

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Hunger Games (Hunger Games Trilogy, Book 1) (edition 2009)by Suzanne Collins (Author)
Work InformationThe Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
![]()
Best Dystopias (5) Best Young Adult (1) » 92 more Favourite Books (47) Female Protagonist (26) Books Read in 2016 (59) Female Author (47) Best Fantasy Novels (390) A Novel Cure (60) Books Read in 2013 (83) Books Read in 2017 (435) Books Read in 2023 (405) Books Read in 2018 (344) Movie Adaptations (37) Top Five Books of 2016 (626) Great Audiobooks (13) Pageturners (5) Books Read in 2015 (744) Overdue Podcast (101) 2000s decade (50) Books on my Kindle (14) Best Books With Sisters (106) Books About Girls (65) Books Read in 2010 (483) Leseliste (7) Books tagged favorites (273) al.vick-series (57) Favorite Books (5) Thrillers (17) um actually (37) PRC 2015 Years 7&8 (42) Scholastic (8) Best middle grade books (126) Biggest Disappointments (531) Great American Novels (154)
8.5/10 Yes, I did wait till my early thirties to read this for the first time. Yes, it's as good as everyone says it is. I watched the movies close to when they came out, and have seen them since, so my memory is hazy, but this felt very close to the story I remembered. The storytelling is superb, and you're immediately drawn into the lives of the characters. Looking forward to the rest of the series. Come on library holds... I resisted reading this book for a long time, because the premise is horrifying . . . but the characters and conflicts are so compelling, I couldn't put it down. As soon as I finished it, I got absorbed in the sequels. I passed on this back in 2010 when the Internet was all abuzz with it, but now working in a bookstore I felt it was my duty to read it. It was a pleasant surprise! Not only was it far less depressing than the summary implied, but the story and the writing style were both more complex than I expected from teen fare. In fact, I think I am bumping it to four stars because it so far exceeded my expectations.
Het verhaal, vertaald uit het Engels, speelt zich af in de toekomst. Na een burgeroorlog is van Noord-Amerika het land Panem overgebleven, bestaande uit het welvarende Capitool met twaalf daaraan ondergeschikte districten, waarin veel armoede en onvrijheid heersen. In de jaarlijkse Hongerspelen moeten 24 kinderen, uit elk district een jongen en een meisje, strijden op leven en dood in een ‘Big Brother’-omgeving. Katniss Everdeen (16, ik-figuur) uit het 12e, armoedigste district springt in de bres voor haar jongere zusje Prim wanneer deze wordt uitgeloot. Na een wat aarzelend begin krijgt het verhaal vaart in het tweede en derde deel. Het thema is gedurfd: een strijd op leven en dood tussen twaalf- en achttienjarigen, als vorm van vermaak. Wie is de slimste overlever? De auteur creëert een eigen begrippenkader dat zijdelings doet denken aan Harry Potter. Ze combineert overlevingstechnieken uit de traditie van Jean Auels prehistorische romans met ultramoderne technologie. Het slot lijkt voorspelbaar, maar is dat niet. Spanning, romantiek en het open einde maken de lezer nieuwsgierig naar het volgende boek in deze serie, 'De Hongerspelen II: vlammen'*. Is contained inHas the adaptationIs parodied inInspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a student's study guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place. No library descriptions found.
|
LibraryThing Early Reviewers AlumSuzanne Collins's book The Hunger Games was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Popular covers
![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
I appreciate the simple writing style—no pretension, no unnecessary words—and that made it easy for me to keep going when I didn't want to face what was to come (yes, I am as much of a wimp as it sounds). And as the story unfolded, I realized I was empathizing with the tributes so much that my own pulse sped up in certain moments, during action or even just anticipating what was to come. And yet, in the end, I can say that the "violence for the sake of violence" that I anticipated from the book wasn't there. Instead, we only see what Katniss sees, which is only what's necessary to advance the plot or show her character.
The characterization and plot are a huge high point for me. Katniss's attitude and motivation are consistent, and I really felt for Peeta throughout the book. Even the characters that it would be easy to hate end up being well-rounded and sympathetic. I wasn't thrilled with the love triangle being set up, but at least it was a fairly minor aspect, as was the "romance" in general. While I can't pretend to appreciate the world Collins has set up in this book, I do like that the book drew me in and made me want badly to see this system dismantled. I have unintentionally managed to avoid much in the way of spoilers for the rest of this series (or maybe I heard plenty of spoilers but just didn't know what they meant at the time and don't remember them now), so I am going forward with no idea what to expect, but with hopes for what I'd like to see firmly intact. All I can really say for recommendation, since I'm sure most people who are going to read this have already done so, is that if you're like me and don't want to read it because of reasons I mentioned, I suggest you reconsider. (