Hunger Games Series

AngieMB · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 142

I just finished Mockingjay last night (I was a little slow finishing up this series), but I wanted to finish before the movie was released. Now I am in a funk because of how it all ended. I first read Hunger Games about a year ago and didn't feel compelled to read Catching Fire, but I read it last week and really, really enjoyed it. So I immediately started on Mockingjay after that, but now I wish I hadn't read it. I mean there was certainly no way I wouldn't have read it to find out what happens, but now I'm wishing for the excitement I felt when I finished the second book.
I really came to care about these characters, and I didn't feel that any of them had a good ending.

Do you think that when they make the final book into a movie that they will tweak the ending a little so that it is a little more satisfying for the audience or even that they may go so far as to leave certain characters alive that she killed off in the book? I'm sure the author probably wouldn't want to do that, but what do you think? And would you want her to change certain things for the movie to make if better?

xina · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 6630 Location: minneapolis

My daughter just finished reading this series last night and loved it. I haven't started the first book yet, but will read it, because she is excited for the movie, and I'll most likely see it with her. As for changing the ending in movies from books, they do that quite a bit. And I find it annoying. Two off the top of my head...The Time Traveler's Wife, and The Notebook. Completely different endings making me say..."That didn't happen!!"
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Linda in sw va · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 4708

I would be interested to know this as well! I haven't read the last book but i've been spoiled on it, I don't think I will be reading it. It really is a pretty cruel and depressing series and if there's no happy ending after you've made it that far..I don't think it's for me. The first two books were enough. My daughter's read it and she enjoyed them all, she can read some pretty dark books though, one of her favorite authors is Stephen King.

Linda
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xina · Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 6630 Location: minneapolis

Linda in sw va · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 4708

Niftybergin · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1067

AngieMB · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 142

maggie b. · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 2263

The ending to Mockingjay was a bit abrubt wasn't it? As if she couldn't stand to write the happy stuff for us after putting us through hell. I was thrilled with the pairing at the end though. It made all my reading worth it. And the final scene in the field, too.

Maggie B.
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AngieMB · Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 142

Niftybergin, that fanfic really helped a lot. I feel much better about it all now. Can you recommend anymore stories as well written as that one was?

I was thumbing through the HG movie companion book yesterday, and it said that Suzanne Collins was a script writer before she wrote books, and she wrote the script for the movie. I think this series is probably going to do well on the big screen, and I'm once again anticipating seeing the movie. So I guess it didn't take me long to get excited about it all over again. It is a great series, despite any of the problems I had with the final book.

Niftybergin · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1067

maggie b. · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 2263

Niftybergin · Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 1067

EDavis · Joined: 04 Feb 2013 Posts: 22 Location: Netherlands

I am not sure that they will tweak the movies. I think they will likely be a close reflection of the books. Even though the first movie so far was not 100%. What did you no like exactly. I really enjoyed all three books and found it to be fun reading. Though, it took me a bit of time to get used to the author's writing style, which kindof drove me crazy at first. Also, the fact that the concept comes from a Japanese movie that I saw years ago about some kids who have to pick each other off on a island.
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maggie b. · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 2263

Nana · Joined: 02 Apr 2007 Posts: 898

I found Mockingjay to be disappointing because I think the author stepped out of her comfort zone. Katniss fell down the Harry Potter rabbit hole - it has to be all about her all the time. I would have preferred to see a smaller, more personal story about Katniss while the larger revolution played out elsewhere.

As for Battle Royale, maggieB, I see them as separate commentaries on the same situation. As one blogger pointed out, pretty much everybody in Battle Royale is a psychopath, so if you want character analysis, Hunger Games is the better story. I also think Hunger Games is far from one dimensional, and certainly the message about violence can't be simplified to "it's bad." It is, after all, what keeps the protagonists alive. Although part of what frustrated me about the ending of Mockingjay was that killing Prim, in my opinion, broke up her commentary/symbolic message of violence and suffering by some as necessary to preserve peace for the weak and vulnerable.

Hunger Games comments on desensitization to violence and the ultimate extent of voyeurism, on individual sacrifice and the concept of something "worth dying for," on the role of mass media in politics, on the role of manipulation in mass media, especially the "characters" played by reality TV stars... I think it's interesting.