The Hunger Games: A Brief Review

Well we’re back in Crosby. Safe and sound. And regretting it already. The lack of air conditioning, loss of internet and hordes of mosquitoes have not been very welcoming. However we can see the stars so that was pleasant.

I’m also looking forward to visiting the library again because I am now completely out of reading material. I went through all the Tintins at the end of June and I’ve ploughed through the Hunger Games Trilogy in the past fortnight too.

I know. The Hunger Games. It doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, does it? Vanna loves them (as does a good chunk of the population) but I’ve kept away from it. The story didn’t really appeal to me and I usually avoid anything popular. First person? Children? Eh. I’ll stick to my horrors and crime fiction thank you very much. Murder, serial killers. That’s what interests me.

But then Vanna and I made a deal. She would read Tintin if I read the Hunger Games. The plan was just to read the first book but you can’t leave it at that, can you? Obviously you have to find out what happens in all of them, otherwise there is no point, right? So while Vanna was struggling to finish the first volume of Tintin, I spent my evenings down in the cities reading the Hunger Games.

So what did I think of it? Well I really did like it. I’m not going to say love (which is what Vanna keeps saying) but it was a good surprise and I would recommend it to anybody who hasn’t read it yet. I thought the story was fantastic. The characters, though, were what really kept it going. It was their personal adventures that really sucked me in. It wasn’t a simple love story or a story where everything went happily ever after. There was tragedy, hatred and plenty of punishment. That’s my kind of thing.

All in all I was impressed. I felt inspired from reading it. Some of the ideas will be very helpful for my writing. It’s important for my development as a writer to read as many different books as possible to see what works and what doesn’t. There were things in the Hunger Games that I hadn’t even thought about. So from the perspective of trying to write my own book, reading the trilogy was a good idea. Not only did I enjoy it, I learned from it. What more could I ask for?

I did find the writing a bit suspect at times though. I don’t really critique books but it did frustrate me enough to notice it. It was a simple style yet it could get very frustrating. Some things weren’t explained or detailed properly, or they were worded in such a way that you had to read it several times to grasp what was going on. In addition to that, I felt the action scenes were a little rushed. It might have been more realistic doing it this way, but for me, it detracted from the story. The consequences to these scenes weren’t as powerful. They lost some of their impact.

For example, when a couple of the key characters died, I didn’t really feel the loss. The sequence of events was too short. If there was more detail, more emphasis or at least build up to this crucial point, I’d have been affected a lot more. The style was perfect for the book but there were times where I wanted, and needed, more.

But this could just be me. Feel free to disagree, (just do it nicely). My complaints are really only minor issues; for the most part this trilogy gets top marks. My conclusion? Read it. Even if you don’t like the writing, it’s worth it for the story. After all, that’s the most important part when it comes to a novel. You can have the best writing in the world but if your story is stupid, it just doesn’t work. Here though, you have flawed characters that you can connect to. You care about them. When they suffer, it bothers you. Like I said, for the most part, this isn’t a happy story. There is a lot of depth to the Hunger Games trilogy. So don’t write it off straight away. That’s what I learned anyway.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

So I’m feeling a bit lost now that I’ve finished reading the trilogy. At least we still have Lost to watch (something else which has helped to inspire my writing) but even that is going a bit off the rails. Hmm. Perhaps I’ll just stick to Tintin. I may have finished the books but I’ve still got the television series and the film on DVD. I’ll have to move quickly though. I’ll be going home in a month…

Rain Rain And More Rain…Also Tintin

I’ve decided that the best way to discuss my ongoing Minnesota adventure (as I continue to call it, despite my girlfriend’s annoyance at the term) is to report on the important, or slightly less trivial than everything else, events that have happened during my day. So I’ll write this on the night then publish it the next morning.

Got that? Good.

To start with, I’m going to bemoan my bad luck. If you recall, my first proper day in Crosby was going to be a relaxing one. It was all about adjusting to my new surroundings by having a nice walk around the place. You may also remember that the night before consisted of an intensive lightning storm. If your memory is like a sieve (or you just didn’t read it) here is a reminder.

Anyway, the weather had looked a bit more promising when we woke up that morning. We decided to go to the library so I could update my blog and see if anybody cared enough about me leaving to send me messages (they had). I even took a picture as we started walking to show that the weather wasn’t too bad. It was cool but dry. Looks pretty decent doesn’t it?

Well you’d be wrong.

Shortly after we settled ourselves in at the library, the heavens opened with the sound of thunder. We had heavy rain, lightning…the lot. Thankfully we had a lift home but in the short walk between the door and the car we ended up soaked. It was very reminiscent of my holiday here last June. Just it was worse this time because a) I was caught up in it and b) the rain was bloody freezing.

Last year…

This year…

Thanks to the weather and my decision not to bring any waterproof clothing, I was unable to take my afternoon walk. Instead we ended up in the house all day, which wasn’t too intolerable but still not an ideal situation. If I wanted to sit on the sofa all day, I’d have stayed at home. At least then I’d have an Xbox and satellite television. I should state that I happy to be here, just I find it typical that I come to the USA expecting lovely weather and in reality I’d be better off at home.

The forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t look great either, with more storms and more rain predicted. There was even a flood warning. It’s a shame my dad isn’t here as he would relish the opportunity to drive through flooded roads (ie large puddles) in his 4×4. Come to Minnesota, you’ll get that wish.

That doesn’t mean, however, everything is going against us.

When I was a lot younger, one of my greatest loves was Tintin, the reporter/explorer. I would always take out the books from the library when they were available and read them at home. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read them.

I’m hoping you all know who Tintin is. Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg are fans of the series and they brought out his first box office film not too long ago. And as soon as I heard about it, the nostalgic part of me jumped up, eager to read the books once again. But they are tricky to find. Buying them new isn’t cheap so I’d forgotten about the idea when I came across a load of them at a second-hand bookstore. Didn’t stop me buying them all though.

There was still a slight problem. Although the books are not intrinsically linked to each other, it does help to read them in order. And I was missing the first couple. Most people would read on regardless, but I’m not most people. I decided to wait until I’d purchased the rest of the series before I started reading them. Consequently they were left to gather dust under my bed.

Knowing about my Tintin issues, my step mother kindly bought me the DVD Collection (It was a T.V show) and the films. I started watching the episodes, only to realize that they deviated quite a bit from the books. Although they were enjoyable, this meant they couldn’t really be used to fill in the missing pieces in my collection. I have brought all the DVD’s to watch while I’m over here though (I feel Vanna needs to be versed in Tintin lore) but my books remain unread at home.

‘What’s the point of telling us this?’ I hear you ask.

Well you should know about Tintin. The books are for all ages and providing you ignore the odd racial stereotype, they can be quite inspirational. He’s just a normal guy who solves mysteries. You can learn from him. There are no gimmicks, just him, his dog and a cursing bearded man. Even the music from it is amazing.

But the best thing happened yesterday. When we were at the library, my girlfriend was browsing the aisles and spotted the word ‘Tintin’.

Crosby Library has all of his adventures, just sitting there. Published in hardback omnibuses. Ah yeah.

Volume one is currently unavailable but once it has been returned we’ll be notified. So, providing everything goes well of course, I’ll be able to read Tintin’s adventures (none in Minnesota though) from the very beginning to the very end in the three months I’m here. When you consider the 10 hours I have of Tintin on film in addition to the books, I’ll probably get sick of the little Belgian and his fluffy white dog by the time I’ve returned home. But at least I’ll finally be able to go through the series in every way possible (book, TV and film). I was so happy at this revelation I felt the need to share it with you all, even if you didn’t want me to.

I’ll be joining the fan club next.

It’s still raining today though.  What a load of rubbish.