Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

My apologies that The Hunger Games have taken over the blog this week. I just happened to read the second book and see the first movie within the same week. Also, my thoughts below contain spoilers, so skip it if you haven't yet read Catching Fire. 

I do a lot of my reading in the evening, usually devoting an hour or two before I go to sleep to reading. What I've come to realize about reading the Hunger Games series is that they give me wicked disturbing nightmares. When i'm actually reading the book I'm not scared or overly shaken, but I think the notion of killing other humans to survive and the setting of this dystopian future must manifest itself in my brain and bring these crazy dark thoughts forth when I fall asleep. 

Anyhow, beyond the nightmares, I did like this book, but I thought the first was better. I felt like the first half of this one lagged and didn't really pick up until it was announced they would be going back into the hunger games. (Even the hunger games in this book weren't nearly as exciting as they were in the first.)  It's also a pet peeve of mine when authors reiterate plot points from the first book in a series into a second, as if the audience forgot main parts of the first book. Suzanne Collins did just that, quite often, which got on my nerves. 

But once I got beyond that, my interest was sparked after Katniss met the two women from district 8 in the woods and they related their belief that District 13 was never actually demolished, citing the mockingjay that continually appears in the upper right corner of the screen. That was really the first scene when I thought okay, this is going to get good. I also liked how it examined the life of the winning tributes beyond the hunger games, and what kind of live they eventually live. 

I think Catching Fire might be more of a bridge between the first and third novels of the series than a stand alone gem, like Hunger Games. It lacked the magic and and excitement that the first exuded. I do plan on reading Mockingjay. I'm thinking this one will detail a full-on revolution of all or most of the districts in Panam. I'd love to see Katniss lead this revolution, as she has unknowingly become a sort of martyr for it. I'd also be happy if she ended up with Gale. I can't help it, it's the 16-year-old girl in me. 

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2009

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I realize I am one of the last book bloggers to give in and read The Hunger Games. Let me be honest, a big part about why I picked up this book is because of its upcoming movie adaption. A lot of people are talking about it and after I watched the trailer I decided to give the book a shot. I don't normally incorporate the young adult genre into my reading diet, but I'm happy I gave it a try. The Hunger Games turned out to be a fun and entertaining read.

The dytopian novel follows Katniss Everdeen in the nation of Panem - an area that was once called North America. Kat finds herself volunteering as tribute for the Hunger Games, an annual battle where 24 children between the ages of twelve and eighteen fight to the death until one victor is left. While I felt the start of the novel was a bit slow, I became very interested in the novel once the battle began. I was enthralled with the details of Kat's survival tactics and strategies; I wanted to see her succeed. Collins does a fantastic job roping the reader in to this disturbing and violent world. (I should also mention she had me thinking about my own lack of survival skills/general outdoorsy-ness and the fact that I would never survive in the Hunger Games. I can't even watch the Outdoor Channel without wanting to cry.) Throughout the continuous action of the latter half of the novel I was really rooting for Kat. I did, however, have one gripe with the last 50 pages of the book. I felt like Collins did such a good job creating this dystopian world where struggling to survive is the utmost priority, and suddenly a love story is thrown into the mix. It seemed like Collins felt she had to incorporate a romantic angle and I could have done without it.

With that being said, I did have a lot of fun with this one and I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a little escapism in a novel they won't want to put down. I'm interested to find out what develops in the second novel and I'm really looking forward to the movie.

Publisher: Scholastic, 2008

The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist

In The Unit, Holmqvist introduces us to a world in which "dispensables" - single women over the age of 50 and single men over the age of 60 without children and without jobs in progressive industries - are escorted out of their home and brought to The Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material where they are subjected to pharmaceutical tests and forced to donate organs, first kidneys, skin and eventually a final donation. Because these dispensable citizens are no longer contributing to society in a conventional way, their organs are harvested and given to more productive members of society.

Anyway: those who safeguard growth and democracy and welfare, they're not the ones who own my life. And life is capital. A capital that is to be fairly divided among the people in a way that promotes reproduction and growth, welfare and democracy. I am only a steward, taking care of my vital organs.

Interesting premise; poor execution. Holmqvist didn't built her world in a believable way. Overall I felt it lacked depth; there wasn't enough for me to be invested in the characters or the premise and much of the novel felt contrived. I also had some issues with the believability of certain events near the end of the book. I'm normally a fan of dystopians, but compared to the works of Atwood and Orwell, Holmqvist didn't measure up.

However, it wasn't a total flop. The book made me think about the way we treat our non-conventional citizens and it explores the power of female friendships and the human will to survive. I'd say the novel is only semi-interesting and while it did provoke me to think outside of the box, these moments were so few and far between that overall it was disappointing. If you're looking to read a dystopian done right, I'd suggest you skip this one and try The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood.

Publisher: Other , 2006

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

I've been on a bit of a Margaret Atwood kick lately. After each handful of books I read by other authors, I start craving some Margaret Atwood. She always delivers with a unique and engrossing novel. For every Atwood novel I've read this year, I feel like I've gotten to know a new side of the author.

The Year of the Flood is Atwood's followup to Oryx and Crake, which I loved. Like Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood takes place in a world that is nothing like the one we know, but is so realistic and deeply complex that you can't help but be sucked into it. We are brought back to the same world Atwood portrayed in Oryx and Crake, but offered a refreshingly new perspective. I don't think I can explain this world that would make much sense, but it includes The Gardeners as led by Adam One, Painballers who are excruciatingly punished for their bad behavior, the corrupt and tyrannical CorpSeCorps, and Ren and Toby, two women who have survived the "waterless flood" and are the alternating narrators of the novel. While Oryx and Crake focused more on why the world became a disease ridden planet and its players, The Year of the Flood examines the everyday life of the humans trying to survive in this world.

I read Oryx and Crake back in August and while that wasn't too long ago, the story wasn't fresh in my head. I found myself wishing I had read it right before The Year of the Flood because at first I felt a little lost. I kept questioning my reading comprehension and finally just went with it. About half-way through the novel different elements started to piece together and the story became quite compelling.

They Year of the Flood speaks to the all-to-familiar complications of modern day technology, genetic engineering, consumerism and authoritarian corporations. In an author's note in the back of the book, Atwood writes, "The Year of the Flood is fiction, but the general tenancies and many of the details are alarmingly close to fact." For me, this is one of the reasons this story, and the dystopians Margaret Atwood creates, are so mind-blowing. These stories seem so far removed from today's world at a glance, but upon further reflection they could very well turn into our reality.

Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2009

A note on this edition: I found this UK edition at Half Price Books and loved the cover. Lately I have been thinking I like UK cover art more than it's US counterpart. Or, as Jackie from FarmLaneBooks suggested, maybe we just want what we can't have.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Wow and wow. This is a fantastic book.

It's hard to summarize Oryx and Crake. So, I'm going to cheat and use the synopsis on the back of the book: "Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beutiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey - with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake - through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride." 

Oryx and Crake is much less a love story than it is a glimpse into a very realistic world that, unfortunately, doesn't seem so distant. While the world Atwood portrays is completely realistic it is, at the same time, so far beyond anything I could ever dream up. Not only is Atwood a fantastic writer, she is also a very imaginative story teller.

This book takes a little while to pick up. It is the first book in the MadAddam Trilogy, so Atwood has to lay the groundwork for the following novels (the second of which has been published and I will be purchasing immediately, The Year of the Flood). So, if you do pick this up I beg you to give it a chance. We are talking at least 200 pages. Trust me, it's very worth it. 

For me, this was one of those rare books that both challenges and changes the way I look at society and the inner workings of the world. Atwood exaggerates our post-modern society, removing standard ideals and values, and shows us what the human race is capable of at it's very worst. My description makes the book sound utterly depressing but I promise you it's not. While Atwood destroys the human race, she creates the Children of Crake; creatures so innocent and endearing in their own way, creatures made without the destructive forces of humanity, the reader can't help but become intrigued. There are also glimpses of hope and kindness, passages that made me smile:

"They understood about dreaming. He knew that: they dreamed themselves. Crake hadn't been able to eliminate dreams. We're hard-wired for dreams, he'd said. He couldn't get rid of the singing either. We're hard-wired for singing. Singing and dreams were intertwined.

Like The Handmaid's Tale, Atwood creates a world that is so detailed and unique, completely bizarre yet completely realistic. It's a complex novel that left me thinking long after I put it down. Ultimately, this book makes you think in a way that you may not have before and for me, those are the best kind of books. I can't wait to start The Year of the Flood.

Publisher: Anchor Books, a division of Random House, 2003

Hang On to the Words

Reading now: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

"Hang on to the words," he tells himself. The odd words, the old words, the rare ones. Valance. Norn. Serendipity. Pibroch. Lubricious. When they're gone out of his head, these words, they'll be gone, everywhere, forever. As if they had never been."

One of my all-time favorite books is Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, a wonderfully creative dystopian novel. Oryx and Crake is my second Atwood and so far, it's just as good as my first. After I finished The Woman Warrior I was looking at books on my TBR pile trying to decide what to read next. I picked up Oryx and Crake to read a page or two and get a feel for the narrative - 70 pages later I realized I had inadvertently decided.