The Hunger Games Trilogy

[NIKI]

I'm just finishing the first book. Love it, so glad there are two more to go.

Husband asked last night, "Want to watch a movie together?" I said, "Oh, Oh no I have to see what happens to Katniss and Peeta." He says, "Who and who??" hehe

 

[anthony]

Awesome Niki... that would be a crackup. I actually said something similar to Nicolette... she wanted to go get a massage, so I told her I would take the book with me, find a nice place to sit and read, and she could find me there, as I had to find out what was going on with district 13. She just shook her head and wandered off.

 

[KP the nut]

so I told her I would take the book with me, find a nice place to sit and read.

I know I'm not reading this series, but the number of times I've said that to H. Yeah, makes me feel
normal:D

 

[ClairBear226]

I'm at the point in Book 2 where Mags walked into the toxic fog.

I wish I could get my hubby interested in the series. It's almost a primer for understanding PTSD. It would also have been really interesting discussion during the Sociology classes I've taken. Someone told me recently that they're using the books as curiculum in high schools here. I'd love to be a mouse in a corner, listening to the perspective of people currently the same age as the main characters.

 

[anthony]

Hell yer... that would be interesting to see kids perspective on the entire series. I think many who don't read, may actually read after reading that series.

 

[NIKI]

I find it so disturbing that the Capital people look forward to the "Hunger Games" every year as a form of entertainment for themselves. Watching CHILDREN forced to fight to the death of each other.

I know it's just a good book but it still brings a shiver down to my bones. I'm just finishing up "CATCHING FIRE". So I can't wait to see how this all works out in "MOCKINGJAY".

 

[anthony]

I agree, yet it may of been explained in the first two books, or maybe it is the third, where they actually review the different view point of those in the capitol. They have never known poverty, not having the games, etc. Their view is different to that of those in the districts. They are raised with the notion that those in the districts are there to serve them and give them a life of luxury... they cannot fathom anything different because their literal roots from birth to adulthood instil this knowledge and behaviour.

I find it interesting when you begin to review the different perspectives. I think you will find this in the third book... where it gets more indepth to answer the very questions you are asking now. I found the same thing... I still had unanswered questions at the end of the second, yet the third really filled in the gaps to complete the picture of the series. I also loved the epilogue at the end of the third, ruling it of and completing the future, in really one or two pages.

 

[Nicolette]

OMG... I don't have the time to read this thread but jumped on after having Anthony thrusting the first book into my face as a form of relaxation. Great idea.... now I don't want to work and just read the book! And I'm only part way through chapter 3. Bad, bad Anthony :inlove:

 

[ClairBear226]

I'm on the 3rd book, where they've just retrieved Peeta and have found his mind to be "hijacked". It's interesting how they explain the concept of memory, and how it can be altered.

Give it up, Nicolette. Once you're hooked, its all over! :)

 

[anthony]

Peter has a rough trot with that period of his life Clair... will be interesting to read your interpretations that precede that event in the book. Some have felt Peter is at fault, other have not... some have felt disgusted by Peters actions, some can empathise with what he does and endures.

 

[anthony]

It's funny... the young girl who works for Nicolette one day a week, she is reading the series and we have a small discussion on it each week as she continues through it. She felt she is left hanging just finishing the second book, with snippets of district 13 entering the picture and with the way the book ends, the dome blows and then.... which all comes together in the final book. We chuckled about it this afternoon... but it is so good to chat with someone face to face about the series, as well as here.

 

[ClairBear226]

I just finished the last book yesterday. Holy cow - couldn't put the darned thing down! I liked the section where they talked about resuming The Hunger Games, and Katniss' reaction to it. I was a bit surprised at the ending. Not so much who she chose to spend her life with, but where, and the fact that she chose to have children after all. The ending reminded me of a discussion I had once with an elderly Jewish patient about family he'd lost in WWII. That he talked about it because it was important that future generations not repeat the same mistakes. I think that's an important point, but one that many people with PTSD have difficulty with. Myself included. I also really liked the concept of the memorial book.

Peter has a rough trot with that period of his life Clair... will be interesting to read your interpretations that precede that event in the book.

Honestly, Anthony, it reminded me A LOT of the methods my ex husband and father both used to "reprogram" or "brainwash" me into believing I had no one else and no where to go. Obviously not so sophisticated as what they used in The Capitol, but the same idea of taking a memory, and altering it to suit their purpose. Later, the feelings of crazziness you feel, trying to decipher "real" from "not real", and what was implanted in your mind to serve someone's agenda, and what is fact. Mind f*ck 101, pure and simple.

On a PTSD level, I wish I could get my husband interested in the series. Because throughout all three books, I kept finding myself saying, "Yes. That's exactly it. That's how it feels", as well as "Yep, that's how it happens - the creation of a trauma victim". Katniss' suicidal feelings, and those upon returning to her home were very much the same as those I've had. Of it all, though, what struck me as the most relevant to my own personal experience was how she felt when removed from the arena the first time, as if she were an animal that could not accept she was safe again, and could not turn off the fight of flight. I haven't read anything before that more accurately describes that inability to process. Most books I've read revolve more around the trauma itself and the symptoms that appear later. But that "transition" between the deadly and the safe, and my inability to adjust was a large part of the trauma too. It was nice to see an author that could convey that so well.