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Some of this has to do with the scene in the book that I did not enjoy. (I won't spoil it, in case you haven't read it). If you have read The Hunger Games, you probably know what I'm talking about. It's very near the end, and to me it was unjustified in its disturbing violence. Yes, the whole book had violence in it, but this particular scene went too far. Had the insurrectionist theme been more clearly foreshadowed afterward, I might have understood. As it stands, the scene seemed gratuitous.
I love to recommend good books to my English students, and Suzanne Collins is a superb writer, but in my capacity as a teacher I don't recommend this book to young readers. As a parent, I urge other parents to read the books your teens want to read. Books like this one might best be read in "book club" fashion so you can discuss them together as you go.
Having said all that, here are a few things Collins did well:
- draw believable characters that the reader will root for
- create a realistic, tense dystopian setting
- leave cliffhangers at the end of every chapter.
1 comment:
I read the books and very much enjoyed them. They are not for young children, and I was disturbed to see many young children at the theater to see the movie last weekend. We took our 17-year-old daughter to see it and enjoyed it very much. It was mostly true to the book, though a few things were changed, and of course some things were left out due to time considerations. The violence was there, of course, but not so gross that I couldn't watch it. Yes, I cried. The ending scene (which I THINK is the one you refer to) I found less graphic than in the book. I think this series speaks to themes of sacrifice and hope in a hopeless situation. It also addresses civil disobedience and I feel it is very timely.
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