Peps' Reading List: Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy

Ever since 2012 rolled in, I kept telling myself that I should make time to read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I had known about the book trilogy for a couple of years already, but had put off purchasing my own copy due to a couple of reasons.

One of those reasons was Battle Royale by Takami Koushun, which I had acquired a few years ago on an impulse book buy.  The Japanese novel also featured a dystopian society and kids randomly chosen to battle it out to the death until one is left alive.  I became such a fan of Battle Royale that I was a little wary of reading another piece of fiction that featured a very similar concept.

But I always knew that I would get around to reading The Hunger Games.

I bought my copy of The Hunger Games trilogy at last year's Manila International Book Festival, and ended up shelving it for the rest of the year, which is so horrendously uncharacteristic of me.  With tons of stuff to watch, as well as work, I had put off reading anything aside from manga for a while.

I felt that I was rusty from reading novels, so I allotted myself two weeks to read the first book of The Hunger Games trilogy before the film adaptation screened in theaters.

I ended up reading the first book in under four hours. Oops.

I also originally decided to put off reading the sequel books until after I watched the film, but ended up reading them right after the first.  I finished Catching Fire and Mockingjay with a total reading time of under six hours.  Ummm.... Oops again.

So, instead of making individual posts for each book, I ended up creating one for the entire The Hunger Games trilogy.  Since the sequel books divulge information regarding the previous installments, I would have to warn those who have yet to read the trilogy that there are plenty of spoilers(!!) ahead.

The Hunger Games introduces us to Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl who lives in poor District 12.  In order to support her family, Katniss hunts for game with bow and arrow outside the electrified fence of her district, accompanied by her best friend Gale Hawthorne.  She and her sister, Primrose, attend the Reaping together, an annual lottery system that determines the year's tributes to The Hunger Games at the Capitol.  From the selection that included all the boys and girls between the ages 12 and 18, Prim's name is drawn, prompting Katniss to volunteer in her sister's stead.  She is joined by District 12's male tribute, Peeta Mellark, who has a shared history with Katniss.  The two travel to the Capitol, where they must be prepared to fight to the death with 22 other tributes from the 11 other districts until one lone survivor is proclaimed winner.

Catching Fire continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, co-champion of the recently concluded 74th Hunger Games.  Katniss finds herself in trouble with the government after it is deemed that her actions at the Hunger Games can potentially incite rebellion among the different districts of Panem.  She has to act properly in the upcoming Victory Tour in order to appease President Snow, who threatens her family, Peeta, Gale and everyone she cares about.  While her sense of security slowly unravels, she and Peeta also prepare to join Haymitch Abernathy as mentors for District 12 in the upcoming 75th Hunger Games.  The upcoming games are also, unfortunately, a Quarter Quell event, and it featured a special and cruel rule that will once again place her life in danger.

Mockingjay finds Katniss in the middle of the fight between the Capitol and the rebel forces.  Heavily pressured by the rebellion to become their mockingjay, Katniss has to deal with her experiences at the Quarter Quell, which has left her physically, mentally and emotionally scarred.  Everything is made worse when she finds out that District 12 has been bombed to ashes and Peeta imprisoned at the Capitol.  Headquartered at the long thought destroyed District 13, the rebel forces attempt to take down the Capitol and its leader, President Snow, as well as try to gain support from the other districts of Panem.  With Peeta at the hands of the enemy, Gale angrily focused on participating at the rebellion, and their lives in constant danger, Katniss finds herself trying desperately to hold on to everything she loves and her own sanity.

There was a moment when I thought that I would just watch the film and forgo reading the trilogy.  Thank the heavens I decided against that moment of insanity.  Really, I don't even know where that thought came from.

Considering its theme and scope, I had expected The Hunger Games trilogy to be epic.  Even with that expectation, though, I was still surprised about the kind of impact it would have on me as a reader.  The Hunger Games was a more than decent beginning to the trilogy, providing great insight on the lead character Katniss and how her mind works, as well as in educating us on the horrors of the Hunger Games that is perpetrated by the Capitol of Panem.

Suzanne Collins has cited various influences in creating The Hunger Games trilogy, including the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, the Roman gladiators and the recent proliferation of reality television programming.  The introduction of the Hunger Games as a celebrated (in the Capitol, at least) televised program gives the event a streak of cruelty, especially since the 12 districts are forced to watch the death of their citizens via mandatory communal viewing.  There is much emphasis on the violence of the event, but the various deaths comes swift in the telling of The Hunger Games, which is attributed to avoid providing too much graphic descriptions to its intended audience.

Had The Hunger Games been a stand alone novel and not part of a trilogy, I would not have been as impressed.  It is meant to be read as part of a whole, and for once, I am glad that I did not have the patience to wait before reading its succeeding volumes.  The importance of Catching Fire and Mockingjay is that they provide us a vivid picture of what happens after the Hunger Games take place.  While not many readers could have ever known what it would mean to live in a dystopian society, the depiction of Panem, it's capital and its districts provide you with an understanding of why its citizens act the way they do based on where they live.

And in the aftermath of the Hunger Games, we understand why it makes sense for Katniss to devolve at various points in the trilogy.  Given her history, her experiences and her temperament, it would not have made sense if Katniss suddenly decided to have a positive viewpoint and suddenly become the leader of a rebellion at seventeen.  She lives in a world that does not offer any easy decisions. If you think that you would have done differently or acted more positively, you are thinking based on how you have lived your life and not how you would have lived your life if you actually lived in Panem.

Katniss is surrounded by plenty of supporting characters, from the kind hearted Peeta, the passionate Gale, the quietly brave Prim, and the misguided citizenry of Capitol.  But even if the narrative wasn't in the first person, the story would have returned to Katniss time and again.  It is through her eyes that we see the struggle and her experiences that will evoke empathetic feelings of heartbreak and despair.

They claim that there is a happy end to The Hunger Games trilogy.  But even the quiet life that is awarded to Katniss is devoid of complete peace.  You are left fervently hoping that her personal game to regain comfort time and again will one day provide absolute resolution.

Though you will also be accepting if that resolution or release never arrives.

Because no one ever really recovers from The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games trilogy is marketed for young adults.  I don't know if this is something that I can make my future children read at a young age, since its themes are definitely far from the fluffy supernatural romance that seem to have proliferated in the young adult fiction category nowadays.

But I do know I want them to read it someday.

I'm still debating, though, whether that someday is when they're thirteen or thirty.

Happy reading!!

**All book cover images courtesy of Wikipedia.

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