The Hunger Games (books & movies) (Read 907 times)

bhearn


    You can get it for your kindle or nook easy peasy.

     

    Oh wait.

     

    Very funny. I'm sure I could get it for my iPad, but I didn't have it with me. Anyway I prefer my books to be books.

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    rectumdamnnearkilledem

      Looks like Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) will be directing Catching Fire.  I liked I Am Legend.  I think he's as good a choice as any.  I wonder how long it will be before they announce casting decisions.

      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

           ~ Sarah Kay

      bhearn


        OK, now I've read the book. Something is just not making sense to me here, in particular, the numbers. In all of Panem ( = North America), there is the Capitol, and the 12 Districts. I don't think we're told how large the Capitol is, but District 12 is said to have about 8,000 people. So maybe 100,000ish in all the Districts... spread out over all of North America. District 12 is somewhere in Appalachia. Really? North America has been chopped up into 12 districts, and each one only holds 8,000 people? Why?

         

        I just don't get it. This state has been maintained for 74 years? Is the idea that the Capitol has found the ideal size for the lower classes necessary to support their lifestyle? There's no discussion of how this state came to be, or how it can stay static. Seems very artificial and hard to believe. It's a "just so" size that makes for a good story, but doesn't really make much sense. Is it explained in the other books?

         

        I'm reminded of Star Trek episodes where they beam down to a planet, and "planet" basically = "village". All the action is right there, involving a small number of people. There's a disconnect on the actual scales involved.


        A Saucy Wench

          It does mention later (book 2)  that 12 is by far the smallest of all the districts - District 11 is by contrast enormous.   And there is indication that Panem is not the entirety of current North America - that some land mass was destroyed in the war that presaged the forming of Panem.  There is vague hints (not too specific so as to not need detailed explanation) that the whole world is basically post apocalyptic and a couple indications that at several points the population dropped to nearly unsustainable. 

           

          But yeah, like most dystopian worlds you have to not think too hard about the facts. 

          I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

           

          "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

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          rectumdamnnearkilledem

            I always got the impression that District 12 was especially small, in terms of population, and that other districts were larger, particularly those closer to the Capitol (the districts producing food and luxury goods).  We never really know why the population is so small.  I thought there was some hint at nuclear holocaust and climate change that has made for higher sea levels and smaller land mass.

             

            Because the districts are fenced-in and separated it would keep the populations pretty tightly controlled, I'd think.  With food at such a premium the population is not likely to be very fertile, either.  There's no mobility from district to district.  A person would be born into a given district, marry, have kids, and die...without ever leaving.  They're essentially slaves.

             

            The later books give a better idea of population density outside District 12.

            Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

            remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                 ~ Sarah Kay

              Yeah it's a young adult novel about a post-apocalyptic, dystopia.  There's lots of weird laziness in details like that that I think young adults can just accept (or not notice.)

              Runners run


              A Saucy Wench

                Yeah it's a young adult novel about a post-apocalyptic, dystopia.  There's lots of weird laziness in details like that that I think young adults can just accept (or not notice.)

                 

                Yeah, and 2 and 3 get a little more disjointed in the details so maybe drink a beer or two before reading to quiet the analytic

                I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                 

                "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                  No doubt, I needed a six pack of Otter Creek Black IPA to make it through the 3rd one.

                  Runners run


                  "run" "2" "eat"

                    hey, mikey -- by "laziness" do you mean something along the lines of a misplaced comma between an adjective such as post-apocalyptic and  the noun that is modifies?

                    i find the sunshine beckons me to open up the gate and dream and dream ~~robbie williams

                      Fuckoff!

                      Runners run

                        just finished book 2. Finished book 1 just before seeing the movie last Saturday night.

                         

                        Noticed a # of differences, but nothing that was deal-breaking.

                         

                        To go off-track, I was a huge Michael Connelly fan, and saw Blood Work. They actually changed the entire story, and the actual killer in the movie was more of a hero in the book.

                         

                        The Pin--was given to Katniss by the mayor's daughter. I guess they did it the way they did in the movie in order to not have to introduce that character.

                         

                        Rue--all the stuff mentioned. They also skipped out on the part where Rue's district sent Katniss bread as a thank you. I thought that was a very cool part of the book, and should have been included. The movie didnt fully capture the impact of that moment. Also in the book Rue pointed out the hive to Kitniss.

                         

                        The end fight--It dragged out way longer in the book. In the book Catos is mauled all night. He had on protective armor--Kitniss was trying to put him out of his misery, but couldnt pierce the armor.

                         

                        The very end--In the book they actually get the berries into their mouths--but spit them out when the announcement is made. Im not sure why they were so quick to make the announcement in the movie. You never had to wonder if either of them ingested the poison.

                         

                        I did like book 2. Not quite as much as the first one, the arena part when way too fast, and the basic gist of what was going to happen was pretty apparent.

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                        rectumdamnnearkilledem

                          The very end--In the book they actually get the berries into their mouths--but spit them out when the announcement is made. Im not sure why they were so quick to make the announcement in the movie. You never had to wonder if either of them ingested the poison.

                           

                          That kinda bugged me, too...I think a pause of even a few seconds would have made the scene more intense.

                          Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

                          remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

                               ~ Sarah Kay

                            Yeah it's a young adult novel about a post-apocalyptic, dystopia.  There's lots of weird laziness in details like that that I think young adults can just accept (or not notice.)

                             

                            Overall, the author seems like a great storyteller and a pretty average writer. But, yeah, I don't think 16-year-olds are all that concerned about statistical inconsistencies.

                             

                             

                              yeah, that and not showing the parachute sending the bread were the two biggest things for me.

                               

                              I keep remembering differences..

                               

                              Also, in the movie they didnt show the parachute bringing the sleeping medicine for Katniss to knock out Peeta.

                               

                              And when Katniss went to the Horn to try to take out the food, the Careers left it unattended--they didnt leave the guard. A minor thing--and it was probably to be able to easily explain why they blamed that Tribute.for what happened rather than trying to show that he set up the mines.

                               

                              They really did re-do the ending. In the book Kitniss and Peeta go to the horn willingly to wait for a fight, and Cato goes there after being chased by the animal. In the book the animals were versions of the dead tributes--I get why that would be hard to get across in the movie though.

                                Overall, the author seems like a great storyteller and a pretty average writer. But, yeah, I don't think 16-year-olds are all that concerned about statistical inconsistencies.

                                 

                                My 14-year-old was unperturbed.  In fact, she has since turned 15 and  is still annoyingly nonchalant about the lack of any realistic census data for the imaginary nation, Panem.

                                Runners run