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Author Topic: The Hunger Games Trilogy  (Read 8182 times)

FroHam X

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The Hunger Games Trilogy
« on: April 14, 2011, 11:09:27 PM »
Mockingjay

I knew that the writing in this series wasn't the greatest. Structurally, the books are not all that interesting, and the world building is half-assed, and the prose is pretty lame. Still, I was taken by the first book because it had an interesting lead character and a fantastic premise. That premise held wonderfully for the first book, Hunger Games. The second book, Catching Fire, sot of offered more of the same, but not quite as good or fun. And then comes Mockingjay, a where everything shifts toward full on revolution. The problem is that the revolution premise is not that fun to read about, and worse still Collins' writing seemingly got worse as she went along. In fact, the writing is downright terrible. It became a total chore to read, and there were so many points where a piece of bad writing made me wince and I had to take a break from reading just to get the energy to continue. Mockingjay is probably the worst book I've ever read.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2011, 01:17:06 PM by ses »
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Bondo

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The Hunger Games Trilogy
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2011, 11:30:30 PM »
Mockingjay
Mockingjay is probably the worst book I've ever read.

What? You're wrong. Objectively. *walks away shaking head*

Of course people also say Dan Brown and Stephanie Meyer are bad writers so what do people know.
« Last Edit: April 15, 2011, 01:18:33 PM by ses »

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2011, 11:34:00 PM »
Ah, that book's part of that series. So odd. Guess I have to give them a whirl sometime this summer.

FroHam X

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2011, 11:35:33 PM »
Dan Brown IS a terrible writer. What he is good at is writing short chapters that end in cliffhangers that make you go "well I might as well read the next chapter because it's also short", rinse, repeat until you've finished the book in the space of an evening.
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Bondo

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2011, 12:00:57 AM »
He tells engaging stories that in the case of DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons at least hit at some really interesting messages. I feel like you are evaluating writing quality on the same pedantic sense that a lot of the snobbier people around here judge on technical aspects of film. It is missing the forest for the trees.

FroHam X

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2011, 12:05:27 AM »
I've read all Dan Brown's books, and I've found them highly readable, but it's purely because of that cliffhanger technique he uses. The writing is not good. The stories are really very stupid. The themes are little more than throwing out simple crap like "why can't science and religion just get along? oh wait they can!" I read The Da Vinci Code and could not put it down, literally. I literally did not put it down until I was finished. I just had to know what would happen next. Brown is amazing at that very specific aspect of storytelling. He is poor-to-terrible at just about every other aspect.
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smirnoff

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2011, 08:21:49 AM »
I think my only real problem with The Hunger Games series is having to endure some of Katniss's temporary irrational grudges. The stuff like "Peeta did this, so now I'm mad at him" or "Haymitch betrayed us, I'm not speaking to him". Things that may seem justified to her, but from my perspective it's just annoying, juvenile, and most of all, petty (especially considering the circumstances). The emotional conflicts just delay progress in the story and I pretty much never sympathize with how she feels. You know she's going to see sense eventually anyways, it's just tedious watching her get there.

smirnoff

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2011, 08:28:15 AM »
Nothing struck me as terrible about any Dan Brown book I've read (and I've read 'em all). My only complaint as a reader is that The Lost Symbol (or whatever that last one was called) felt a bit tired. It's time for a different character/world.

FroHam X

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #8 on: April 15, 2011, 10:52:52 AM »
I agree completely about that problem in the Hunger Games series. It's incredibly annoying. But there's a lot of other stuff that becomes tedious. The myriad dresses. The bickering over how she will come off on TV. The decision of whether to become "the Mockingjay", why is perhaps the dumbest and most aggrivating wording Collins could have chosen. By Mockingjay it all reaches a point where the bad far outweighed the good and I just could not take it anymore.
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smirnoff

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Re: Re: The last book you bought
« Reply #9 on: April 15, 2011, 11:02:03 AM »
there's a lot of other stuff that becomes tedious. The myriad dresses. The bickering over how she will come off on TV. The decision of whether to become "the Mockingjay"
[/quote]

Agree... I've grown quite tired of all of that (if it ever appealed to me in the first place). I just want Katniss to man up quit fussing. She's such a frustrating heroine sometimes.