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the_deep_magicSo I finished The Hunger Games trilogy.
Having loved the first two books, I found myself somewhat unsatisfied with Mockingjay for some reasons I'm not sure I can entirely articulate (and a few that I can). First of all, it seemed to keep yanking Katniss out of the action -- which was entirely realistic, given that she kept getting herself seriously injured, but also somewhat unsatisfying in terms of character development. Instead of being forced to deal with the latest catastrophe right then, she's almost immediately unconscious and drugged for a few days to a few weeks while she recovers. And then she stomps around for a bit trying to sort out her feelings (which, again: pretty realistic but narratively frustrating).
The "horrors of war" and propaganda and game-playing themes were well-explored. I loved Katniss taking out President Coin for even suggesting another Hunger Games, but there again, as soon as it happens, Katniss is thrown in lock-up and we don't get to see any of the fallout. It reminded me a bit of The Deathly Hallows, where, because of the way it was set up, most of the action took place off stage and had to be reported to the main characters. And, like Deathly Hallows, I felt Mockingjay ended too abruptly, skipping right to a fast-forward epilogue that was a bit, well, saccharine. The question was raised of "Well, the war's over, what now?" and then completely glossed over to get to the next generation frolicking in a field. Literally, that is a thing that happens.
I've done only a little poking around in the THG fandom, and I find it interesting that it's Peeta that seems to be the Fandom Woobie. How dare Katniss be so ambivalent, even hostile, toward him in Mockingjay, especially after all he's done for her! Well, she's been prepared to make some pretty big sacrifices for him, too, and I hardly think she's unjustified in trying to write him off when it seems certain that who she knew as "Peeta" was gone after the hijacking. Frankly, I found it a bit hard to swallow that the hijacking was eventually entirely reversed and Peeta went right back to normal again. Nothing else in the books gets magically reversed like this.
Buuuuut I'm a bit biased, since I really wanted Katniss to choose Gale in the end. I actually surprised myself a bit by how much it bothered me that it didn't happen. I understand it from the way it was written -- if Gale had anything to do with the parachute bombs that killed Prim, then no, Katniss would never choose him. But despite the fact that it's made clear that Gale is fueled by anger, it still doesn't make sense to me that he would have had anything to do with those bombs, and his "what does it matter who did it" reply to Katniss seemed out of character to me. Even so, it's made clear by the end of the book that Gale no longer plays any role in Katniss' life, and I found that rather bizarre, too.
So I confess having a bit of a weakness for Gale, and I'm surprised at the lack of Katniss/Gale fic. I thought that would be a pretty popular pairing, but everyone seems to have paired up Gale with Johanna Mason (which, I'll admit, does make a kind of sense if Katniss isn't in the picture). So maybe now I know how all those Harry/Hermione shippers felt? Though hopefully without the utter batshit crazy, because come on, that one was obvious. I liked that the Katniss/Gale/Peeta triangle didn't have an obvious conclusion, even if I was ultimately disappointed in how it turned out.
But despite my minor quibbles, I really enjoyed reading these -- it's been ages since I've read a book that I couldn't put down (I've been reading a lot of therapy and self-help stuff... snooooooze), and I was riveted by all three. Can't wait for the movie -- it looks to be really well-cast. Maybe I can talk my Teacher Friend into going and seeing it with me.
Having loved the first two books, I found myself somewhat unsatisfied with Mockingjay for some reasons I'm not sure I can entirely articulate (and a few that I can). First of all, it seemed to keep yanking Katniss out of the action -- which was entirely realistic, given that she kept getting herself seriously injured, but also somewhat unsatisfying in terms of character development. Instead of being forced to deal with the latest catastrophe right then, she's almost immediately unconscious and drugged for a few days to a few weeks while she recovers. And then she stomps around for a bit trying to sort out her feelings (which, again: pretty realistic but narratively frustrating).
The "horrors of war" and propaganda and game-playing themes were well-explored. I loved Katniss taking out President Coin for even suggesting another Hunger Games, but there again, as soon as it happens, Katniss is thrown in lock-up and we don't get to see any of the fallout. It reminded me a bit of The Deathly Hallows, where, because of the way it was set up, most of the action took place off stage and had to be reported to the main characters. And, like Deathly Hallows, I felt Mockingjay ended too abruptly, skipping right to a fast-forward epilogue that was a bit, well, saccharine. The question was raised of "Well, the war's over, what now?" and then completely glossed over to get to the next generation frolicking in a field. Literally, that is a thing that happens.
I've done only a little poking around in the THG fandom, and I find it interesting that it's Peeta that seems to be the Fandom Woobie. How dare Katniss be so ambivalent, even hostile, toward him in Mockingjay, especially after all he's done for her! Well, she's been prepared to make some pretty big sacrifices for him, too, and I hardly think she's unjustified in trying to write him off when it seems certain that who she knew as "Peeta" was gone after the hijacking. Frankly, I found it a bit hard to swallow that the hijacking was eventually entirely reversed and Peeta went right back to normal again. Nothing else in the books gets magically reversed like this.
Buuuuut I'm a bit biased, since I really wanted Katniss to choose Gale in the end. I actually surprised myself a bit by how much it bothered me that it didn't happen. I understand it from the way it was written -- if Gale had anything to do with the parachute bombs that killed Prim, then no, Katniss would never choose him. But despite the fact that it's made clear that Gale is fueled by anger, it still doesn't make sense to me that he would have had anything to do with those bombs, and his "what does it matter who did it" reply to Katniss seemed out of character to me. Even so, it's made clear by the end of the book that Gale no longer plays any role in Katniss' life, and I found that rather bizarre, too.
So I confess having a bit of a weakness for Gale, and I'm surprised at the lack of Katniss/Gale fic. I thought that would be a pretty popular pairing, but everyone seems to have paired up Gale with Johanna Mason (which, I'll admit, does make a kind of sense if Katniss isn't in the picture). So maybe now I know how all those Harry/Hermione shippers felt? Though hopefully without the utter batshit crazy, because come on, that one was obvious. I liked that the Katniss/Gale/Peeta triangle didn't have an obvious conclusion, even if I was ultimately disappointed in how it turned out.
But despite my minor quibbles, I really enjoyed reading these -- it's been ages since I've read a book that I couldn't put down (I've been reading a lot of therapy and self-help stuff... snooooooze), and I was riveted by all three. Can't wait for the movie -- it looks to be really well-cast. Maybe I can talk my Teacher Friend into going and seeing it with me.
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Date: 2012-01-20 07:54 am (UTC)Although I have to say, while I prefer Gale to Peeta (not completely sure why, other than I feel that he had no real interaction with Katniss and yet he was in love with her before they went to the Hunger Games, vs Gale who spent a significant amount of time with her, but whatev) by the end of the series, I really just thought she shouldn't have been with either of them. It sort of felt like a cop-out when she ended up with Peeta.
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Date: 2012-01-21 04:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-22 09:35 pm (UTC)By and large the kids I teach would rather stab themselves in the eye than read a book and they CANNOT PUT THEM DOWN!!!
I thought Mockingjay was ... well ... terrible. I had SO MANY FEELINGS after it came out, then as I was reading it my soul was sort of dying a little bit at a time. Perhaps that's a little harsh. Maybe it was more because the story was done than the book's contents. Hmm.
Anyhoo, I agree with you. I found myself kind of skimming parts to get back to Katniss, then was deeply horrified and ashamed at myself. I haven't actually looked at the fic yet. I've been kind of afraid!!
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Date: 2012-01-23 05:42 am (UTC)I wondered about this myself. I was reading it on my Kindle (yes, I succumbed to the lure of the e-reader, but only for a few things) and it shows the percentage of the book you've read, and as it got closer and closer to 100% I got more and more frustrated.
As for the fic... I only looked at a few short pieces, and some of it was pretty good, but nothing that really sucked me in. I'm not sure I really want to get into the fandom, but as a friend of mine said about another fandom, "I don't like how this ended. Where can I find some fanfic that fixes this?"
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Date: 2012-01-23 11:03 am (UTC)