Lost In The Hunger Games

When I was a kid, summer reading meant two things.  First, it meant that in the last week of summer I would frantically be reading the two novels we were assigned before coming back to school.  I’d inevitably have put it off until the very last minute.  No doubt these would be novels with some sort of “literary significance,” containing content that would lend itself to the essay we no doubt would have to write upon returning to the classroom. 

For the rest of the summer though, I would be reading books purely for pleasure; some with “literary significance,” some without.  Somehow just not being forced to read them as an assignment made them so much more enjoyable regardless of whether they were critically applauded or not.  With more free time and the summer heat leaving one in want of air conditioning, I found myself many an afternoon walking the two blocks from our house to our local library to pick up something new.  I don’t know if its just the nostalgia of being a kid kicking in, but I fondly remember getting completely wrapped up in a book while laying on my front lawn until the fireflies came out, or reading on the beach at our annual family vacation down at the shore. That is not to say I didn’t have my full share of bike riding, sprinklers, tree climbing, chasing after an ice cream truck, obstacle course creating, hideout building, and running around the neighborhood until my feet turned black with dirt; I just had the reading as well.

These days I don’t have the summer vacations that we all used to enjoy.  Still I find myself, particularly in the summer, looking for books that capture my interest the way they used to, ones that I just can’t put down.  More serious or thoughtful books I can handle in the fall or winter, but in the summer I just want something that carries me away.  I found that in the Harry Potter series.  One year I received a particularly bad sunburn on my back when the final Harry Potter book was released conveniently on the day I left for our annual family beach vacation. I spent the entire first day on my stomach, on a towel, on the beach, lost in the story.  I probably should have flipped onto my back more often, but being over 700 pages, it was much easier to read that way.

Last week, I finished reading The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  I’d heard about it from my sister, my cousin and a number of other people as well; all saying that I would love it.  It was an easy read, so I flew through it pretty quickly (I read all three books over the course of one week) and absolutely loved it.  It was one of those stories that I just couldn’t put down.  It may or may not be a work of “literary significance,” but for what I was looking for, it was just the thing.  You know it’s a sign of a good book when you know that anything you read as a follow up is going to disappoint.  Not because it’s bad, but simply because it’s not what you just read. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for something new. A movie is in the works for sometime next year as well, and I cannot wait for that to come out.

The story is set in a post apocalyptic North America, where those who have survived have joined together to live in an organized society called Panem.  The 13 districts of Panem are ruled by its Capitol city with an iron fist until one day the 13 districts rebel.  Eventually this rebellion is quashed by the Capitol and the 13^th District is completely destroyed.  As punishment for the rebellion, the Capitol creates what they call the Hunger Games.  Every year, each of the remaining 12 districts must send two tributes, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight in an arena to the death until there is only one victor.  When the younger sister of the story’s main character is chosen at random to be the girl tribute from District 12, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her place.  She’s thrown into an adventure that kept me captivated at every turn. 

And so for now, I’m once again on the lookout for something new to capture my imagination; something to dive head-first straight into and lose myself in the story.  Who knows when it will pop up, but when it does, I’ll be ready.