In-depth Book Review: Hunger Games
Izzie’s Rating: 3.5-4/5
Characters: 4/5
Story: 4/5
Pacing: 3/5
Ending: 3/5
Spoiler-free review up to the jump.
I ended up with Hunger Games when it was being passed around dinner among my friends. A whole load of them had read it and they all thought it was really, really good. After they described it as Battle Royale meets Battlestar Gallactica with a touch of Lord of the Flies, I decided to give it a go.
The premise is a bit complex; some time in the future, a natural-disaster & post-war ridden North America has fallen into a a new nation called Panem. It’s a totalitarian system of the luxurious, indulgent Capitol, the privileged inner districts, and the impoverished outer districts. A revolution breaks out, but due the the Capitol’s strategic location and superior weaponry, the rebellion fails and the 13th district completely obliterated. As punishment, the remaining 12 districts are forced into a blood-sport each year called the Hunger Games. Each must send two children, one male and one female, from the ages of 12 to 18 to a televised fight to the death. 74 years later the trilogy begins.
Through circumstance our protagonist is sent to the games and we follow her story of survival and defiance, and how it transforms her, the people around her, and the nation as a whole, for better or for worse.
I have to say; I really could not put this series down. I devoured the first half of the first book in one night, and the second half over the course of the next day between reading on the bus and at my desk when I should have been doing work. I ended up buying the set and finishing up the rest by the weekend. Since then my feelings on the series have varied greatly.
A film adaption comes out March 23, 2012.
I’m a sucker for post-apocoypic Orwellian revolutions with a touch of sci-fi, and the Hunger Games delivers on these fronts. I also admit I did get caught up a bit with the love-triangle, perhaps for the wrong reasons, but that enjoyment started to fade quickly with the second book as it became aggravating. The trilogy is targeted for a younger audience… older teens / young adult readers, so the style isn’t up to speed with, say, A Song of Ice and Fire. Collins plays up the romantic melodrama a lot. It’s also written in 1st person from the point of view of protagonist Katniss Evergreen, so our views of the world and events are through the mind of a sixteen-year-old girl. It’s believable to a point. She is mature and cynical due to her circumstances, and she’s certainly no Bella, that’s for sure.
If I had to sum up the series, I’d give it a solid B+/A- rating. Over all, the story is really intriguing and unexpectedly addicting. The characters each carry their own unique personalities and rarely falter from that. For the most part there is a good mix of drama, action, suspense, and yes, even romance. The three books feel solid together but each carries it’s own theme and mood (something I imagine would have been distracting when waiting for the next one to come out, however, in one go it works). Now the ending is.. well, hotly debated among fans. Many people aren’t happy with it, myself included, but the whole adventure is still worthwhile.
I’d still highly recommend it to most, especially those interested and informed on the subjects of social issues and discontent within society. Panem and its situation strikes a little too close to home with the recent surge of demonstrations worldwide and it’s hard not to compare the two. Could this be our future? The sudden burst of popularity for the Hunger Games during these hectic times is something to keep a keen eye on. And despite its target audience, it’s still mature enough to handle for most readers and touches those little guilty pleasures with just the right amount of sway to give us a wonderful world to disappear into and reflect upon.
Spoiler Warning: The rest of the review is going to include some major spoilers, including character deaths. I suggest you stop now if you haven’t read it. Warning: comments may ultimately contain spoilers.
Open Forum: For those of you who’ve read the series, what do you think? What are your views on Katniss as a protagonist? How do you think the film will affect, if at all, the recent uprising of protest? How did you like the ending?
My introductions, aka, Izzie is nuts letting me write here
Recently, Izzie put out the call to her e-people asking if anyone wanted to write for her blog. Izzie and I used to play World of Warcraft together and semi-annually play Guild Wars together. I’ll also be rolling in her Guild Wars 2 guild. In the meantime, I have a boring desk job and writing is among the scant time wasting activities I have available to me. Toss in the fact that my tax return arrives on Tuesday and I don’t work again till the following Monday, decisions like “Well, I guess I’ll finally buy Star Wars: The Old Republic. (capital letters are important when thinking to yourself, you know?) are made.
I also confess to some selfish reasons for writing here, in that it will give me some blogging experience because everybody and their brother should really at least have an account with WP. I think we can come to an arrangement here, dear izziebytes faithful.
In exchange for your eyes, I will write about TOR from a semi-busy-but-still a gamer perspective. I’ll talk about what i’m doing and post pictures of shiny lightsabers so if you should find yourself in my situation, with time to kill and a few bucks to burn, and you, too, are contemplating buying Star Wars: The Old Republic, you can read my posts to further inform yourself on such a galactically important choice.
For the next 4 days or so until I buy the game, I would like you to leave any questions or comments or special focus requests in reply here. I will do my best to devote some time investigating specific trade skills, or certain class/alignment combinations, or any certain quest lines, etc. So the content from me will evolve based upon our interactions. I write for the PEOPLE. I am in no rush to get to level 50, its a Bioware game and I’m here to enjoy the scenery. The days where I would rush to the level cap are over and besides I missed release by a month and a half so it’s not like I’d even be pulling off server firsts anyway. Also, I am in a long term relationship living with my significant other, and significant others like attention and stuff (Whoda thunk?).
I’ll be back round Wednesday or Thursday, I will be beginning the game as a Sith Inquisitor for some lightning bolt action, and later heals so i can more easily handle group situations. I encourage you all to take this opportunity to waste time googling the game and then come back and make recommendations about other classes you’d want to see in future posts. Plus, I might even attempt some basic HTML that a 6 year old can write and attach some screenshots next time too. 
Is it too cliche to write “May the force be with you?” maybe if I close with this question instead of actually saying it….
SOPA / PIPA, Fandoms, and the Entertainment Industry
I managed to spend about an hour at the NY/NJ Tech Group emergency meetup / protest yesterday. Listening to the very influential speakers and just the general chatter really got me thinking about what SOPA/PIPA means to me.
I’ve never been an angel. I was a huge pirate during my high-school / college years; at my most ignorant I’d brag at how many thousands of dollars worth of stolen content I owned.
But now, as a functioning adult and someone who’s hoping to break into an industry that is victimized by piracy (gaming, and art to an extent), I am doing my best to rectify those choices by paying for the content I enjoy as much as possible. I can thank Amazon, Pandora, Netflix, Steam and even iTunes for that. Through these websites I have discovered new shows, movies, games, music, books, and the like, all of which I am able to watch and enjoy knowing I paid for it or supported it legally.
Something of note, though: In my many years as a rabid fangirl of many franchises, I can say with upmost confidence that 90% of the time, discovering the series’ and artists that I currently love was through a method that would be considered illegal either by current or future “laws”. I think that stands true for a lot of people in my generation, and likely most in those after me. I can’t even tell you how many songs and artists I discovered from fan-made music videos on youtube or gaming streams. Or how many shows I got into because I saw them at a college meeting or a clip online. How many games I discovered playing on a friend’s account. How many old passions were rekindled because I ran into a great fanart or fanfic or an animated GIF.
Legislation like SOPA and PIPA would do nothing but hinder this process of discovery and the spread of quality entertainment. In fact, I believe it would cause the complete opposite by encouraging a shadier and perhaps more risky internet “black market” by making content harder to discover and enjoy.
The big issue is the entertainment industry’s reluctance to work with new media. They are loath to embrace streaming and other forms of digital distribution out of fear; fear that they can’t monetize a site the way they can profit out of ads. Fear that they can’t easily track or control who and how and what when it comes to their content.
So they go crying to the government. But instead of trying to lobby politicians to block the spread of entertainment, what the industry needs to do is give up the fight on holding onto antiquated formats and get with the times. They can take a cue from the gaming industry here, where monthly subscription games, a model that is losing favor, are slowly being eclipsed by buy or free-to-play titles supported by micro-transactions. This is adaptation. This is working with, not against, your consumers.
By struggling to hold on to “the old ways”, the entertainment industry is perhaps unwittingly causing a huge snowball effect that is damaging everybody, creators and consumers alike. Television as we know it is on its way out. Trying to force people to sit at their TVs and sit through ads isn’t going to work for much longer. Canceling shows because they’re ignoring the much less lucrative views online and through TiVo is only damaging potentially great series. This is why Hollywood is being overrun with unstimulating and unintelligent reality TV and shitty cookie-cutter “blockbuster” movies while good, thought provoking ideas are getting cancelled left and right. But the thing is, those are the series that garner the lasting fandoms that will make the most money in the end.
So here it is. The times, they are a-changing. People are changing. Instead of fighting change, work with it, learn to adapt, and things WILL work themselves out favorable for all parties.
Consider this; already my teenage cousins predominately purchase their music and movies through iTunes. That’s a big deal because when I was 15 I was getting everything off Kazaa.
Tumblr's Andrew McLaughlin speaks at the SOPA protest. Tumblr, a site that thrives on fandoms, would be heavily affected by these bills.
That brings me back to one final point I think the entertainment industry fails to realize; fans and fandoms are a POWERFUL tool, and one that they will slaughter if they have their way with legislation like SOPA/PIPA. I know plenty of great fans who spend a lot of money collecting box sets, comics, and other promotional items for the franchises they love. Many people are willing and able to do so. Yes, you have those who could care less about the work that goes into something and will go ahead and steal it anyway. So be it. That’s life.
Fans are a passionate and rabid bunch. Tap into their potential well enough; treat them with respect, offer them the option to choose when and how to enjoy their entertainment, and watch the magic happen.
Check out my G+ gallery from the protest, as well as a gallery of sites that blacked out yesterday:
Photoblog 017: Mooooooooooo York.
September 11th, 10 years later. It still hurts.
It’s strange how 10 years can change things. Despite the impact 9/11 had on me and my family and the sad losses we faced, I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t feel like a bad, distant dream these days. But as I began to write this months ago, everything came back to me. My heart raced and my eyes teared, because that day was all too real.
So this might be kind of long-winded, but, I thought it was worth writing as a reminder to myself and perhaps as a form of venting.
9/11/06, 5 year anniversary
Tools of the Artist Part 01: The Canvas
I’m a hoarder. A hoarder of art supplies.
I’m sure you’ve heard all those rumors about how crazy artists tend to be. Well, it’s pretty true. We each have oddities that make us who we are. Call it a different perspective.
We all share a few traits, too, and compulsive hoarding of art supplies is one common habit you’ll find. You see, artists revere their tools as an extension of themselves. If you think of art feudal wars in ancient Japan, and artists as hulking samurai following the code of bushido, than the tools and mediums we use are akin to our katana. That came out way more poetic than I meant it to be, but it’s fairly accurate.
Anyway, putting it that way, you might see why we pretty much never, ever throw out our art supplies. I still have bottles of india ink that I stole from my high school art class, afterall. Dried up and everything, and I can’t seem to throw them away. It’s like blasphemy.
Anyway, today I pooled together my sketchbooks, specialized papers, reference books, and cavases to show the world, and to remind myself next time I get the urge to buy a new one.
If you hear me mention it ever… STOP ME.
Exibit 1) Sketchbooks & Specialized Paper
This is probably the worst of it. In all, I have 11 sketchbooks in the first 2 columns. Eight of those are pairs. The last 4 columns are all specialized paper. I’m in love with the grey graph paper with white lines (newest additions). Green notebooks were given to me in highschool and so they have about six years of random doodles. The progression from terrible to not so terrible is fun to see in one notebook. Not sure where the cat one came from, though.
Exibit 1a) Pairs
I don’t even know what this is all about, but if there’s a baby version, apparently I must have it.
Exibit B) Instruction books
These are my top 9 instruction books. First column is an amazing collection of reference photos!! I swear by those for dynamic images. The second column is basic drawing instruction. Fashion helps me with poses and clothing. Drawing helps me with basic anatomy, and the anatomy is another good source for poses. Last column: Artist’s handbook is an overall reference for different media and technique. Virtual pose has alot of naked people, and style school is a Japanese (backwards!) book on color technique!
Exibit C) Canvas
Once upon a time I used to paint, a lot. And I bought a whole bunch of new acrylics and canvas during a phase. That was about a year ago, and I have 2 finished paintings and about 15 half finished ones XD.
Way back in the days of yore (my freshman year of college) we had to make our on canvases. Which mean, buying a roll of canvas, getting the wood, frakking STAPLING that shit together, AND PAINTING THE GESSO ON DX!!!
Next time I think I’ll go through my supply box (markerssss!!!!) and get some lulz out of how much of those I own, as well.
Photoblog 016: Grand Central Eats! Nomnom.
If people didn’t know any better, you’d think all I do in New York is eat (well.. that’s kind of true.)
Grand Central Terminal (AKA Grand Central Station) is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. It’s a mix of classic architecture and design with modern-day functionality. Which makes it awesome.
I’ve always been a fan of the zodiac and astrology, and the ceiling of Grand Central is a giant painting of the constellations.
On each level, you have tracks (metronorth and the LIRR) leaving for Connecticut and Long Island. I decided to grab lunch today down in the dining concourse, which is in the “basement” so to speak. It’s home to a huge variety of food; pretty much any classic ethnic meal you’d want, you can find (I went with falafel today!) And a few popular chains like Juniors and Hale & Hearty Soups.
The station itself is pretty huge. Several levels and lots of wings, I always end up finding someplace completely new every time I go just to wander. I’ll have to go back and take pictures of the shops you can find (the fresh market is EPIC).
Stuff I have coming up: Port Authority Bust Terminal (ugliest building in NY) and Bryant Park!
Sketchbook Scans 001: Runic Annoyances
So I’ve been having trouble getting inspired to do artsy thing, be it drawing, sketching, or just free-form writing. It’s easy to try to look elsewhere for inspiration; friends, idols, culture.
But wanting to inspire myself is a little harder. While looking for classes to take over the summer one instructor described his course as tapping in to the inner artist; we all have two, the outer artists who observes and records and the inner artist who creates. I need to find the latter and shake her back into existence.
Anyway, point of this “series” so to speak is to inspire myself by drawing, sketching, doodling, and scribbling in my sketchbooks / notebooks and scanning all my old crap (we’re talking 10+ years of madness) to remind myself of those days when I was freer. You know, back in college and high-school when I wasn’t quite corrupted / jaded by adulthood and responsibility and actually had the time and energy to let my mind drift into the very scary abstract unknowns of my being. And shit.
Today’s scan dates back to sophmore year of college (age 19-20) where I apparently was taking notes in ancient runic & making a list of things that aggravate me.
I will eventually get around to translating the runes, since I have forgotten it enough that I can’t read it off the top of my head anymore. Yes, I used to be able to, but I also used to know the entire Pokérap by heart. Many things fade with time, it would seem.
But yes. My top 3 annoyances at the time were women w/ strollers, know-it-alls, and George Bush.
Go figure.
New York Photoblog 015: Urban Jungle Lunch
During warm weather, New Yorkers like to eat outside (even though it’s particularly hot today…). People will sit pretty much wherever they can plant themselves. Popular eating spots for lunch include buildings with lots of stairs, like museums and in this case the New York Public Library. This facade faces east from 5th Ave and spans 2 blocks (40 – 42 st) so it serves a HUGE chunk of lunchers, including workers and tourists.
Taste of Times Square 2011 Review
The great thing about summer in NY is that there’s room to be whimsical with the never-ending array of things to do. Working in midtown has its perks; sure the place is bogged down by tourists at any given point in time, but, the offset is that there’s always something interesting and/or free around.
Today I ended up passing Times Square as I’m apt to do on my way to the port authority when I came across the Taste of Time Square music & food festival thing. Now, I love food. I certainly look the part, too. I was more than excited to give it a go and it was the perfect warm/cool start of the evening to do so.
The jist is simple; buy tickets each worth a dollar and trade tickets in for food. You can buy traditionally 5-10 although certain booths offer buying one for one. All the vendors set a ticket price for their wares; on average a decent sampling will cost 3 tickets. Some are more, some less.
I ended up trying four delicious dishes; Eggplant parm from Carmine’s, oyster w/ beer-based sauce, conch chowder from Angus McIndoe, and “Hush Puppies” which is some deep fried smörgåsbord of marine delicious from Bubba Shrimp.
There was a total of 34 vendors this year from around Times Square spanning five blocks. Unfortunately, getting there late (after work) basically meant I couldn’t spend enough time as I would have liked. The ticket deal also meant I couldn’t try more than a handful out of them all; I had to really pick and choose wisely and didn’t even get to hit up the last block of restaurants. The atmosphere was pretty good; overcrowded but years of working at anime cons and dealing with rush hour kind of cure you of claustrophobia.
All in all: good times were had. I’ll probably make an effort to go again next year!
So check out the gallery of delicious and be jealous. <3
~Isa
