The Hunger Games

I am in no way highbrow. I think this probably goes without saying, as I’ve already mentioned bowel motions and toilets far too many times in the rather short life of this blog. I swear I don’t have an affinity for potty talk; rather I'm just somewhat juvenile. Whilst my personality is less than refined, my reading habits have always erred towards being a self-proclaimed snobby toffee-nosed twat. I’ll be honest I’ve openly turned my nose up to sci-fi and fantasy in the past, without actually reading any such books. Someone slap some sense into my younger self please!

Since realizing that this attitude is appalling I’ve been trying hard to break this habit. So I’ve been branching out and exploring all the genres I’ve slagged off in the past - youth adult fiction, comics and sappy romances.

I do want to make it clear that I am truly armored by Austen, besotted by Bronte, amiss by Amis. I’ve poured over Perec and smitten by Steinbeck. I love a good classic, but it turns out that I love a bit of fantasy. I’m halfway through the Lord of the Rings trilogy and have just gobbled up ‘The Hunger Games’. They’re both rollicking good reads, featuring a hero’s journey.

‘The Hunger Games’ is splashed all over the internet in the lead up to the film’s release, but it was my sister who turned me onto the trilogy after she read it in a week.

The basic gist of it is in a post-apocalyptic world, America is a dictatorship run by ‘The Capitol’. To ensure the general population is reminded of how powerful the capitol is one boy and one girl is selected from each of the twelve districts to participate in the annual hunger games. A televised event where there is only one winner – the last person standing. It features such a strong storyline and bizarre premise that you can dissociate from the sometimes-whiny narration from 16 year old Katniss Everdeen.

I’ve started the next book in the series; so far I’m not as keen on it as the pace is all over the place as the plot is being set up, but I highly recommend book one.