The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008)
In a dystopian future, North America has been divided into 13 districts with a capital in the center. Life is harsh, but the attempted revolution was squashed by the capital. To punish the districts and remind them who is boss, the capital took drastic measures: district 13 was destroyed and the hunger games were instituted. Each year, “tributes” in the form of 1 boy and 1 girl (between the ages of 12 – 18) are selected and sent to an arena for a battle royale. Only 1 child will leave the arena alive. The whole spectacle is televised, and citizens are required to watch. Tributes are selected by a drawing, but not everyone has an equal chance of their name being selected. The youngest children have their name entered only once, and with each year their name is entered more times. Additionally, a family may enter their children’s names multiple times in exchange for a minimum amount of food and fuel, which the poorest families must do to survive. Finally, one child may volunteer to take the place of a selected child. In the richer districts, “careers” or children who train their whole lives to compete for the glory of being a victor may fight for the honor of competing, while in the poorer districts volunteers are only found when an older sibling takes the place of a younger. And so we follow Katniss, an older girl who finds herself competing in the hunger games in a fight for survival.
While I have been toying with the idea of starting this series, I have been too embarrassed to wander into the teen section of my library, so when I found the book on the “recent returns” cart, i subtly added it to my pile. I will admit, it was a much better read then expected – I burned through it on a lazy Saturday. While the battle royale is not exactly my cup of tea, the killings had pleasantly few details, and the tactics were interesting. First, like so many tv shows, the contenders formed a series of alliances, which comes with all the tension of knowing that at some point your ally must become your enemy. The “careers” appeared to callously band together to quickly take out the weak, while others allied more out of compassion. A second element was the televised aspect. Cameras followed the contenders at all times, and coverages seems to be something like the Olympics. If a contest wins the heart of the watchers, for a hefty fee the watchers can send prizes to the contenders – gifts of food, medicine or other necessities. At the same time, the gamemakers are also watching, and if the pace becomes too slow they will amp up the challenges – destroying comforts the contenders have found (fresh water sources), adding more challenges (more extreme temperatures) and driving contenders together to ensure more bloodshed. All in all, I can see why this has become a hit series, but I am not sure how this extends through two more books, and I still have no interest in seeing the movie.
