Hunger Games

So many of my friends have read the Hunger Games and have pretty much raved about it to me. I knew a bit about the story line. Although the plot wasn't something that would have drawn me to the bookshelves, I decided to give it a try, based on the recommendation of said friends and family. If this is on your to read list, you many not want to read any further.

I was disappointed, and more than disappointed, disturbed that so many people (particularly our upper el/middle school children) loved this book. Not just because of the premise (children killing children), but because of the acceptance of society (wait, not just acceptance, but eagerness of society) to watch the broadcast with all the gory details. Don't bother to tell me it's just a book - a book (at least a good book) will take you outside yourself and make you a part of the story. The very best books make you forget the world you are currently living in and enter another.

The book starts well, with the heroine Katniss, giving up herself to the "games" to save her sister Prim. That is an admirable part of her personality--that and the responsibility she took for her family after her father's death. Once she is in the Capital, and then in the games themselves, she loses her luster for me.

First, she is the most confused heroine I ever met. The things she does that are good, are accidental events, not intentional events. The fact that she is later chosen to be the leader of an uprising, has nothing to do with doing what is right and good, but only to do with getting some selfish desires on her part. These desires are not necessarily bad desires, but, they are not for the greater good, they are for the good of her, her family and her friends. She doesn't really even understand what the uprising is about in any good way. Her friends, Gale and Peeta, have a better understanding of it than she does. I'm a little disgusted with her! I don't want my hero's to be confused - I want them to know the right path and to take it with purpose. I hope, if I ever am called upon to be a hero, that I will do it with rightness and purpose.

Second, you're not too far into the book and you realize it's a story that could have been crafted from a video game. The people that design the games are given the title of Gamemaker. The games are controlled by the gamemakers and might include catastrophes of nature, circumstances that force the children into combat with each other, and the gifts of sponsors that might heal wounds, provide food or water, or provide shelter to give their chosen candidate an advantage over another. Society (excluding the families of the children who participate) is eager to watch blood shed and cheer their chosen candidate on. The candidates may form an alliance with each other while it is convenient, only to kill in the end, as there can be only one survivor.

I know that kids are playing video games like this today. Many of them are ugly games, that in my view are not good past times for kids or really even adults. For a person who is competitive, and who likes challenges, a video game requires a person to use skillful thinking and planning to achieve victory. But why are so many of them killing games? I know my kids would not agree with me, but I do think we become desensitized to the violence, particularly as video games can be so realistic nowadays. They would also say they know the difference between what is real and what is not real (this is actually a line that is used in the last book for a character that can no longer make that distinction), but how long before some cross the line?

If you have read a book like Lord of the Rings, the Narnia series, or even something like Redwall, you are familiar with the good vs evil plot. With the aforementioned books, the bright thread of hope was woven through the story line. In "Hunger Games", I feel there was only despair. Even the "good guys" resorted to evil in the end. There wasn't a clear distinction between right and wrong, and ruined, forlorn lives were not resurrected. I myself, did not feel the ending was a hopeful one, I felt it was mostly sad.

Even more disturbing to me, I came away feeling like we are not too far off from being a Hunger Games society. We may not be participating in these actual games, but we are participating in games with people's lives, whether it's in our politics, our ignorance or willingness to overlook poverty and the havoc it can cause, or our monetary systems. . . are we (am I) participating in endeavors that will keep people everywhere from hope and despair, or am I just watching the news and saying, oh, that's too bad? Worse, are we just indifferent because it has become the norm.

So, "Hunger Games" lovers, I did not like this book, and would not recommend it. If your children want to read it, please do read it first.