First off, this story has one of the best book-to-film adaptations I have ever seen. Not only is some of the dialogue is repeated verbatim, but, without an annoying narrator, the movie is able to capture the essence of a first person narrative. Neither the book nor the movie disappoint.
I will refrain from giving a synopsis of the story, if you don’t know it then go watch the movie. However, there are a couple comments that I will discuss. Some of my ideas come from this review by Steven Greydanus and this review by Fr. Robert Barron, you have been warned, therefore it is not plagiarism :)
The first concerns the violence in both the book and the film. Perhaps it is due to my tolerance of described violence, but, in comparison to the movie, the book is tame. When I read, “The boy from District 3 only has time to turn and run before Cato catches him in a headlock from behind. I can see the muscles ripple in Cato’s arms as he sharply jerks the boy’s head to the side” (Chapter 17), I am not as stunned as I am when I see a teenager break another kid’s neck on screen. However, I want to give my respect to the movie for not glorifying the violence. It was very difficult to watch, and honestly, that is how it needed to be. The entertainment of Panem is horrific and should be dealt with as such.
My second thought is really a question. How much of the cultural critique in this book is intentional, and how much is Collins simply writing from the perspective of one who has been steeping in a Christian culture her whole life? For example, there are no Christian names in this novel. In the Capitol the names are Latin names (intentionally forcing the reader to relate the Hunger Games to the Gladiatorial Games), and in the districts the names are associated with whatever that distract is known for or the names are agricultural. What does this imply? While, whether she intended this or not, Collins effectively described a post-Christian culture. Post, because it is in the future, and post-Christian because there are no hints of Christianity or religion in this book. There’s not even the occasional “Oh my God,” in the heat of battle.
I would like to think that she did this intentionally. Why? Because, historically, there are no ritual human sacrifices en masse in Christian cultures. The Romans and the Carthaginians are pre-Christian, and the Mayans and Aztecs are outside of Christendom. Furthermore, when you add this to the fact that Panem is technologically advanced, this story practically becomes a Christian apologetic. It is not progress, science, or technology that prevents human sacrifice and gladiatorial games, it is the presence of Christianity.
Alas, perhaps I am just reading Christopher Dawson into everything. In any case, The Hunger Games is a good young adult novel, and I cannot wait to begin book two.
I wrote a really profound comment...and then I lost it because I was not properly signed in. The jest was, great review and can't wait to see what you think of the next two books!
ReplyDeleteWow. I have been avoiding this book because I thought it was probably over-hyped trash. Thanks to you, I now have an interesting frame from which to approach the novel. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm about 100 pages in. Dang. It's really good so far. I am seriously in awe of the authors skill as a story teller and the subtlety and depth of her commentary. Hopefully I'll be able to post about it soon.
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