"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

BOOK TITLE: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins

YEAR: 2010

GENRE: Fiction

SUBGENRE: Dystopian

GRADE: A

I said this with the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy and I’ll continue to say it with this final installment: reading dystopian fiction feels weird in 2021, when COVID-19 has the world in a stranglehold and right-wing politics are at an all time high. And wouldn’t you know it, the Hunger Games world looks every bit as nightmarish as the real one. Oh sure, President Snow and the Capitol have a rebel army to contend with, Katniss Everdeen being the ultimate symbol of resistance known as The Mockingjay. But what good is a rebellion if the people in charge of said rebellion are just as disgusting and violent as their oppressors? Both sides have strict rules. Both sides are not above sacrificing their own to achieve their goals. It’s just a perpetual cycle of abuse that’s passed on from generation to generation, regardless of who’s aligned with who. That paints a very realistic picture of what war is like: there are no winners, only dead bodies. Somehow Katniss must find a way to stay true to her own beliefs and individuality through all of this. Not an easy task, but one worthy of an entire book series. Katniss truly is a symbol of resistance, but on her own terms.

Circling back to the idea of nothing changing, it reminds me of something George Carlin once said while performing standup comedy: “If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to have selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits will do you no good, because you’re just going to get another crop of selfish, ignorant leaders every time.” This seems to be true no matter who we elect as our leaders: they’re either too soft on right-wing extremism or they are themselves right-wing extremists. Maybe it’s a little bit of both. The Hunger Games holds a mirror up to our worst parts of society and it makes its readers uncomfortable. But sometimes a little discomfort goes a long way. The truth can sometimes be an ugly thing, but that doesn’t mean we don’t eventually have to come to terms with it. Katniss and people like her can only do so much. Yes, she’s the hero of her own story, but she can’t do everything. She, like the rest of us, has to rely on her allies to do the right thing and they don’t always do that. Can Katniss achieve true rebellion? Only time will tell.

But no matter what shape the ending of this book takes, you can always count on the fact that Katniss Everdeen is a strong female character. I don’t mean strong in the sense of having muscles and a surfboard-sized sword in each hand. She’s well-written. She has flaws, ambitions, interests, and most importantly, a sense of individuality that makes her stand out from the rest of the character cast. She makes mistakes and doubts herself like any normal human would, but none of her errors result in being comically stupid. And when she messes something up, she fixes it like the responsible adult she grew up too quickly into being. Individuality is what leads to true resistance, not guns and bombs. Any artist will tell you that, because creativity cannot exist without individuality. Same goes for standing up for what you believe in.

I very much enjoyed what I read in this book, whether it was Katniss’s realness, the action sequences, the ugly truths behind politics, or even the fact that every chapter ends in a cliffhanger of some sorts. I know that last part seems like such an obvious thing to do, but it’s really noticeable in this book and it keeps me coming back for more, which is important for any book to accomplish. Suzanne Collins is an excellent writer who has created a bleak world, one where the media really does control people’s opinions and violence is disturbing no matter who it happens to. Mockingjay gets five stars out of five, no question about it.

"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

 BOOK TITLE: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins

YEAR: 2009

GENRE: Fiction

SUBGENRE: Dystopian Sci-Fi

GRADE: A

Throughout my reading of this particular novel, I kept joking to anyone who would listen about how it feels weird reading dystopian fiction during dystopian times. As of this review, it’s December 2020 and there’s one month left before Joe Biden is sworn in as president of the United States. Corona Virus, Donald Trump’s presidency, police brutality, wildfires, these are all things that qualify 2020 as a dystopian year. I’m sure it feels even weirder for Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, the two survivors of the first Hunger Games book. They have to go on an elaborate PR campaign for the Capitol and President Snow while also leaving subtle hints at a possible rebellion against the tyrannical futuristic government. Punishments for any sort of rebellion can include lashing, bombing, tongue mutilation, and even death. The fact that Katniss can inspire hope and individuality to everyone she meets even in subtle ways speaks volumes as to what kind of powerful character she can be. She’s not going through the motions; she’s an active character with opinions, believes, and skills to back them up. You feed your children a steady diet of Hunger Games books and wonder why they want to grow up to be like Katniss. Generation Z definitely has their fair share of Katnisses and it’s glorious!

But more often than not, some audience members will remember The Hunger Games series not as a playbook for dissent, but as a YA novel with a…(gasp)…love triangle! Everyone enjoys making fun of love triangles, because they’re so tropey and cliché…or so I’ve heard (I can’t confirm this). It’s true: there’s a love triangle going on between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Her relationship with Peeta is out of necessity to keep the Capitol from suspecting dissent while her relationship with the coal miner Gale is one of genuine love and romance. Get your laughs out while you still can, because I actually believe this love triangle was done effectively. Of course Katniss has to keep up appearances! Fooling the Capitol into believing they have her wrapped around their fingers is part of how she stays alive! But more importantly, it’s a way of keeping her family and Gale alive simultaneously. Katniss wears a lot of hats in this book and if even one of them slips off her head, she’s toast. And besides, even if she was romantically interested in both Gale and Peeta at the same time, so what? Is polyamory really such a bad thing? Do we really want to teach our YA audience that love is to be suppressed and shaped into a puritan image? If Katniss can rebel against an entire dystopian government, I’m sure she has no problem with rebelling against a chuckling audience.

Can we talk about the violent aspects of this book for a minute, please? Can we talk about Gale getting lashed over a dozen times for doing something minor and insignificant to anger the Capitol? Can we talk about the concept of Avoxes, who are butlers and maids with mutilated tongues? Can we talk about Katniss breaking her tailbone and heel long before the Quarter Quell begins? What, you thought the Hunger Games were over in the first book? Oh, are you in for a shock! We’ve got more bloody battles to attend to! Trident warfare, knife throwing, acid rain, archery, and electrical shocks can all be expected in this brutal novel. Although this book can be categorized as an action-adventure of sorts, the violence is meant to disturb, not entertain. Every blow the characters feel, the audience feels tenfold. It’s a reminder of how barbaric violence as a whole can be. It’s even worse when the characters realize it’s the only way they stand a chance against an oppressive government under President Snow’s rule. There’s only so much one can take before they push back even harder against their attackers. You poke the bear long enough, the bear is going to maul and eat you alive. While Katniss doesn’t have the physical intimidation of a grizzly bear, she does have the emotions of one and that will serve her well throughout this rebellion.

Remember how I said it felt weird reading dystopian fiction during dystopian times? It still is an uncomfortable experience. But at the same time, it’s necessary. We need to make our voices heard. We need to bring change despite overwhelming forces holding us down. While I wouldn’t recommend shooting bows and arrows at people or electrifying them in beach water, I do recommend rebellion as an idea. Every success we’ve ever had in this world is because we fought for it. Those in charge aren’t going to give us what we want until we fight for it. It’s true in real life and it’s true in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Yes, it’s a YA novel, but anybody can get behind the message regardless of their age. I give this book a solid five out of five stars. I’ll probably do the same for the third book in the series, whenever I get around to reading that one too.

"Careless Whisper" by Seether

I would have never known this song existed if it hadn’t been for Wham’s original version from the 1980’s. But exist it does. There indeed is a hard rock version of “Careless Whisper” and it’s done by Seether. No, Shaun Morgan doesn’t scream his head off like most of the singers in my Windows Media Player do. In fact, Shaun Morgan sounds very pleasant. He reminds me of somebody I used to know from the early 1990’s who put out the albums Never Mind and In Utero. What’s that guy’s name again? It’s on the tip of my tongue. Hint, hint, wink, wink.

So why exactly would I pay tribute to Seether for doing a cover version of a song originated by a pop duo named Wham? Because Seether’s version is not only more energetic and depressing, but it was there for me when I walked out of the Grand Cinema in Tacoma after watching the movie “Obsoledia“. When I got in the car with my mom and step-dad Dale, it was the first song I listened to on my MP3 player. George will never dance with Sophie again, not like they did when they were out in Death Valley speculating the fate of the earth post-climate change.

“Careless Whisper” and “Obsoledia” are both mediums that will rip your heart to pieces. By the end of both of them, the beautiful relationships are over. It’s true that “Careless Whisper” wasn’t sung by Shaun Morgan with Amy Lee from Evanescence in mind. The two of them used to date and they don’t anymore. Judging from the fact the two of them wrote breakup songs about each other, the separation was pretty fucking brutal.

There was nothing ugly about the way “Obsoledia” ended. George was a lonely librarian who didn’t believe in love until he spent a weekend with Sophie. Just when this poor introvert was starting to believe in the power or romance, it was used to break his heart when it turned out Sophie already had a boyfriend. Obsoledia is about things that are obsolete in this world, so maybe Seether’s new and fresh version of “Careless Whisper” wouldn’t have fit with the movie’s theme. If it were any other canon, though, it would have worked to perfection.

Shaun Morgan and George were both people with broken hearts. I made this connection the night I saw Obsoledia and subsequently listened to “Careless Whisper” by Seether. In my short stories and novels, the power of love is a deity in and of itself. It’s worshiped to the fullest extent and executed with beauty. Characters fall in love with each other all the time, sometimes in the most inopportune times. “Not Gonna Die” and “If I Offer You My Soul”, anyone?

I can get away with that in literature, because a good story is better than a cold reality. In the real world, people get divorced and broken up all the time. When those breakups and divorces happen, they often involve a power struggle that may or may not involve violence or monetary possessiveness. We all want to believe in the power of love. But is it really there? Can it last a lifetime? Can it endure so many hardships that it becomes indestructible? The answers vary from person to person. But as long as Seether is singing “Careless Whisper” on my MP3 player, the jury will always be out on this one.

　

***FACE BOOK MEME OF THE DAY***

“If Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games were Hollywood celebrities, their super couple nickname would either be Kat-Pee or Pee-Niss.”

The Present Tense

When I was a writing rookie, one of the many mistakes I would make was mixing past and present tenses without realizing it. Everybody does it at some point in their rookie years. Now that I’m older and more conscious of the way I write, I choose to write in the past tense. However, after reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” and the first “Hunger Games” book, I’m starting to realize there are other options in that department. Those books in particular are written in the present tense. There’s something about the present tense that quickens the reading pace of a novel. There’s somehow supposed to be a difference between saying, “Oleg chopped the monster’s head off.” and “Oleg chops the monster’s head off.” I’ve often been told that present tense puts the reader in the moment as it’s happening, just like a movie would. The past tense merely tells a story while the present tense takes the extra step in showing instead of telling. It made me wonder if the present tense could ever be used in period piece genres such as fantasy and sci-fi. With the fantasy genre, the best way to utilize present tense is if one of the characters is telling the story around a campfire and using arm gestures to signify the action going on. With sci-fi, since it’s normally set in the future, it would be ideal to use a future tense, right? So far, I haven’t read anything that has successfully done it, so I won’t do it myself until I’m more secure with my surroundings. If all of these things are true about using present tense in narration of a story, then how come I’m not using it when I writing my own pieces of fiction? It’s because I’ve gotten so used to using past tense all of this time that I’m not ready for a radical change in style just yet. It seems like a little thing to change the words “was” and “is”, but here’s the deal. As a writer, you actually have to be aware of what you’re doing in order to be successful at sticking to a particular tense. If you’re so used to doing one thing all the time, then doing something else might result in too many errors on that first draft. So despite the strong case made for a present tense, especially on a blog about fast-paced books, I will continue to look back at the past for the moment. Besides, who’s to say that the past can’t be powerful as well since we have diseases like PTSD and schizophrenia? That would look particularly painful through the eyes of a first person narrator. Lots of potential power-wise.

　

***BUMPER STICKER OF THE DAY***

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

The Literary Genre

Seeing the movie “Barbara” at the Grand Cinema in Tacoma gave me the inspiration to talk about this next topic: the literary genre. While “Barbara” wasn’t a book, it could just as easily fall under this category. The purpose of the literary genre is to educate before it entertains. It’s the reason why you’ll see books like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Green Grass, Running Water” on college campuses rather than things like “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games”. Literary genre stories don’t have to be fast-paced, they don’t even have to be fun to read. But then again, people don’t go to college or high school to have fun. They go there to become educated citizens so that they can get a good job and keep it for a long, long time. That’s all well and good, up until the point where the teachers penalize you for writing genre fiction, which isn’t always known for artsy-fartsy bullshit. Encouraging students to write literary novels isn’t anywhere near true to what goes on in the real world. There’s a whole sprawl of authors who became successful doing things like fantasy, sci-fi, transgression, and horror stories. They’re so successful that I don’t even have to name them because you already know who they are. But just for the sake of argument, their names are Suzanne Collins, Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, and as much as I hate to admit it, Stephanie Meyer. You don’t always have to win a Pulitzer Prize in order to be a good author. If at least one person likes your work, congratulations, you’re a good author. If multiple people like your work, you’re popular to those people as well. A Pulitzer Prize isn’t a requirement for being well-fed. So why then would teachers encourage their students to write things worthy of such a feat such as literary fiction and nonfiction? If you’re wondering why I need to ask this question, it’s because I’m still peeved about a C I got in one of my multiple-genre writing classes. It’s amazing how I can remember the worst times of my life, but the best ones are so distant that I might as well have Alzheimer’s. In any event, don’t expect “Red Blood, White Knuckles, Blue Heart” to win any Pulitzer Prizes anytime soon. I choose entertainment over education. If you happen to be educated by the lessons taught in genre fiction, then good for you. If you actually had fun reading it, you have a lot more of my respect. Send your money to the United Necromancer College Fund. Because genres are terrible things to waste.

　

***TELEVISION DIALOGUE OF THE DAY***

DEEKS: Eric, I need you to run a license plate number. S as in Slayer, M as in Metallica, A as in Anthrax, 5-2-3 and P as in…parsnip.

ERIC: Wait a minute, your lettering system is based off of heavy metal bands and all you could give me was a root vegetable?

DEEKS: Sorry, I drew a blank.

ERIC: Pantera! Hello!

DEEKS: Cowboys From Hell. What was I thinking?

-NCIS: Los Angeles-

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Are you hungry for more? So are the characters in “The Hunger Games”, who live in a dystopian society ruled by arrogant politicians who make the younger members of their community compete in a death match of the same name as the book. If people know that having a bunch of teenagers killing each other is wrong, why don’t they just try to overthrow the government? They already tried that and it didn’t work out too well. In fact, not only are The Hunger Games around for the politicians’ sick and twisted entertainment, they’re punishment against their own people for trying to rebel against the system. It’s pretty safe to say that a band like Rage Against the Machine has better chance of playing their music in North Korea than they do in this dystopian hellhole. These teenagers have to make do with what they have, including the main character Katniss Everdeen. Katniss has several advantages in the Hunger Games. She’s an avid hunter, she’s excellent with a bow and arrow, she’s crafty, and she’s “dating” her male district counterpart Peeta, who also competes in the Hunger Games. If you think having a tactical advantage over everybody is a guaranteed victory, you’re dead wrong. Maybe even just plain dead if you get too cocky. The other “Tributes”, as the competitors are called, are muscular, nasty, ruthless, and they can snap necks with just their thumbs and forefingers if they so desired. As if competing with a bunch of beefed up sociopaths wasn’t bad enough, the environment in which these Tributes compete can be just as deadly. Firebombs thrown everywhere, wasps that make people go insane, poisonous berries that look delicious upon first glance, if there’s away to spread the contestants’ bloody crystals everywhere, it will be done. And the thing about “The Hunger Games”? It’s published by Scholastic despite the gory content. And why is that? Because somebody needs to tell the youngsters of today to question authority. That somebody will be Suzanne Collins, an excellent writer in her own way.

　

***MIXED-MARTIAL ARTS QUOTE OF THE DAY***

“Nobody is easy until you beat them.”

-Ronda Rousey-