The Hunger Games is nothing new. This post-apocalyptic near future world seems the same as every other... actually, it seems a very simplistic model. The plucky teenage heroine has been done many times before... not as much as the teenage boy, but it's been done enough. Rags to riches. Local kid makes good... even against Big Brother. It seems improbable to me that a totalitarian government that it that brutal, corrupt, uncreative, and two faced could survive a decade let alone generations.
Now the characters are all familiar, so much so that they're almost caricatures. The author delves into the protagonist's continued dealings with personal loss... but the exploration of the theme of social justiced seemed heavy handed. The game itself has been done many times before.
Against all better judgement, I liked The Hunger Games. The first person narrative put a much more personal and realistic twist on the teenage savior story. That made me sympathetic towards Katniss... and I know I'd have disliked her if the story was presented in the third person.
The neverending setbacks and stress on Katniss is staggering. By telling the story though the first person, the author puts the reader directly into Katniss' shoes... I, for one, felt her pain, frustration, hatred, and complete mistrust of everyone.
I don't particularly like Katniss, but the sorrow of her life is real and I felt sympathy for her. I felt much more sympathetic to the people around Katniss. Peeta, Rue, and Thresh were much more likable to me. It was painful to read of Katniss' efforts in accepting and rejecting relationships with them.
I cannot put my finger on the reason, but The Hunger Games is a page turner. There is never a good place to stop... each chapter ending begs to immediately continue into the next chapter.
But I don't know that I'll be reading the sequels... until my niece turns thirteen or so.
