The Hunger Games: Paper AWESOMNESS

I decided to start things off right by talking about one of the BEST BOOKS I HAVE READ IN A LONG TIME, The Hunger Games, the first book in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

No, I can't tell you about the other two (which are Catching Fire and Mockingjay if you're curious) because I haven't read them yet, but I did finally manage to get a copy of the second one, so guess what I'm doing once this post is live.


Anyway, it's kind of hard to explain too much about the book without giving too much away, and I don't want to ruin it for anybody who plans on reading it. Essentially, the story focuses on a 16 year old girl named Katniss Everdeen. She lives with her mother and little sister in the poorest part of the poorest district of some post-apocalyptic North America. I know, sounds cliche, right? But no, that's pretty much where the cliches end, about two pages into the book. I mean, sure you could find some more if you really wanted to, it's almost impossible not to find some in every created work, but once the story really gets going (which is pretty much immediately), you just don't care if it's cliche. And before you get all gloaty and think you figured it out, no the title is not a metaphor for how the small family deals with their poverty. There is an actual annual event called the Hunger Games. What are the Hunger Games? Pretty horrifying if you ask me, but to get the full effect, the premise and details are best explained and revealed as per Collins' timing, which leads me to this next paragraph.


Collins' flair for the perfect dramatic reveal had made her an instant legend on my list (which admittedly only came into existence so that I had a list to put her on). She hints at something, leaves you wondering what it is for just long enough to come up with some theories of your own, then reveals what it actually is. And let me tell ya, it's usually far more shocking or dramatic than anything YOU were thinking! (well, more than anything I was thinking, at least). However, she manages to make such dramatic reveals with nice subtlety, rather than that melodramatic flair that makes you want to go "dun dun DUUUUNNN!!!!"


Yeah, like that

 I think part of it is the way she only gives you EXACTLY the amount of exposition you need to follow what's happening at that moment. Sure, you still have some questions, but you know that you'll get your answers when it's more relevant to the story.

If you're still not sure about it, consider this: the first two chapters made me cry a little. No, I'm serious. I have been known to get misty eyed for some movies, perhaps even shed a tear, but never for a book. Something about hearing a scene described by my own inner monologue takes away some of the power of the moment, I guess. I mean, come on, it's not like I'm Morgan Freeman (I bet life is an intense experience for him, getting to hear everything narrated by Morgan Freeman...) And yet, halfway through the second chapter, I realized I couldn't see straight because my eyes were getting all teary. It was THAT intense, even WITHOUT the Freeman. Well, maybe that's just me, but doggonit, I'll give mad props to any book that can suck me in so deeply I shed a tear.

Finally, after all the good storytelling is over, you realize you were just given a healthy dose of social commentary, too. That's the best kind of book, in my opinion, the kind that can teach you something without you even realizing it. Then you still think you're just getting a brain vacation between busy school or work assignment, and then you realize that you've gained a new perspective on the world. Now, if we can only manage to make textbooks and journal articles work this way too.....

Anyway, that's all I'm going to say about that. Stay tuned for more average nerdiness!