Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated. I've been a bit busy lately but that's no excuse.
What have I been up to?
Reading: The Hunger Games
Writing: Linden
Then work, and looking for a car, and hanging out with people, particularly a close friend who was about to move away
Oh yeah, and watching lots of How I Met Your Mother reruns. It's sad how much I'm addicted to this show.
So a couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends finally convinced me to read The Hunger Games. The whole process of getting me to read The Hunger Games has taken almost a year, from when I first picked up Birthmarked and I read on the cover that it was similar to The Hunger Games to February 10th (and I really liked Birthmarked), when I finally opened the book and started reading.
For those not in the know, The Hunger Games is a young adult novel set in post apocalyptic North America, now called Panem. The plot centers on sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen, who struggles to make ends meet for her family in their poor district. After the dust settled from war, a government established itself in the Rocky Mountains, forming their main city called the Capitol, from which they rule the twelve districts of the continent through brutality and starvation. Every year, the city puts on what is known as the "Hunger Games", a televised game show of sorts in which two children (a boy and a girl) from each district must compete to the death. The children, aged 12-18, are drawn by lottery every year. When Katniss' twelve year old sister's name is drawn, she volunteers to go in her place, knowing she will most likely die as her district has not had a winner in decades, and knowing she will have to face children from some of the other districts who train all their lives to compete in the games.
Okay, enough summary and let's get on to the spoilers!
My very first thought when I read the opening line was, "Oh no, it's in present tense." I've hardly seen anything written in present tense and I was worried that it would feel awkward and jarring since I'm not used to it. But within seconds the prose felt natural and I completely forgot. Actually, writing in present tense is probably the perfect choice for this book and I'm glad that I didn't put the book down right then because it would have been a huge mistake.
Why? First of all, this book is based on the premise that Katniss will be fighting to her death. Even though we know she's the main character, it's important to at least maintain the premise that she might actually die in the arena. Okay sure, she's the main character, but it's really that much of a stretch to expect an author to pull a twist at the end and have her die. If the book was written in past tense, it would imply that Katniss is reflecting back from some point, implying that she is alive. Second, present tense lends to the feeling of action and of present danger. It makes it more exciting.
Alright, moving on.
Suzanne Collins is a master at pacing. I could not put this book down. I was completely impressed. She is a master at cliffhangers. I would think, "Okay, I've been reading the past few hours. I'll stop at the end of this chapter and be social." And I would continue reading, and then bam. A "WHAT" moment. I would literally say out loud, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED!" and flip the page to the next chapter.
And the development she sets up with the love triangle. I started reading, knowing romance was involved. And the first few chapters talk about her time in the district with Gale and I thought "he's the love interest." Then, when Peeta's name was drawn instead of Gale's, I was confused. I thought, "Oh crap, I bet he's the love interest. But what about Gale?"
Of course, as the story progressed I couldn't help but love Peeta. He's too freaking awesome not to. And so, at the end of the book, (stop reading spoiler ahead) when she tells Peeta she was just pretending to reciprocate his feelings so they could both leave the arena alive, I was of course incredibly angry. I threw down the book, pouted and said "that sucked!" And my boyfriend said, "you didn't like it?" and I said, "It was a horrible ending. So naturally I have to get the next one."
And of course, I did.
Wow, huge sidetrack there. Anyways what the point of all that is, she really does a good job establishing Gale and Katniss' friendship/relationshipmaybe? so that it's completely believable that Katniss would feel legitimately confused and torn. Normally in such circumstances, one guy is ridiculously mean and it's obvious who she is going to end up with. Of course I was hoping it would be Peeta the whole time, but I always felt that fear that just maybe she would pick either Gale, or perhaps neither of them and actually live out the rest of her life on her own and not get married. Or she would die. Maybe other people felt more sure that she would pick Peeta - I don't know. But I never try to be too sure about these things. Authors sometimes like to be tricky and twisty which sometimes is a bit of a jip, if you ask me. I mean twists are GOOD. Except for when they're just stuck in there because an author is trying too hard to be twisty and surprising.
I did also read Catching Fire and Mockingjay (in fact, I was so desperate to read Mockingjay as soon as possible that when I couldn't find it in the bookstore, it became my very first ebook purchase), and much of what I said for the Hunger Games fits those two books so I won't continue much further. I just want to say that Mockingjay gets pretty intense.
On the note of twists, I will say that the part where Peeta comes back and chokes Katniss was probably the most shocking "OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED" cliffhanger for me. I know it's kind of mean to say, but I do think it added a little bit to Peeta's character... it sounds bad, I know. But from a character development point of few it made the story more interesting and made Katniss and Peeta's relationship so much more poignant and heartrenching. Romeo and Juliet are starcrossed lovers? PTH. Their story is nothing compared to Katniss and Peeta's. Yeah I went there. But I've never liked Romeo and Juliet that much (and I'm not afraid to say it). Seriously, two teenagers get married and sacrifice their lives for each other after only a few days. It's lust, stupidity and over dramatic. And that makes the rest of the story too frustrating for me to suspend disbelief. Okay that said, I do love Hamlet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Nights Dream. Blah blah blah Shakespeare is still awesome.
WHEW, long post. That ought to make up for not posting for a few months. I've been meaning to write this up about The Hunger Games so I'm glad I actually got around to it.
As far as writing goes, I felt hugely inspired from The Hunger Games so I finally rushed back to Microsoft Word and started working on Linden again. Finally.
You know, I think it is hugely important for writers to read and I'm always shocked when I hear aspiring writers say that they don't like reading. That said, I do avoid reading when I write because I'm afraid of taking the writer's style with me. The problem with me and reading is that I get too into the book and don't want to leave it. So sometimes the writing style rubs off and that isn't necessarily a good thing because it might not fit the narrative style I'm searching for. Like The Hunger Games is first person present tense, and I am writing Linden in close third person past tense. Two opposites, really. But it's refreshing to read something now and then and refuel my passion simply for story telling.
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