Through a variety of sources I'd learned about the existence of the Hunger Games books before I heard much about there being a movie being made. I decided to check out the books from the library a few months ago and for each book was on a waiting list of about 24 people or so. I enjoyed the story and writing so much that I finished each book within a few days. The story kept my attention the whole way through and was a definite page-turner.
When hearing about the Hunger Games for the first time, I was sort of horrified at the premise (as are other people when I tell them about the books I'm reading). If you don't already know, it's about a post-apocalyptic society with a central government who uses the Games to show their power over the masses. The annual Hunger Games involves drawing names of two adolescents from each of the twelve districts to fight each other to the death in a glorified type of arena until one victor remains. Reminiscent of the gladiator games in ancient Rome, but using children instead of adult gladiators. Pretty grim.
The books don't glorify the Games, rather show how the Games end up serving as a platform to strengthen a revolution to overthrow the government. Yes, people die in the book, yes some are killed by other children. So it's still not easy reading, but it's not really gory either. A majority of the kids who die are killed by phenomena that are a result of the game makers booby-trapping the arena or a lack of survival skills. The book tells the story of one girl's effort to survive not only the Games, but poverty and oppression as well. The story encourages the reader to question what we are capable of as a society, human survival instincts, and various thought provoking issues.
The thing I struggle with is that this is young adult fiction. What's the other most popular young adult fiction book series that has been made into a movie recently? Twilight - a book about vampires and werewolves, violence and sexuality. I have not read the Twilight books, so I'm not an authority on the details. Maybe the premise just sounds freaky, as my original impression of the Hunger Games was. But I am fairly certain from what I've heard, that the issues discussed are beyond what I was prepared to deal with as a very young adolescent.
I try to think back on the books I used to read at that age and they were more of the Christian teen fiction, Historical or Romantic fiction types of books. I know as a high schooler we explored deep issues and looked back at difficult times in history, but I'm just not sure at what age books like Twilight and the Hunger Games are appropriate. Maybe I was sheltered or maybe I'm not remembering my childhood very well, but is anyone else a little leery of the subject matter for the most popular young adult fiction of our time? I'm thinking mostly about the lower end of the age spectrum, 10-13 year old's. Maybe it's just because I'm a parent of a toddler and I struggle to imagine at what age he will be ready to be exposed to these types of issues. Maybe by the time he's 10 I'll understand. The vampire fiction is actually a whole other topic, because even now, in my 30s, I'm not a fan and don't really ever want to be.
When hearing about the Hunger Games for the first time, I was sort of horrified at the premise (as are other people when I tell them about the books I'm reading). If you don't already know, it's about a post-apocalyptic society with a central government who uses the Games to show their power over the masses. The annual Hunger Games involves drawing names of two adolescents from each of the twelve districts to fight each other to the death in a glorified type of arena until one victor remains. Reminiscent of the gladiator games in ancient Rome, but using children instead of adult gladiators. Pretty grim.
The books don't glorify the Games, rather show how the Games end up serving as a platform to strengthen a revolution to overthrow the government. Yes, people die in the book, yes some are killed by other children. So it's still not easy reading, but it's not really gory either. A majority of the kids who die are killed by phenomena that are a result of the game makers booby-trapping the arena or a lack of survival skills. The book tells the story of one girl's effort to survive not only the Games, but poverty and oppression as well. The story encourages the reader to question what we are capable of as a society, human survival instincts, and various thought provoking issues.
The thing I struggle with is that this is young adult fiction. What's the other most popular young adult fiction book series that has been made into a movie recently? Twilight - a book about vampires and werewolves, violence and sexuality. I have not read the Twilight books, so I'm not an authority on the details. Maybe the premise just sounds freaky, as my original impression of the Hunger Games was. But I am fairly certain from what I've heard, that the issues discussed are beyond what I was prepared to deal with as a very young adolescent.
I try to think back on the books I used to read at that age and they were more of the Christian teen fiction, Historical or Romantic fiction types of books. I know as a high schooler we explored deep issues and looked back at difficult times in history, but I'm just not sure at what age books like Twilight and the Hunger Games are appropriate. Maybe I was sheltered or maybe I'm not remembering my childhood very well, but is anyone else a little leery of the subject matter for the most popular young adult fiction of our time? I'm thinking mostly about the lower end of the age spectrum, 10-13 year old's. Maybe it's just because I'm a parent of a toddler and I struggle to imagine at what age he will be ready to be exposed to these types of issues. Maybe by the time he's 10 I'll understand. The vampire fiction is actually a whole other topic, because even now, in my 30s, I'm not a fan and don't really ever want to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment