amazing "must read" book  but I wont give a damn. Anything with a "i" prefixed to it is to be avoided at all costs and books that are written and published with the sole purpose of becoming huge commercial successes, Hollywood blockbusters, coffee mugs and calenders will never find a place on my bookshelves. I avoid these things like the devil and in my eyes the bigger the hype around them, the better the reason for me to continue to ignore their existence. 

I have to be honest though. Sometimes I succumb to the hype. But only for books...because they are books after all! And I have something for books. Call it soft spot, call it obsession. I cannot force myself to endure the agony of seeing them showcased in virtual and real life bookshops and not getting my hands on them, flicking through the pages and deciding for myself if it is worth all the hype! And this is what happened with The Hunger Games. For the past year or so, I saw it everywhere! Featured on Amazon, The Book Depository, Foyles, plus on the windows and selves of all the bookshops in Zagreb. I refused to buy it or read a review. And then the movie was released and the whole thing became even hypier! And I was certain that this was not going to be a book that I was likely to buy or yet like on the off chance that some crazy buying impulse (usually driven by the fact that books have no sizes and can quench your consumerist thirst without trying them on!) forced me to click on the "Buy Now" button. 

But I clicked and there it was just moments later listed in the contents of my Kindl. At this point I have to clarify one thing: I use my Kindl to read what I consider to be "lesser books", books that I wouldn't mind terribly if I didn't own the hard copy to put on my bookshelves, look at and remember the plot and the characters and the feelings invoked by reading it. So before I read it Hunger Games was definitely a "Kindl book" and unfortunately it remains as such even now that I have finished all three of the books.

Maybe it is the genre - Young Adult is not my thing, hence, no "Twilight" on my selves; But then again I read all 7 Harry Potters and seen the movies and actually enjoyed them! Not to mention "Lord of the Rings", "Narnia" or "His Dark Materials" series, three of my all time favorites!

I cannot talk about "Twilight", since I have not read the book nor seen the movie(s), but I think the reason why "The Hunger Games" did not satisfy my appetite as a bookworm was because, apart from the really compelling storyline, it is not a particularly well written book! Its literary style is that of simple words and sentences, which by all means, though, maximize the reader's addiction and compulsion to continue reading. Katniss Everdeen' s character sometimes seems one dimensional at least in the first book. Yes she is strong, and independent and she does not care about such trivial things like love, and marriage and children...she is so young but leads a hard life being the sole provider for her family and having to face the evil of the Capital and unintentionally become the face of the revolution. In writing this I realise now that there are a few parts in all three books that could have been explored a little bit deeper and maybe this would have given the story a more emotive and multi-dimensional quality, but then again this is my simple opinion.