The Hunger Games Trilogy

Now, there's been a lot of hype and talk and fandomonium about the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins consisting of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, so naturally, I thought I'd investigate. And when some well respected friends added merit to the general public's love of these novels I thought them worth a shot - especially with the movie coming out in March, I knew I had to read before I saw too much. I must admit, though, I was a bit nervous seeing as Twilight etc. got even more fame and those were certainly not top novels. The YA genre is full of mush, yet some stars remain.
In Hunger Games, I was not dissapointed. (Or at least not entirely).
It is essentailly pointless and impossible for me to critique each of these novels seperately as they not only contain the same characters/world in the continuity of a Trilogy, but they essentially read as one large novel more so than 3 stand alone novels. While it is possible (although somewhat unsatisfying) to read just the first, the second and third novels would be nothing without the original, and so they stand a firm trilogy.

First of all, on a high note, the characters are wonderfully unique, complex and real. Showing both immense bravery and immense fear, love and hate and everything in between, the characters grab you immediately and pull on your heart strings from the very start. For me, this is of the utmost importance - if I am not invested in the characters, then who really cares?

The main character, a sixteen year old girl named Katniss, is every young reader's dream. With the possibility of being vague and flippant, and wash of a character (see the non-descript bore Bella Swan), Suzanne Collins avoids the generic and dives head first into a strong, distinct pointed character. And this, is the beauty of it, really. You might not love Katniss - you might not be all that much like her: as brave, or as hard, as indecisive or as piercing and yet, it doesn't matter. (or at least, didn't bother me, though fangirls of the male characters everywhere will doubtless scream she is an unloving, insensitive fool). I think, though that vagueness of character is a major flaw that writers fall into, especially those that write teen or YA literature, to pick a character - a main character - which is universal with the assumption that the more relatable the character is, the more invested the readers will become. It's really just the opposite, I find. Sure, vague characters WORK because we place ourselves in the role and feel part of our own character going through the plots and turns, but in the end, who did we just read about? Does the character stick with us? Could they be real, do we really care?
No.
This is where Collins diverges from the norm. Katniss Everdeen is most certainly NOT your average 16 year old girl. With a strong sense of justice and a streak of rebellion she runs her household in place of an absent father and vacant mother. Hunting, trading, bartering and protecting, she is the provider for her family leading them day in and day out through the impoverished life of District 12.

Throw into that Katniss's first big act - a selfless volunteering to replace her 12 year old sister in 'The Hunger Games' a fight-to-the-death televised event where 24 children (ranging in age from 12-18) enter a stadium, fight, survive, outwit, until only one remains, and Collins has immediately stepped up her game.
The shining beacon of Collin's work is her ability to form meaningful, quick relations between the characters and the reader at just the right level so that when they die (as inevitably most of them will), the reader feels a real sense of loss at their death without feeling completely gutted, or like part of the story has died with them. This is a major feat given the genre, as often authors cannot find the balance and when a character we are invested in dies, we lose a large part of why we were connected to the story in the first place, and begin to seperate ourselves from the story.

It's 'The Lottery' meets 'Gladiator', a mashup of crepy opression and violence. Though the death match idea is not an original idea, by any means, and The Hunger Games has often been compared to such stories as 'Battle Royale', it is not althogether fair to write Collins' work off purely as a rip-off or a replica of novels previous. This story holds its own, at least in part.
For me, the first novel was something worth fighting against the 'Battle Royale' critiques, etc. Strong, powerful and heartwrenching, Hunger Games is a well crafted tale of triumph, failure, friendship and perserverance amidst the great horror of forced violence, murder and death. Collins did well to adress these issues in a way that was both poigant and accessable (especially to the younger audience). It wasn't until the later novels that the story began to change adopting an aire of rebellion (far stronger than that found previously), a bigger cause, and a greater sense of struggle against the opressor. The story no longer becomes just about Katniss, or the Games, but the very structures in which these characters live. Enter, Dystopian novel archetypes.

Stephen King who has large amounts of praise for the series, added this in his review: "displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults." The general idea was that while the novels have great merit, there are flaws which the 15 year old female reader will be less inclined to critique (give or take a few). I must say upon reading this comment, I feel much the same way. While the first novel was polished and precise, the later two had some tendencies that wavered away from the main story including a few dashed-together scenes that in theory were good, but lacked the slow detail that would have made them shine like the rest. "authorial laziness" makes perfect sense to me when describing such tendencies - they are neither wholey bad nor entirely poorly written, just, lacking in depth and detail, especially when  contrasted to the rest of the novel. Especially the ending, which (of course) I won't give away, held a much more prominant sense of this laziness in my mind where events seem to build and build towards the great acts, only to be thrown together and wrapped up in almost a rush - a real shame, seeing as the feel and flow of the novels previous was such a strong point. Collins gets lazy, and thus seems to pull out of that which makes the novel truly a good one.

Plot points and focus become some-what muddled as the story continues through books two, and especially three, with big overarching themes that both rocked the events of the novel, but also turned many things readers held dear from the first book on their heads. Though in theory this is not a no-no, more time and care should have been given to such plot points so as the add a level of beleivability to the events despite the other worldly nature of the novel. When characters, events or situatuions are flipped so drastically, readers can feel a sense of betrayal, disconnect or disturbia that will pull them out of the novels. Though I wouldn't say Collins goes so far as to betray the readers, I did find the occasional turn jarring, and felt that more time and care could be taken to lead the reader into the changes and therefore make them more realistic and maintain continuity.

At times I found myself wondering what the real focus or drive of the later novels were - what the characters were leading up to, what was actually being done, and coming up with simply ideas like 'fighting against opression' or 'rebelling for the cause'. Fine... but, just because the target audience is young, doesn't mean they don't understand details of war and refugee living. Or at least, could LEARN to know them given the writer's intention to expand their knowledge. Collins doesn't hide to gore or the sorrow or the realities of starvation in Hunger Games, why are finer points so readily left out of Catching Fire and Mockingjay? Characters die off, triumphs are made or lost, and they become blips in plot, not moments of feeling and expansion. This is the real downfall. In order for the reader to connect, they need to be pulled into these moments, and often times I felt less of the story, and more of the point-by-point plot summary. Collins, though talented, lacks this continued reader-character connection, at times, that leaves the novels at a good, level but prevents them from being amazing.
There is so much I can say about these novels, and so much i have already said, but ultimately, I very much enjoyed reading them and felt they were an excellent option (if occasionally graphic) for younger readers. (much more preferable than some teen & YA lit out there today). With real feeling, and real issues, Collins begins to open the minds of young readers and older ones alike, but stops short of greatness as plots get bigger and slightly out of her grasp, losing focus on the character connection that so drove her story at the start. A return to this, and a more polished conclusion after 3 novels, would only serve to elivate what is widely considered a successful and enjoyable series. I am anxiously awaiting the release of the first movie, and hope it does the author justice rather than stripping it of all it's literary goodness.
If you haven't read these, do it. despite my critiques, I don't think you'll regret it.

The House on Mango Street

A snapping, poingent look into one girls suffocating life and bumpy coming of age, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisnero is another example of her raw talent and unrelenting eye. An eighty-odd page 'novella' consisting of chapters ranging mostly within the length of 1-4 pages, Mango Street is less of a novel and more of a series of snippets and poems hitched together by the underlying current of supression, poverty and endurance.

Seen through the eyes of the young Latina girl Esperenza, the reader catches glimpses not only of Esperenza's life - desperate to escape the impoverished neighbourhood she seems forever confined to - but the lives of those around her, costantly observing. While the majority of the text focuses on Esperenza's day to day activities, the reader is also exposed to other ways of life on Mango Street alluded to by Esperenza's childish observations: the neighbour who's wife seems to look diffferent to everyone each time they see her; Lucy and Rachel the texan girls with whom Esperenza and her little sister Neeny form a close friendship; Sally who is embrassing womanhood at a speed far beyond Esperenza, despite their closeness in age. The other characters paint a picture of life on Mango street, and for esperenza, what seem to be some of the few options she might have to follow. However, despite hercircumstances, she is determined to bnreak free one way or another, and her first outlet becomes writing.

Esperenza often writes little poems or vignettes as a way to escape her surroundings and project a sense of future. Though it is never directly stated, by the end of the Novella we are led to believe that her ability to escape Mango, and yet always have a need to return, encompasses this act - though she may not remain physically in Mango Street, her heart will ever return there, as she writes the stories of those she new, helping them, too to escape.