Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Hunger Games: Book and Movie Opinions



I'm sure everyone has heard about the Hunger Games by now. A few weeks ago I was trying to avoid all of the buzz. Usually fads like this get really old pretty fast. My friend kept telling me that the books were really good, so over my spring break, I decided to read and find out what everyone was talking about.

Yes, they were difficult to put down, simply because I needed to know the outcome. As for the main story, it is not something I would read again. Suzanne Collins, the author, has a fantastic imagination, which I think is great! But their is so much build up on the story that it becomes long and extremely drawn out throughout all of the books. After finishing the last book, I was not impressed. I felt like it was almost a waste because after the build up, which makes readers buy the books, the story just sort of ended. There was nothing fantastic about it. This is just my opinion though. I do love how Collins portrays a different world and I enjoyed the characters in the books a lot, they were very diverse and thought out.

Since I had read the books I was suspicious that I would not like the movie, but I was curious. My husband thought he would enjoy it even though he hadn't read the books. I like that the actors aren't very well known so there wasn't prior judgement of the acting in the audience. Overall the acting was good, a little too dramatic compared to the book, and they didn't follow the book in a few aspects. I was slightly disappointed on this but most people think they followed the book splendidly so to each their own. My husband was disappointed and didn't really enjoy the story. He thought it was too drawn out and it is a very long movie.

The movie is rather graphic, though not nearly as much as the book. There are many parts in the book that are really gross and in detail that they didn't add to the movie. Obviously the main plot involves a lot of killing and blood. The rating is PG-13 which I would say is fair, but I wouldn't advise younger children to watch it.



What makes a good book? One that you can't stop reading? Why can't you stop reading it in the first place? What makes a good author? Would many books be as popular without the movie excitement?

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