First of all, let me say that I own all of the Twilight books and have read and re-read all of them. As many of you, I loved them...at first. I remember talking to friends, 20s-30s friends, and sharing our frustration, anger and happiness while reading the books. However, when the movies came out, I lost that feeling and started nit-picking the book and movies apart. The characters portrayed in the movie did not match the ones I'd built in my head and when the posters, t-shirts, lunch boxes, jewelry, etc. showed up, plus the fact that it turned into a pre-teen sensation, I gave up. I will try to write this post from the perspective of the 'book lover.' However, forgive me if some of my 'movie-madness' brews over and I'm sure it will.
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyers
Downside: It is written in first person. I can't stand first person. Authors please take note and stop this first person craze. (someone please explain the draw for first person..)
I'm sure I don't need to go into detail about the story since most have either read the book or seen the movie.
Questions I want answered or ideas to share:
1. Taking classic ideas about vampires and making them bogus.
Classic idea: Sunlight harms vampires.
Twilight idea: Sunlight does not harm vampires, but makes them sparkle.
Classic idea: Vampires can shape shift into bats.
Twilight idea: Not true.
You get the idea. Honestly, this never bothered me until the movie came out.
2. Bella Swan. I had such hope for this character. (I would like to plug in here that she was portrayed much better in the book then in the movie.) I see her as a typical teenage girl, still trying to find herself, who is thrown into this mystical love story.
My feelings about the movie are overshadowing my feelings about the book. Honestly, the two are now entwined together in my head to the point where I can't separate the two. I miss how I viewed the books before the movies came out.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins.
Incredible book. I couldn't put it down. My one complaint, it's in first person. Ugh! That really bothers me.
The story is told from the point of view of a teenage girl who lives in District 12. It is a colony surrounded by an electric fence that is rarely electrified. It is a post-apocalyptic society that is ruled by the Capitol. As far as the history, there were 13 colonies who rose up against the Capitol and revolted. The revolution was squashed and the 13th colony obliterated. Every year, the Capitol has the Hunger Games to remind the remaining colonies of the futility of the past revolution and discourage any new ones. The reaping is when the colonies must draw two names, one male and one female between the ages of 12-18, to be sent to the Games. I read the famous short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson when I was in high school and the reaping is much like that. The two who are chosen are sent to the Hunger Games and must fight to the death against the other tributes drawn from the remaining Districts. Basically, twenty-four teens go into the arena and only one can leave alive. The whole thing is televised and every District is required to watch. The Capitol citizens find this yearly event entertaining, while the rest of the Districts brew in disgust and anger as they watch their young men and women slaughter each other.
Questions I would like an answer to and my thoughts about this book:
1. Will Katniss choose Gale or Peeta, her two love interests, or will she push them both away? From what I've read in The Hunger Games and I'm in the middle of the second book, Catching Fire, my opinion is I don't think she will go with either one. She firmly dislikes the idea of having kids and watching them face the same atrocities in the Hunger Games and this will keep her alone.
2. Katniss is the first female character in a long time that I find myself cheering for. (Not like Bella Swan. Read my blog about Twilight. However, she can't make up her mind about two guys, much like Bella.) She isn't helpless. She is masterful with a bow and arrow and could win on her own. There is really no reason for her to team up with anyone for her own survival, but she does because she doesn't want anyone to die.
3. Will the Districts revolt against the Capitol?
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch-this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."
Incredible book. I couldn't put it down. My one complaint, it's in first person. Ugh! That really bothers me.
The story is told from the point of view of a teenage girl who lives in District 12. It is a colony surrounded by an electric fence that is rarely electrified. It is a post-apocalyptic society that is ruled by the Capitol. As far as the history, there were 13 colonies who rose up against the Capitol and revolted. The revolution was squashed and the 13th colony obliterated. Every year, the Capitol has the Hunger Games to remind the remaining colonies of the futility of the past revolution and discourage any new ones. The reaping is when the colonies must draw two names, one male and one female between the ages of 12-18, to be sent to the Games. I read the famous short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson when I was in high school and the reaping is much like that. The two who are chosen are sent to the Hunger Games and must fight to the death against the other tributes drawn from the remaining Districts. Basically, twenty-four teens go into the arena and only one can leave alive. The whole thing is televised and every District is required to watch. The Capitol citizens find this yearly event entertaining, while the rest of the Districts brew in disgust and anger as they watch their young men and women slaughter each other.
Questions I would like an answer to and my thoughts about this book:
1. Will Katniss choose Gale or Peeta, her two love interests, or will she push them both away? From what I've read in The Hunger Games and I'm in the middle of the second book, Catching Fire, my opinion is I don't think she will go with either one. She firmly dislikes the idea of having kids and watching them face the same atrocities in the Hunger Games and this will keep her alone.
2. Katniss is the first female character in a long time that I find myself cheering for. (Not like Bella Swan. Read my blog about Twilight. However, she can't make up her mind about two guys, much like Bella.) She isn't helpless. She is masterful with a bow and arrow and could win on her own. There is really no reason for her to team up with anyone for her own survival, but she does because she doesn't want anyone to die.
3. Will the Districts revolt against the Capitol?
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch-this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."
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