The Hunger Games

I read The Hunger Games yesterday. Well, mostly. I think I read the first two or three chapters the night before.

You see, Allison and I had plans to see The Hunger Games movie over the weekend but the plans fell through. So we decided to use a LivingSocial deal for one of the local theaters to see the movie this week. The coupon was only good for Monday through Thursday and Allison worked at 6am every morning except Thursday. That meant that Wednesday was the night for the movie.

Allison had read the book a while ago and really liked it. I can't remember who she found out about it from but it came highly recommended. When we didn't see the movie over the weekend she guessed that I could read the book before we went to see the movie. I liked the book okay. I didn't find it quite as enjoyable as most other people I've heard talk about it.

For one thing it is written in the first person which I don't like quite as much as the third person with Point-of-View, which seems to be the main perspective used in modern fantasy and sci-fi, which of course is my main reading material. I think that first person is probably more difficult to write in and I'm not sure that Suzanne Collins was really up to it. I don't know if she had used it in previous novels but I don't know about it here. I think I understand why she did it. None of the other characters would have been as interesting as POV characters as the main character, Katniss. And getting the inner thoughts of Katniss is obviously easiest this way. A lot of the novel is spent with Katniss alone trying to stay alive with nothing but her thoughts. But still, I am not sure it was really well done.

The story itself is interesting enough but being the person I am I of course would have wished for more background of the world itself. And here is where the first person comes in, we can only know as much or see as much as Katniss knows or sees. We only get as much character development in the other characters as much as they develop in Katniss' eyes. She had a couple good relationships with other characters, but she wasn't the most likable character herself.

As for the movie, it necessarily compressed a lot and changed a bunch. As with most adaptations you are left wondering why they made which decisions, especially considering that the author herself wrote the screenplay. I enjoyed the movie but the other characters were even less developed than in the book. The actress who played Katniss was good and she made Katniss more likable than in the book. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

I enjoyed the movie, though it won't be making a top 10 list or anything. I'm glad I saw it and enjoyed a date out with my wife.