The Hunger Games

I know, I know, I'm late to the party.  Like really late.  But in this case it is way better to be late than not come at all.  Man, have I been missing out on this business.  Knowing we would have such a long car ride to Minnesota, I decided I would load my Kindle with the first Hunger Games book so I would have something to read on the way there.    Unfortunately, we started driving at night and I didn't have a good light for my Kindle, so on the way there I didn't get much reading done and I tried my best to do some while Nolan was napping during the course of the trip.  I eventually finished the first book the day we got back and I started and finished the second book in under 24 hours.  I started and finished the third book in two days.  After reading the second book, I literally had chills and not even a minute later I had the third one loaded and began reading it.  So in under a week, I read all of the books.  I seriously couldn't put them down.  I took my Kindle everywhere with me for the hopes that I could get a few words in.

It is such an interesting storyline and one that always keeps you on the edge of your seat.  I thought the second one was the best of the three, then the first one, then the third one.  But, all were absolutely fantastic.  For those who haven't read them, I'm not going to talk about it too much because I really don't want to ruin anything for you, but the premise is that 2 children, ages 12-18, from each district (one boy and one girl) get chosen every year to compete in the Hunger Games where the tributes fight to the death.  Once chosen, the whole thing becomes a reality show in the way that the tributes are presented to the world with their costumes, interviews, and eventually the games.  The world watches everything that they do, and can hear everything that they say during the games.

When I look at how many reality shows we have these days, it strangely makes me think of our society in the fact that we can't get enough of watching what other people do.  Whether it is completely tragic,  ridiculous, or enviously fortunate, we are becoming too obsessed with other people.  We want to see others fail more than we want them to succeed.  So the fact that the Capitol enjoys putting the Hunger Games on every year sort of reflects who we are right now.  It's kind of crazy to think about.

After completing the books, I became quite obsessed and started watching some YouTube videos to see trailers of the first movie.  I wanted to see how they portrayed everything and the type of characters they picked for each part.  I am really excited to see the first movie, which comes out on Blu Ray on August 18th.  Eeeeek I can't wait!  If you haven't read these, you must!

Here is a great trailer that gives a good indication of what the first book is about.  Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of here.