Thoughts on The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins

A friend at work was raving about this trilogy, and I finally decided to give in to the hype. I have to say, I'm happy that I did. In The Hunger Games Collins does a great job painting a scary dystopian portrait of North America after a major disaster. The main characters, especially Katniss, are entirely believable. Since this is part of a trilogy, Collins doesn't tell you everything - but it leaves you wanting more. It's like you are in Katniss' shoes as she starts to focus on more than just the survival of her family and learns more about the Capitol and the rest of Panem.

Okay, so as you probably know, Katniss volunteers to take her young sister's place in a government sponsored fight to the death. There are two "tributes" from each of Panem's 12 districts. The other tribute from District 12, Katniss's district, is Peeta, a boy the same age as Katniss. The two of them are at times thrown together and torn apart as they try to formulate a strategy to win the game. Of course, there can only be one winner, or can there? dun dun dun.

You might have heard about the controversy about the movie's casting choices. First, there was the issue of specifically looking for a white actress to play Katniss, when her description seemed to contain the possibility that she was Mediterranean or something other than Caucasian. Then, when the casting for other characters, like Rue and Cinna were announced, people were exclaiming that neither of them should be black. In the book, Rue is specifically described as black - with "satiny brown skin." Cinna isn't described much beyond having short dark hair (green?) eyes, and a penchant for gold eyeliner.

As I read the book, I knew about these issues, so I was already keeping an eye out for the descriptions. I normally don't really pay attention to what characters look like. I don't form a picture of them in my head - I've just never been that type of reader. This time, though, knowing who was cast definitely influenced how I saw the book in my mind.

Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone

Jennifer Lawrence, from Winter's Bone, is playing the Katniss. I know the book described her with dark hair, but I just kept seeing her as Ree Dolly. As for Cinna, I think Lenny Kravitz is a brilliant choice. I can totally see him as a stylist with a mysterious past. I didn't know that Woody Harrelson had been cast to play Haymitch, Katniss's mentor. I had just finished reading Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad before picking up The Hunger Games, and for some reason her description of Odysseus totally clicked for me as Haymitch.  Not that great looking, with short stubby legs, not all that strong or fast, but smart and wily. I do think Harrelson will do a good job playing Haymitch, but he wasn't what I pictured.

Have you read The Hunger Games? What do you think about the movie casting choices?

Here are my posts on part 2 and part 3

Small Business Saturday Success!

So yesterday I went out and participated in Small Business Saturday. I drove up to a local(ish) independent book store that I'd been wanting to check out - the Vero Beach Book Center. It's about a 20 minute drive, and in the next county over, but it's the closest I've got! I was supposed to be doing Christmas shopping, and I did, but I also picked up a few things for myself:

The Bloody Chamber, Middlesex, & Shadow Tag

I paid full price for Shadow Tag, but I found the other two books used. The place is really big. It's actually two separate buildings. The first building is the regular adult bookstore. It had a good selection of local books on Florida, bestsellers, etc. I bought two books there - Shadow Tag, and Hidden Seminoles,* a gift book. Both were full price. I knew what I was getting into with Hidden Seminoles, though. It was $40, which is a lot for a book, but not bad for a Christmas gift. It was a little easier to take paying full price when they offered to gift wrap it for me.

After I finished in the first building, I headed over to the second. That's where they keep the children's section,  bargain books, and used books. I didn't know it, but apparently Santa was visiting that day. The place was mobbed. I thought I had avoided the whole holiday shopping ridiculousness, but no, i got my fair share. I thought about leaving and coming back another day, but I bravely pushed through and found more books. This is where I found Middlesex and The Bloody Chamber. I also bought some bargain priced books for the kids on my list.

All said, I spend a little over $100 during my Small Business Saturday shopping excursion. I'm happy to know that more of that money is staying in my community than if I'd have chosen to do my shopping at a chain, or on Amazon. I know that shopping local isn't always a feasible option for everyone, but I'm trying to do my small part.

Oh - and I spent much of yesterday and today thankfully reading The Bloody Chamber. It's really good! Retold fairy tales for the win!

*affiliate link

Booked Solid

Source: aquieterstorm.tumblr.com via MJ on Pinterest

Lots of reading to be done if I'm going to reach 100 books read this year. Two finished so far this weekend, now deciding what to tackle next. Catch y'all in a bit!

Oh - and it's Small Business Saturday, so when I take a break from reading I'll be hitting up the indie bookstore closest to me. You could do the same!

Bookish Weekend Plans

Guess who's not spending this weekend shopping at ridiculous Black Friday sales? This girl!

I do plan to participate in Small Business Saturday by heading up to an independent book store that I've been wanting to check out. I figure I'll see about buying some Christmas gifts there and well, maybe just a little something for myself. The hubby and my dad are planning to ride their motorcycles to some kind of car show swap meet thing that's a couple of hours away, so I'll have plenty of time to do bookish browsing to my heart's content.

3 books to review

On the blogging front, I need to get my review of The Hunger Games written, since I'm giving the book back to my friend on Monday. She's bringing me the other two in the trilogy - yay! I have two other books on my to-review list, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Persepolis II. I'll see what I can do about getting those reviews finished, too.

Of course, if I catch up on reviews, that means I need to read more books! I'm almost done with Mr. Fox, and I plan to finish that this weekend. I won a book through Amy's Nigerian Literature challenge, so I might give that one a try. It's not the type of book I'd normally pick out, but I try to stay open-minded. I also picked up a Barbara Ehrenreich book at a library book sale, so that is certainly an option.

Check out more posts from Black Friday avoiders at Jenn's Bookshelves.

What are your reading plans this weekend?

Thankful

Today in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm choosing to focus on the positive aspects of this holiday, where I express gratitude for the many good things in my life.

One of those good things is my ability to read. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. First, a good friend's mother has recently gone nearly blind from macular degeneration. She is an older woman, but never had vision problems. Then one day, boom! she's going blind. I've been told that I'm at high risk for this condition as I age. The thought of not being able to see is absolutely terrifying.

The other incident that inspired this post is a friend who could not pass a written test to get a job. The job is a  good paying one, and it would have been very helpful to his family had he been able to get it. However, he had trouble with reading the information on the test and answering questions based on it.According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, forty percent of American adults, "who although they do not meet criteria for functional illiteracy, nonetheless face reduced job opportunities and life prospects due to inadequate literacy levels relative to the requirements of contemporary society."

So I'm thankful. For my current ability to read, and much more. For my family and friends, some of whom I'll spend time with tomorrow, eating good food and enjoying each other's company.

Happy Thanksgiving

Measure of a Man Doesn't Measure Up

The Measure of a Man

The Measure of a Man
Sidney Poitier

I listened to this on audio book last month, and have been hesitating to write the review ever since. I just really, really, disliked it - and I was hoping to enjoy it. I mean, it's Sidney Poitier! Who doesn't like Sidney Poitier?

I spent half the book wondering if I didn't like it simply because it was an audio book. It was only the second audio book I've listened to, so I thought "well, maybe the format just isn't my thing." Nope. I've since listened to another audio book and loved it. Not the format.

Okay, so what was it that bothered me about this book? It starts off strong. Poitier is talking about how he doesn't believe that we should look to other, less developed societies to find ways to be strong, upright people. That basically, your kid isn't going to grow up to be a screw-up because zie has access to television. Makes sense. THEN he spends the rest of the book extolling the benefits of growing up on an undeveloped island in the Bahamas where there was no electricity, running water, etc. He comes back to this theme all the time. I guess that you could say he's just explaining where he personally came from, but the impression is that this is the way all children should be raised and if they aren't - if they're raised in say, Miami, they're going to be morally bankrupt by 16.

There's also a lot of self congratulating going on. Poitier takes nearly all the credit for the success of the play A Raisin in the Sun. It was painful to listen to. His vision of the play may have been a better one - I'll concede that - but wow, the ego involved was staggering. Of course, it takes quite a bit of ego to write a book about your life and be sure that many people would want to read it, and I'm sure most people in Hollywood probably have enormous egos, too.

I was interested in Poitier's interactions with civil rights activists. He talks about how studios wanted to to sign contracts that he wouldn't associate with certain people who were considered agitators, and he refused to do that. Again, this part of the book fell short. I don't know if he had his reasons for not talking about these encounters in more detail - was he protecting someone? - but I wanted to know more.

I do want to read Harry Belafonte's new memoir, My Song. He and Poitier were friends, and I heard him interviewed on NPR about the two of them splitting a theater ticket, one watching the first half of a play and the other going in to watch the end. Something about how Belafonte told the story was more engaging than anything that I heard from Poitier.

Have you read this? Did you like it? What am I missing?

The Penelopiad: The Oddessy Retold

The Penelopiad

The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood

The Penelopiad is Margaret Atwood's reconsideration of Homer's classic The Odyssey from the point of view of Penelope, Odysseus's wife. Penelope narrates her story from Hades, where she and her contemporaries are spending eternity, with the occasional visit to Earth and modern times.

Penelope tells her story, starting from her childhood, before Odysseus was ever in her picture. We learn about her family, how her mother, a Naiad (water nymph) was more interested in playing with sea creatures than parenting a daughter, and her father, the king, tried to drown her when she was a small child.

You can see by what I've told you that I was a child who learned early the virtues - if such they are - of self-sufficiency. I could see that I would have to look out for myself in the world. I could hardly count on family support.

Penelope does her readers a favor by reminding them of elements of the traditional telling of The Odyssey, so if you haven't looked at the poem since high school, you'll be fine. She then tells you what really happened. Of course, there's a bit of a problem completely trusting her take, as she's not exactly a reliable narrator. But why should she be? We've been hearing a slanted take on the story for millenia.

I actually found the maids to be the most interesting aspect of the story. They are just girls who are trying to make their way the only way they can. If they're favored because of their rosy cheeks, well, they're grabbing every advantage. The fates are not kind to the maids, however, as you know - they end up hanged from a ship's beam.

I loved how Atwood not only took a classic myth, framed it through the eyes of Penelope, but then offered the an additional academic interpretation of the story's meaning. Sometimes I think Atwood's viewpoint gets a little heavy handed, and it does verge on it here, but I thought overall the feminist perspective was presented in a smart, thoughtful way. This is the third Atwood novel I've read, and I'm glad there are many more out there to read!