I haven’t read Hunger Games. *Gasp!*

Once again I’ve rocked your world with a title that screams creativity, yo.

So I haven’t read the Hunger Games trilogy yet. And to answer your obvious question, I don’t really know why. It’s a combination of reasons, really.

  • I’m busy.
  • I’m not interested.
  • I have a million and four other pressing matters that need my attention.
  • I have four unfinished books sitting by my bed and I can hear them weep at night because I’m not reading them.

You know…stuff like that.

To be honest, I’ve never understood the whole read the book, see the movies craze. I find it baffling. I loved the Twilight series, but haven’t seen a single one of the movies (though I did watch part of the first one on TV the other night…meh). I think Harry Potter is hands down the best series of books I have ever read, but I haven’t seen the last three or four movies.

Because the books are so amazing.

Seriously. There are very few films that have really done a great book justice. I hear the Hunger Games movie did a pretty good job, but most people agree, the book is better.

I’m the type of person that really loses herself in a book. I get immersed in the story so deeply that pulling myself back to reality can sometimes feel like a chore. When the story ends and I close the book, if it’s been a good book, sometimes I’ll sit and let myself wander through the world I just read about. I become a part of it. If a book is good enough, I will often feel a sense of loss when the story ends.

I felt that way for a week after I finished reading Harry Potter.

I don’t feel the same way about movies. They don’t incite my imagination the way a real, live book does. I need to feel the weight of the story in my hands. I need the fatigue of a late night reading to push my imagination just a step further. I need to read every word – every detail – to understand and appreciate the characters.

Movies are good, yes. But books are better.

I am trying to teach my kids that lesson. If there is a movie version of a particular book, I’m trying to read them the book first. We are currently reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, then I plan on showing them the movie. Sometimes, of course, this backfires. We read Dr. Doolittle earlier this year, then I showed them the Dr. Doolittle movie.

It sucked.

Movies can ruin books sometimes, too.

Another reason I’ve hesitated to read the Hunger Games is I’ve heard through the grapevine Twitter that it’s just a really poorly written book. One woman even posted a picture of a paragraph on page three of the first book and urged everyone to grab their red pens and have fun.

It was pretty bad.

I’m not a book snob by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t proclaim to be the goddess of grammar. Obviously. I’m pretty sure every single one of my blog posts boasts a glaring grammatical error. But I measure books by entirely different standards. I like to think that gives me a little depth as a person, you know?

No? Not really?

Whatever. Young adult fiction or not, a book still needs basic sentence structure. I trust that the story and plot of Hunger Games are so good that I could eventually overlook the poor writing, but I don’t know. It makes me a little nervous so I am avoiding altogether.

The issue of time is the biggest reason I’ve shied away from the trilogy, though. I can’t afford to not sleep over the next few weeks so I’m sticking to light, brainless nighttime reading – like PEOPLE magazine. Now there’s some reading to be proud of, folks.

So what about you? Have you read the Hunger Games books? Did you love them? Did you go to the movies this weekend dressed as a child warrior? It’s okay if you did – I won’t judge…much.

*wink, wink*

Image credit

Comments

  1. I agree, the books are always better. But, I disagree on the book itself. The protagonist is only 16 and I think the author intended on keeping her language real…even if it means run on sentences, etc. The first book is the best of the three…you should give it a whirl, it might surprise you. There are themes of substitution/grace and the cost of freedom that can parallel our spiritual lives if we dare choose to see it.

    • It’s not that I feel the books are a horrible tragedy to the English language. I mean, I have only read one paragraph for heaven’s sake. And I think there’s plenty of room for poetic license and the prose of a first person narrative. My worry, based on that one paragraph, was that the entire book was written in clunky, fragmented sentences. I wasn’t sure if maybe creative license could crash and burn after awhile. I have been assured by more than one English lover (and writer) that that is not the case so I will take your word(s) for it.

      But really, the phrase “supple leather molded to my feet” just cracks me up a bit. Is it just me? 🙂

      I knew, though, that someone was going to break it all down for me and give me a compelling reason to try it out. And I’m fairly certain that if I begin reading them i won’t be able to put them down and I don’t have time for that! Maybe this summer. Sometime… 🙂

  2. I really enjoyed the books….as did my husband….and my grown children who read A LOT…and everyone I have recommended them too! I thought the 2nd book was even better than the first, but must say I was disappointed in the last one.

    I thought they were creative and new and had good character development. They are about self-sacrifice and caring for those that you love. ….about good vs. evil.

    Your life will not be changed by them, but you could enjoy a few hours of entertainment. 🙂 We haven’t been to see the movie yet, but will!

  3. I haven’t read the books either. But mostly because I rarely read a fictional book. I am reading a couple of books by Francis Chan right now about the love of God and the Holy Spirit…that’s more up my alley. But I do agree that a good book is so much better than the movie. Case in point: Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Two of my FAVORITE books, books I lamented for weeks when I was done reading them. The movies were a nice stab at the books, but they just can’t compare.

    One thing I will say is that if I watch a movie that is based upon a book I’ve read, I just tell myself that it won’t possibly be able to stack up. That way I can attempt to enjoy the movie. Most of the time it helps. But like you said, I’m not swooning for weeks on end like I did after my two favorite books….swoon…..

    • Yes, I swoon over certain books, too, Jane Eyre OF COURSE being one of them. And Anna Karenina. And The Poisonwood Bible (have you read that yet?). And The Help (which, incidentally, I actually did really enjoy the movie version of that book. I thought it was really well done – not perfect, but good.)

      I am no a non-fiction reader. I just can’t get into them. I wish I could…

      • so you don’t read any non-fiction? I have read some awesome biographies that I would love to recommend! 🙂

        • I can usually do biographies as long as they’re engaging. I’ve been trying to read Bonhoeffers biography for months now and just can’t get engaged. :/

          • Have you read “Same Kind of Different as Me”? Jantsen’s Gift? The Invisible Thread?

            Just some good ones!

  4. melcable says

    I too have not read them, although I love book to movie craziness, yes the movie is normally awful, except for the help, but I’m just always curious to see how they bring it to life. I will say, I have a friend who I respect a lot, a genius, phd husband who teaches literature, kids are classically educated, and home schooled, whatever. She says this authors earlier books, that are aimed at smaller children, are great. She read them aloud to her kids, who are older than ours, although she has a 3rd grade boy who loved them, anyway, there ya go. I have not read them because there are too many of them, same with Harry Potter, I get so caught up, my kids don’t get fed, I don’t sleep, so no series for this girl, one book wonder, thats all I have the time for. But am looking for a good one hit wonder if you have one!

  5. I’m smack in the middle of Catching Fire, and yes, the writing is awful. She can’t even seem to get the correct usage of who/whom down. BUT the themes are what I love. Joel is on the second book too and we’ll be using our time in the plane and traveling to talk about it. Stuff like when rebellion against authority is called for and to what lengths could you go to save yourself or a loved one. The one that strikes me the hardest is how clueless and spoiled the Capitol residents are concerning the suffering in the other districts. After going through Radical, it makes me think of how shallow Americans are while most of the world is starving, oppressed, and spiritually lost. Lots of stuff too deep for you to talk about with your kids, but when they’re older there is lots to love.

    I usually find movies ruin the book for me too. I heard they made or are making The Poisonwood Bible into a movie…I’ll be skipping that one. It can’t possibly be as good.

    • Nooooooooooo…..

      They cannot possibly do that book justice.

      But you guys have almost convinced me to read The Hunger Games. 🙂

  6. I read all 3 while on spring break last week. (Lots of time in the car for reading.) The girls had read them and loved them and I didn’t want to be left out of the conversation. They were a total departure from what I usually read but I LOVED them! I had honestly thought of some of the exact scenerios when thinking about what living through the tribulation might be like. (A stretch perhaps but it really kept me engaged!) I fell in love with the characters. We saw the movie on Sunday and it was not as good as the book but we liked it.
    When you have time give them a try. (Of course when will you have time? That is the question!)
    Love and miss you Kelli! Family First is NOT the same without you.

    • Oh man I miss you guys. I got Landon signed up for a preschool and every time I think of him not going to Bonhomme my heart twists in a knot. So I just try not to think about it at all. Ever.

      Love you.

Trackbacks

  1. […] may be the first time in the HISTORY OF ALL TIME that I liked a movie better than a book. Maybe because the movie is such a classic? But the book was a classic first, thus necessitating […]

  2. […] I took the plunge. I started The Hunger Games Saturday night and I finished the third book, Mockingjay, last night […]

  3. […] I’ve seen the movies, but we all know those aren’t the same thing. […]