Hungry for a Great Book?

EVERYONE and their mother has been talking about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins for months upon months. With all of the press about the movie coming out and ‘Who will play Katniss? Peeta? Gale?’, it’s ridiculously hard to not have heard of the series. But let’s not forget where the whole film started… As a book.

An incredibly well-written and well thought out book, that is. Not another novel about some whiny-ass white chick who falls in love with a vampire and has to pick between him and a Native American werewolf. Katniss don’t need no man (though I guess she’s cool with having one.) And yes, that was a very specific shout out to Twilight. Sorry, Steph.

This book is about a young girl, Katniss, who has fame and potential fortune thrust upon her when she volunteers as tribute for the Hunger Games, a popular competition/reality show in Panem where 24 walk in and only one walks out, alive. Think American Idol, except there's no judges, no singing, and you get murdered when you are eliminated. She along with her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta, must fight to survive the Hunger Games, at any cost, even if it means they may have to fight each other in the end.

I’d have to say that my favorite part of The Hunger Games is how much of a bad ass Katniss is. She literally is the anti-Bella Swan, which is just what the world needs right now. It is a character like this that shows young girls that they need not depend on their boyfriends to survive in the world. As a matter of fact, Katniss risks her life for someone she loves, and it’s not even a boyfriend. And it’s not just so she can have some weird (most likely drug induced) hallucinations of him. She risks herself to save her sister’s life! Any one who will put family (or at least someone they really, honestly, truly care about) before them and sacrifice their own safety for that person has my respect.

Katniss is a great example of what a modern woman should be: strong, independent, but with a heart of gold and courageousness when it comes to the face of adversity. I also like the way that she shows that women can be action heroes too, without being Angelina Jolie levels of slutty (i.e. Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, cuz let’s be honest, that movie was about getting Angelina in a tight wife-beater more than anything else.)

Survival is a major theme and element throughtout the novel. From the beginning, Katniss makes it very clear to the reader that the living conditions in District 12 are less than desirable. District 12 is stricken with poverty and Katniss and her family are no except here. There is major scarcity of food and houses are falling apart all over the place. It is a major struggle for everyone in District 12, and everyone in Panem in general, to survive. This theme definitely intensifies as the Hunger Games begin. As said before, Katniss sacrifices her ability to survive by taking her sister’s place during the Reaping. Once the Hunger Games begin, Katniss must do everything in her power to survive. She and her friend, Peeta, District 12’s other tribute, form an alliance of sorts, as the other tributes form their own alliances, creating a lot of chaos amongst the Games.

One literary element within the story is flashback. Katniss has an almost immediate flashback to Primrose, her sister, when she is with Rue, as the characters remind her of each other. It is possible Collins did this on purpose to give the reader a flashback to Katniss’s relationship with Prim or to show a more maternal side to Katniss, so she can be shown in more dimension than to just be a female action hero.

Basically, The Hunger Games is an amazing book with a bad ass main character and totally worth the hype. I would suggest this book to anyone and everyone who hasn’t read it already (though, I don’t know who that is.)

Blood, Guts, and Gore

I've come to the realization that I'm incredibly fascinated by blood and other bloodily fluids. Not urine, breast milk, bile, or semen though. That's just gross. I also think veins and arteries are really cool to look at. That's why I like having really skinny friends with protruding veins. And scars, bruises, and stitches are like... Beautiful to me. Oh, and nose bleeds. I've always wanted to have a nose bleed and I never have!

I only have two scars, on my feet from walking around town in flip flops all last summer. Blisters suck, BTW. Never had stitches and bruises? I get them all the time. Whenever I have them, I just really love to look at them and touch them. I'm not some freak who is turned on by pain... I just like touching bruises and stuff...

I don't know why, but I just find these things INCREDIBLY fascinating. Maybe I'd be better off going into a medical field, than in the music or acting direction, but it's not THAT interesting to me. I know, I sound like a total freak here, but shut up. You come to my blog and judge what I have to say. If you think it's weird, whatever. I think it's cool.