One day I was just browsing at Barnes & Noble, of course with no intention of buying The Hunger Games. I perused the Young Adult section, but not because I was sniffing around the overrated trilogy. Of course not. I just wanted to see what the youth of today are interested in. It keeps me young, because as you already know, I am an old lady. Please see I'm Too Old For This Stuff for further explanation.
I found myself face to face with the dreaded Hunger Games. I tentatively reached up, and began browsing through it. And then, it happened.
I had to read it.
The dangers of a bloated bureaucracy? The perils of government control over individual freedoms? A LOVE TRIANGLE? Aw geez. I'm in. You had me at Peeta.
Would you believe I finished that book in one day? True story. I immediately had to rush out to buy Catching Fire, because my life just couldn't move on in a forward motion until I found out what was going to happen to our beloved heroes Katniss and Peeta. Would they be punished for winning? President Snow can't be happy about their shenanigans in the Arena! And so, piqued with a burning curiosity, I dove right into Catching Fire and didn't emerge for air until I was done with the book. After a day and half, I came to the surface of real life and found that I was not yet ready to rejoin the world as it currently stands. I had to hop back into what the future could be if we continue along this perilous journey of surrendering our freedoms little by little to an elite few who feign interest in peace and justice for all but in reality desire power and control over the masses. (Yes, I gained all of this insight from a hipster tween trilogy with an adolescent love story interwoven into the story line - I am nothing if not a deep thinker!)
At this point, Mr. Greene sighed deeply as he watched me trudge out the door to our favorite local Barnes & Noble on a quest to acquire the final book, Mockingjay. This book took me two days to finish, and I felt a bit rushed by the author at the ending, but it did not stop me from walking around in a Hunger Games daze for the next week. In an attempt to diminish my feverish withdrawal symptoms, JayGee agreed to take me to see the movie. I begrudgingly agreed because I am a book snob, and we all know that the movie never does the book justice. But, I am pleased to report that this movie did a phenomenal job of paying homage to the storyline. It made this intellectual, educated scholar who only reads profound and meaningful works of literary genius proud.
Then again, it's no Harry Potter.
