Friday, August 19, 2011

One Excellent Book - The Hunger Games

Okay, if you haven’t read it, I will not hesitate to recommend “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. It is a great little tale, pure and simple.  The plot is pretty straight-forward (teenagers selected by a post-apocalyptic government to participate in a tournament to the death to remind the Districts that the Capitol is in control).  The main characters are wonderfully drawn and delightfully nuanced.  As I reader, I instantly connected to the protagonist, Katniss and her fellow “Tribute” from District 12, Peeta. 

I read the entire book in four days – including the final run through it last night.  I turned off the TV and read myself to sleep, then, on waking, picked the book up and finished it.  It has been a while since I’ve read a story as compelling.  The book is widely acclaimed and popular and it’s easy to see why.

The movie has been cast and is shooting in North Carolina, with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role.  I’m a huge Jennifer Lawrence fan based on her excellent performance in “Winters Bone”, which was one of my favorite movies when it was out.  Now, there was some controversy when she was cast as Katniss, mainly due to age (Katniss is a teenager, Jennifer is in her early 20’s) and appearance, but from the publicity stills it looks like most of that was irrelevant. 

Because I am such a Jennifer Lawrence fan and I knew she’d been cast in the role, I had absolutely no problem visualizing her as the character as I worked my way through the first novel of the trilogy.  Once again, a simply outstanding little tale.  All kudos to the author, Suzanne Collins!

No comments: