Reading Hunger Games
Mar. 24th, 2011 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oanjaSo I have read a few of those read-along-blog type of things and they are a lot of fun, so I thought "Hey why don't I try to do that too!" And here I am amusing myself with this. I saw Hunger Games in the bookstore this week and bought it, because I was curious about it. It was a good pick for this read-through thing as well because it only has 375 pages and I don't expect it to be a very hard read.
Okay things I know about the book beforehand (after reading the back cover):
- I hate that the back cover gives away basically the whole plot... I mean wtf dudes?
- It's a trilogy
- Twilight author gives it high praise as well as Stephen King. (don't know how to feel about those two sharing a page like that)
- It has a game in it?
- People sometimes post secrets about it on fandomsecrets so I think they are making a movie for it. That would mean it's been quite popular.
Things I know (or think I know) after reading Chapter one:
- The main character is a 16 year old girl called Katniss, she takes care of her family by hunting (and working in a mine?). It's not really allowed to leave the district but she does so anyway with her friend Gale.
- They live in some kind of dystopian world that has somewhat regressed in technology but they still have electricity (when it works) and TV of some kind. But they eat from wooden bowls and don't have doctors etc.
- We are introduced to the world and some stuff about the Hunger Games is explained. (hah infodump)
- Katniss' sister get's picked (she's only twelve so she would pretty certainly die if she went) but we already know Katniss is going to take her place (way to spoil me on that, back-cover.)
My thoughts:
- This idea is totally ripped off from Battle Royal. Well I can't be sure until I get to the actual games but I will stand by my initial reaction for now.
- This Gale is the romantic interest, he has to be. Also I think he's going to get picked too and there will be all this angsting about how they will have to fight to the death. (because only one can get out alive)
- If there are about 8000 people living in district 12 and all districts are about the same size that would mean there are 96,000 people living in them and then the people in the Capital. That can't be all the people alive in the former USA now can it? Are there other sity states like this Panem? What has happened in other parts of the world?
- Katniss says she goes to school. What for? I mean if she would have been destined to go work in the mines why bother to educate her or anyone? And what would they be learning in this school? Is it more like trade skills as opposed to high school in our world?
Chapter two
What happens:
- Katniss volunteers to go instead of her sister, everyone is surprised because that never happens in their district.
- She instantly becomes some kind of a hero to the people (I bet this is going to be important later) and they kind of salute her.
- A boy who is the same age as Katniss is picked from the lottery. His name is Peeta Mellark. (so I was wrong about Gale getting picked) but the other stuff is still valid for Katniss thinks he saved her (and her family) from starving to death when they were eleven.
Thoughts:
- It seems that everyone doesn't work in the mine (my bad)
- Where are they getting grain? If the town is surrounded by the fence and nobody is allowed to go outside?
- Nothing much happens in this chapter, it's mostly flashback and very short. Onwards!
Chapter three
What happens:
- Katniss has a chance to say goodbye to her family. Gale and the mayors daughter (who gives Katniss a pin shaped like a bird. Maybe it's the same as in the cover) come by as well and so does Peeta's father.
- Gale and Katniss talk about the games and I don't know how they change the environment so drastically every time. Do the games take place in different parts of the country? Or can they actually create artificial environments. I guess I'll have to wait and find out.
- I find out that the country actually does cover all of the USA because district 12 is in the Appalachian mountains and the Capitol is in the Rocky mountains. Now that makes even less sense to me...
- They have super fast trains and can engineer genetically altered animals. I guess that Capital lives totally differently than the districts.
- They have dinner.
My thoughts:
- Obviously Gale at least had/has a crush on Katniss.
- I learn that they do mostly teach the kids about coal mining in school
- The kids who fight have sponsors. What good is that? They get stuff if they survive? Or do they get to take stuff into the games if they get it from the sponsors. Dunno...
Then some vids about HBO's Game of Thrones that will begin next month. Looks really cool, I'm really looking forwards to it, because if you don't count Legend of the Seeker when has there been a real fantasy show on TV?
I haven't read the books but I think that might just be a good thing, that way I can just enjoy the show and not nit-pick at every detail they might have gotten wrong.
And another one
and one more
Whee~ I hope it will be good! \0/
Okay things I know about the book beforehand (after reading the back cover):
- I hate that the back cover gives away basically the whole plot... I mean wtf dudes?
- It's a trilogy
- Twilight author gives it high praise as well as Stephen King. (don't know how to feel about those two sharing a page like that)
- It has a game in it?
- People sometimes post secrets about it on fandomsecrets so I think they are making a movie for it. That would mean it's been quite popular.
Things I know (or think I know) after reading Chapter one:
- The main character is a 16 year old girl called Katniss, she takes care of her family by hunting (and working in a mine?). It's not really allowed to leave the district but she does so anyway with her friend Gale.
- They live in some kind of dystopian world that has somewhat regressed in technology but they still have electricity (when it works) and TV of some kind. But they eat from wooden bowls and don't have doctors etc.
- We are introduced to the world and some stuff about the Hunger Games is explained. (hah infodump)
- Katniss' sister get's picked (she's only twelve so she would pretty certainly die if she went) but we already know Katniss is going to take her place (way to spoil me on that, back-cover.)
My thoughts:
- This idea is totally ripped off from Battle Royal. Well I can't be sure until I get to the actual games but I will stand by my initial reaction for now.
- This Gale is the romantic interest, he has to be. Also I think he's going to get picked too and there will be all this angsting about how they will have to fight to the death. (because only one can get out alive)
- If there are about 8000 people living in district 12 and all districts are about the same size that would mean there are 96,000 people living in them and then the people in the Capital. That can't be all the people alive in the former USA now can it? Are there other sity states like this Panem? What has happened in other parts of the world?
- Katniss says she goes to school. What for? I mean if she would have been destined to go work in the mines why bother to educate her or anyone? And what would they be learning in this school? Is it more like trade skills as opposed to high school in our world?
Chapter two
What happens:
- Katniss volunteers to go instead of her sister, everyone is surprised because that never happens in their district.
- She instantly becomes some kind of a hero to the people (I bet this is going to be important later) and they kind of salute her.
- A boy who is the same age as Katniss is picked from the lottery. His name is Peeta Mellark. (so I was wrong about Gale getting picked) but the other stuff is still valid for Katniss thinks he saved her (and her family) from starving to death when they were eleven.
Thoughts:
- It seems that everyone doesn't work in the mine (my bad)
- Where are they getting grain? If the town is surrounded by the fence and nobody is allowed to go outside?
- Nothing much happens in this chapter, it's mostly flashback and very short. Onwards!
Chapter three
What happens:
- Katniss has a chance to say goodbye to her family. Gale and the mayors daughter (who gives Katniss a pin shaped like a bird. Maybe it's the same as in the cover) come by as well and so does Peeta's father.
- Gale and Katniss talk about the games and I don't know how they change the environment so drastically every time. Do the games take place in different parts of the country? Or can they actually create artificial environments. I guess I'll have to wait and find out.
- I find out that the country actually does cover all of the USA because district 12 is in the Appalachian mountains and the Capitol is in the Rocky mountains. Now that makes even less sense to me...
- They have super fast trains and can engineer genetically altered animals. I guess that Capital lives totally differently than the districts.
- They have dinner.
My thoughts:
- Obviously Gale at least had/has a crush on Katniss.
- I learn that they do mostly teach the kids about coal mining in school
- The kids who fight have sponsors. What good is that? They get stuff if they survive? Or do they get to take stuff into the games if they get it from the sponsors. Dunno...
Then some vids about HBO's Game of Thrones that will begin next month. Looks really cool, I'm really looking forwards to it, because if you don't count Legend of the Seeker when has there been a real fantasy show on TV?
I haven't read the books but I think that might just be a good thing, that way I can just enjoy the show and not nit-pick at every detail they might have gotten wrong.
And another one
and one more
Whee~ I hope it will be good! \0/
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-24 10:44 pm (UTC)Oooh the Game of Thrones looks good! I've seen some trailers before but they were tiny compared to these. But yey, it doesn't look cheap! I consider Merlin to be fantasy too, so it's not been that long. Not that there'd ever be too many if they are well made :)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 08:51 pm (UTC)Yeah it seems like HBO went all out (but usually they do), I'm really looking forwards to it already. And oops I totally forgot Merlin... xD But yeah it general there are very few fantasy shows on TV
no subject
Date: 2011-03-25 09:04 pm (UTC)Me too. Even though I'll probably wait a while longer befre starting to watch it because I prefer to watch episodes in a row. Heh well Merlin is more like yey slashy goodness! than Really Good fantasy so I'm not surprised :)
Yes too few! Lot's of scifi but not so much fantasy...