I'm not usually one for following fanfare to discover a new
book, but I heard so many adults proclaiming what an
addictive treat this series was, I finally gave it a try....
and I'm thrilled I did.
The Hunger Games is a wonderful allegory for class
warfare, and the timing of it's advanced popularity (and movie
release) is appropriate, with the '99' and anti-Wall Street/Big
Business sentiment sweeping this country.
Like its predecessor, 1984, it's a dystopian future where
the problems of the present socio-political landscape have
worsened in a science-fiction landscape several years removed
from our present. (But really, the modern-day similarities
are chilling!) It's an apt indictment of our lop-sided economic
system through a creative and blunt allegorical bent.
Given the proclamation of the individual's strength and the
outsider status of the lead character, Katniss, being celebrated,
you can easily imagine why conservatives and religious sorts--
the very ones whose totalitarian rule is questioned and challenged
in the series--are against kids reading the series.
There's a reason books like The Hunger Games, 1984, Lord
of the Flies, and others are attacked; it's the same reason they
are selected as required and recommended reading by
educators. They speak to the very nature of the human
experience. That's enough to make some folks very uncomfortable.
The problems inherent in the series are not those singularly
experienced by tweens and teens, whom the book features/and
targeted; it addresses family obligation, unfairness of life, brutality,
oppression, finding one's voice, facing what comes, determining
one's worth, and, yes...love.
Although a little over 300 pages, this was an especially quick read
since I was so captivated I could not stop reading.
***
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