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sekhmet1010 t1_jdcbrig wrote

I am listening to the books for the first time (because i am learning a language and my skills aren't good enough yet to tackle the stuff that i actually like), but i have to say i disagree with you.

It's a good concept, but these are not well written books with good character development (so far. I am on book 3). It feels like such a missed opportunity. Their could have been details about the various districts, that the author could have delved more into like how the media was used to keep District 1 citizens insulated/oblivious or just downright apathetic. There could have been more of a history between Peeta and Katniss. Not romantic, just history since they lived so close by, there could have been more details regarding when and why the districts were made, and how bloody the wars were which lead to people becoming resigned to the Hunger Games.

There could have been so much more to make this a more layered novel series, but it feels almost lazy to me. The author had a great idea but a thoroughly indifferent execution. The writing is beyond meh.

It is one of those rare series where the movies are actually better, in my opinion.

I think Hunger Games deserved to become popular due to its idea, but it also deserves the criticism based on its literary merit, or the lack thereof.

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talkbaseball2me t1_jdcv4tr wrote

I disagree, I loved the movies but the books are way better. The reason there aren’t more layers is because Katniss, as the narrator, doesn’t know those layers. It would be forced to add those layers in and the book wouldn’t work as well. I prefer the books over the movies because we can see inside Katniss’s head and know what she’s thinking/feeling. I actually think the movies lack a lot of emotional depth because we don’t know how much she’s struggling.

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sekhmet1010 t1_jdd5eex wrote

I find it unbelievable that Katniss living in that very system would know and think so very little about it. If nothing else, there could have been glimpses of things, but there was nothing. Because the book has a very lazy world-building going on.

Seeing inside Katniss' head would have been lovely if she had more of a personality. Even her relationship dynamics with everyone else happens to be oversimplified. It just lacks any complex emotions, in my opinion. Every single relationship dynamic seems to be based off of one thing. That's so unrealistic.

In the movies, i think Jennifer Lawrence brought more to the table than there was on paper. Katniss is so bland. I have gained zero new insights into the character after having read the first two. Maybe the third one will be better, but i doubt it.

Except for The Godfather and this series, i have never enjoyed a movie adaptation more than the books.

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drcutiesaurus t1_jde1tkz wrote

You have to remember that it was common in her district for people to literally just die from starvation in the street. She herself was bordering on starvation before Peeta tossed her that bread. When you're starving (or fighting for survival and your family's survival... dependent on a good hunt or forage) there's not a lot of time or energy people can (never mind want) to put into thinking about life outside survival. It's one of the reasons the Capitol is so effective in all their propaganda.

And her relationship dynamics are simplified... because she's a sheltered 16 year old. It's incredibly realistic for the character, her age, and setting imo.

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sekhmet1010 t1_jde3z86 wrote

I did not find it to be so at all. Realistic, i mean.

And clearly you enjoyed the books and have quite a different view of them. So, let's agree to disagree.

I just hope that these aren't the best that YA has to offer, since besides the concept, these weren't very good books at all in my opinion.

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drcutiesaurus t1_jde0o5a wrote

It would have made zero sense though for us to have those details. The books are written in first-person- limited. This means we only know what Katniss knows. Because the Capitol wants to limit interaction between districts (to prevent another uprising), the government mandated education and curriculum is going to be a) major propaganda and b) limited to essentially just their own district. Any outside info that the masses get about other districts is directly related to the Games (also major propaganda!).

It's one of the limitations of first-person-limited stories, but imo one of the reasons I find it most immersive. Had we known all this extra extraneous info, it would have detracted from the story and characters to me bc it wouldn't have made sense in universe for Katniss to have known all this details.

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