Cover of The Hunger Games
Okay, I’m not a book reviewer…nor am I one typical wont to jump upon whatever bandwagon is in vogue (and sometimes, perhaps more often than I care to admit, I intentionally do the opposite of what everyone else is doing)…and I really should be working on my own series idea I’ve begun, mow the lawn, or any of a number of other pressing things that also need to be done…but taking today off (the classic “one will get you four”; in the U.S. it’s Memorial Day weekend, so we get Monday off…so the smart employee uses one day of vacation to get 4 days off in row), I ended up reading the remainder of book one of The Hunger Games.
Dang, what a well-written book!
How did I come about this book?
Wifely intervention.
Constant, exuberant, wifely intervention. Especially when she (somehow) duct-taped me to a chair and placed the book in my lap, along with a contract and pen. I was to not only say I would read it (and do so NOW) but to sign a contract stating thus and so. Only then did the duct tape get cut.
Perhaps I exaggerate.
Suzanne Collins wrote a totally engrossing book, and in a way that didn’t focus nor glorify violence. There was nothing gratuitous about any of it. It was intelligently written and engrossing entertaining. In a way, highly parallel to much of our society. Nothing new, I’m sure, all told before in other, far better-written reviews. I just wanted to say that though I wasn’t initially all that keen in jumping on the “Hunger bandwagon”–not in the least–once I did (albeit dragged onto said bandwagon), I was consumed with the story. Wanting to know more about Katniss and Peeta and even Cato. The story reminded me of the old noir films of the 1940s, where most of the “nasty” was done off-screen. To me, allowing one’s imagination to run wild can pack more impact than any graphic representation.
Now, I still have yet to attack books two and three, but in book one, I was hooked from page one. I just wanted to add my praise to the clearly growing list of praises by other readers. If you got some time to kill, some space between books–or are reading a book that just ain’t grabbing you–give The Hunger Games a read.
I think you’ll…um (forgive me)…hunger for more….
Click here to read my Hunger Games Books Two and Three review.
