The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: alfsauve on April 02, 2012, 03:59:11 PM
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Well, no I'm not making a political statement. I'm wondering what the Hunger Games are saying.
Haven't seen the movie, but am reading the book. Sort of required reading since it is so popular with the tween and teen sets. And since I produce videos and live productions it's best I keep up with what's popular (to an extent).
I'm only half way through...the game is just 3 days old, and I don't know how it ends so don't spoil it. I'm reflecting on what this book says politically.
Gun control. Nay, weapon control is obviously to keep the "subjects" from ever even thinking about rebelling. Possession of even a bow and arrow is punishable by death. Yet they don't question how some of the "gamers" have become proficient with swords or bow/arrow.
Everything in this apparently totalitarian system (apparent, because we don't know a lot about the political system in the capital), is about controlling the population and keeping them submissive. Little medical care. Low levels of food supplies. The "people" live in a primitive lifestyle, yet society, back in the capital is very technologically advanced.
Wonder if others have read this and have given thought to it's underlying message.
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It's a novel written for young folks Alf. I wouldn't read too much into the overall plot line.
When my daughter thinks it's a good read, I don't bother....I grew up reading Poe, Twain, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Dickens, Heller and King among dozens of other fine authors and have a difficult time reading some of the drivel that's in the bookstores these days. I much prefer a good techno thriller from Clancy or Coontz.
I'll spend a buck on the flick when it hits the Redbox...
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Your just a big kid at heart alf. I won't spoil it, but your on the right track and summary. My 17 year old son is up with the books, and since the apple don't fall far from the tree,... ;) He knows where the cache and stash is.... ::)
Standing orders in my absence:
click the skip ad button.
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Maybe don't worry about the plot or inconsistencies.
Instead, what lesson is given in the spirit and strength of the "heroes". What lessons are given by what they do, how they do it and what their success and failure mean.
If the kids love the books/movies, they will want to be like the heroes. Are the heroes what we would want our kids to be?
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TIMOTHY: While it's aimed at middle high, the appeal is through early 20's. Especially the girls, with all the love stuff. It's very influential this spring with a wide swath of "kids". I'm a little burned out on Koontz, Clancy, et. al, for the time being, so this is a nice diversion and it brings me up-to-date with the kids "lingo". "Careers" and the MockingJay pendant, etc.
(http://images.wikia.com/thehungergames/images/6/65/TheHungerGamesMockingjay.jpg)
SOLUS: The hero and love/loyalty/sacrifice are obvious, at least to me. And that may be the great takeaway most kids are getting from the book. She for her sister, he for his unrequited love of her.
I see deeper into the book. It is set in a post apocalyptic North America with one possible scenario of the future. So far not a lot about any "resistance". Am interested how book one ends. Also interested in finding out more about the political structure within the capital and the extent of their technology.
I can see how the "action" part of the book was easy to make into a movie. It comprises less than 25% of the book. The rest being the heroin's thoughts and ruminations. I fear a lot of the "hero" part will be lost to the action theme.
When I read (yes read) Godfather, shortly after it came out, I was struck with the whole loyalty to "family" thing. It impressed me greatly to the extent that I tried to ingrain it to my children. I wonder how impressionable minds will respond to this book. How will they (will they) prepare for disasters or apocalypse? How will they respond it that should happen?
Oh all sorts of fodder for social/psychological studies. Should keep grad students and tenured professors busy for many years to come.
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I made a failed attempt at getting my kid to read when she was in junior and senior HS. Because of my youth and reading all the classics, major American and English authors and studying the same in school, I figured she'd be just like me and for a time she was. I remember how proud she was when as a little girl showing me she was "reading a chapter book, Daddy!"... :D
Today, she reads several books a month and has a Kindle Fire she got from her Bo! The stuff she reads are not my cup o tea but she's reading, learning, thinking, stirring the brain up and enjoying herself. That's more than I could ask for. Someday she'll stumble on the Grapes of Wrath or A Tell Tale Heart, maybe even Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies! Long ago and far away, that was required reading in public schools!
Today, the wizard kid with the funny glasses and a stick replaces Tolkien. Kinda sad in a way...and certainly it shows in our society!
Enjoy your read...I'm going to the library tomorrow... ;)
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Alf, If you are burned out on Koontz and Clancy, I suggest anything by Vince Flynn, but in order the first 3 are
Transfer of Power
The third Option
Separation of Power
For what seem to be really good westerns about Mountain Men try William W. Johnstone
I just read the first 2 in a series and they were pretty good, the second one was much better than the first.
The Last Mountain Man
Blood on the Divide
The main character, "Preacher" is as good a character as any of LaMour's Sackett characters.
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Alf, If you are burned out on Koontz and Clancy, I suggest anything by Vince Flynn, but in order the first 3 are
Transfer of Power
The third Option
Separation of Power
For what seem to be really good westerns about Mountain Men try William W. Johnstone
I just read the first 2 in a series and they were pretty good, the second one was much better than the first.
The Last Mountain Man
Blood on the Divide
The main character, "Preacher" is as good a character as any of LaMour's Sackett characters.
If you're into the political aspect of the book, may I suggest "Ameritopia: The Unmaking of America" by Mark Levin. ;D
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There's always "Idiocracy".
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I made it through chapter 1. ;D
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Alf...I was talking about Stephen Coonts of Flight of the Intruder fame, not Dean Koontz. Never read his stuff...
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isn't the Twilight stuff/series all done with now?
So this is just the latest media to get turned from a book into a movie, a franchise really, as I suspect there will be at least one sequel, probably two.
They are out to make money off the tweens and teens, and the way to do it is with sequels.
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isn't the Twilight stuff/series all done with now?
There is one more of the Breaking Wind movies coming in December I think...I'm assuming that the devil spawn of the vampira chick will eat everybody! My daughter is already drooling over the finale...
But, she has a date with her Dad for "The Hobbit" when it comes out in December as well! :D
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Okay, done with the book.
Not terribly exciting. I see how the tween and teen are all ga-ga over the love triangle, angle.
I've read the fly leaf in the two sequels and don't think I'll read those. There's way too little action and way too much "thinking" going on.
Obviously, the "Capitals" have some fantastic technology and bio-technology. Obviously, they've used propaganda, coercion, government mandated curriculum in schools and brutal totalitarian rule to keep control over the Districts. And, obviously, they lie a lot. A LOT. District 13 lives, for example. The reader is left drifting, plot wise, since nothing has to build on anything in the past.
There are all sorts of metaphors that can be seen in the book. One could have a field day writing about what the "Capital" and "Districts" stand for. Are the "Tributes" representative of the military's of the countries of the world and do "the games" represent wars? Does this reflect what Stalin did in the 40's and 50's? What's going on in Asia the past 50 years?
An okay diversion. I will be able to use the imagery though in work to connect with the younger generation, so it was a worthwhile read from that standpoint.
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Ok, for anyone interested, I found this review of The Hunger Games on Amazon.
There were over 5000 reviews and almost all gave the book 4 or 5 stars (out of 5), with 5 well ahead.
There were 168 1 star reviews and I selected one of them that I read.
The writer of this review is 17 and obviously intelligent and, even though his review is not typical for this book, he probably hit the nail on the head. Here it is.
I'm seventeen, and everybody and their mother told me to read The Hunger Games, because "it's incredible!". I finally decided "Why not?", despite the fact that I have long given up on Young Adult novels. Sure, I've come across some good ones, but The Hunger Games is a prime example of why I don't shop in that section anymore.
For what was advertised to me as an "awesome, fast-paced adventure", I was bored out of my mind from start to finish. With every turn of the page, I thought it'd get better, thinking surely something interesting had to happen or else people wouldn't be so obsessed with it. Twilight should have taught me that people can go nuts over poorly executed literature, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt.
The book is poorly written, in the POV of the main character, Katniss. When I say "poorly written", I mean both in the construct and execution of plot and characters, AND the writing style (e.g., Lots of cliche ideas, like "it feels like I was just dreaming", and one line I remember reading was "the saltiness of the soup reminds me of my tears". I find that ridiculous, like some moping Emo-stereotype) And, because the story is in first-person, I (*spoilers*?) started the book KNOWING that she wasn't going to die (not to mention, two books follow). I didn't feel any danger for her and I didn't like her. While, admittedly, I like the CONCEPT of the book, I didn't enjoy anything about it while reading. The characters and plot are one-dimensional. It was painfully predictable. Cliche. Boring. Immature.
The sad thing is, I think teenagers like this book because it requires no thought--it has no sustenance by means of developed characters or intricate plot. If we want people my age to start reading, should we really settle for feeding them empty stories like this one?
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Whomever that 17 year old is, Solus, they're so much more knowledgeable about literature than I ever was.
I started to skip over the heroin's ruminations a little and just get to the action.
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Sounds like he has a bit of a literature background.
Collins is a TV screenwriter and a published novelist so she can sell books. I can't knock her for that but what she's writing isn't really literature any more than Danielle Steel or any number of hundreds of published novelists.
It's obvious that todays youth that read this drivel are not being taught real literary composition, structure, syntax, character and plot development or any of the basics that I (we) were taught forty years ago! Sad....there is so much more to appreciate!
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Whomever that 17 year old is, Solus, they're so much more knowledgeable about literature than I ever was.
I started to skip over the heroin's ruminations a little and just get to the action.
At 17 I was avidly reading Shakespeare and going to every production of his plays I could afford.
I also took my girlfriend at the time - who ended up going to Vassar BTW - to see Conrad's Lord Jim on the big screen. And by big screen, I mean the drive-in!! So, during the week, I went alone to see Lord Jim in a real theater, seeing as how I didn't see much of it at the drive-in. 8)
I also did my Senior report on Oscar Wilde, not knowing his - ahem - sexual proclivities. That proved interesting to report on for this little small town white-bread Midwestern kid, but his stuff is still a great read - Ballad of Reading Gaol, Importance of Being Ernest, and of course, The Picture of Dorian Grey.
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I guess we should really just be thankful that the The Hunger Game books, like the Harry Potter books at least get kids interested in reading.
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I guess we should really just be thankful that the The Hunger Game books, like the Harry Potter books at least get kids interested in reading.
Even crap can serve a useful purpose. ;D
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I went to the theater the other night to watch Hunger Games, after reading this thread, and with the intent of looking for any hidden political agendas or metaphors.
I kinda looked at it like how I looked at V for Vendetta. Clearly there was a message there.
So after the Hunger Games, I was ruminating about things in my head, and about the only thing I could come up with is it is somewhat similar to the draft we had, most likely during the Vietnam era.
I am guessing that the people living inside the Capital are the privileged ones, and their kids don't have to worry about becoming tributes.
There is a song by System of a Down called BYOB. The key lyric in the song is "WHY DO THEY ALWAYS SEND THE POOR?"
which is in reference to a lot of our enlisted troops not being money'ed enough to afford college so they enlist with hopes of using their Gi Bill to get a Bachelor's degree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_ruRSCW7B4
So I can see the similarities there between us here in the U.S. and the privileged people whose kids never have to enlist or 40 years ago never had to worry about the draft.
As far as reading material nowadays...well, I have to default to my Bill Oreilly-ism...the purpose of every medium is to sell you something, in this case a book, and a movie.
It is/was a vehicle to make money.
Kids today aren't taught to be critical thinkers or conscientous consumers of anything, especially information.