Book One: Final Character Rankings
Katniss > Rue > Clove (3 pages is all she needs) > Peeta > Effie > Foxface > Glimmer > Thresh > Cato > Everyone else
I can relate to Katniss’ emotional constipation and thick headedness and really enjoyed her as a main character. I’m looking forward to seeing how she changes emotionally throughout the next two books. Peeta has definitely grown on me and even though I’ve been hard on him in my write ups I’ve actually come to like the guy. He’s so goofy and lovable, like a puppy dog that gives you bread. With Gale and Prim… they honestly didn’t make much of an impression on me. Gale is just kind of like whatever at this point, he hasn’t really had much of a role yet. Prim, all I have to say is if I had an older sister as badass as Katniss I’d be out in the woods every f***ing day with her doing stuff. But clearly Prim takes after mom and Katniss takes after dad.
I will agree with Inviso and say the girl tributes easily out shined the boy tributes. Even if most of them only got one defining trait, they were all better than the boys. Not including Katniss/Peeta/Rue since they actually got real characterization. Let’s see:
Clove: Psychotic knife thrower who clearly gets off on torture.
Foxface: Book-smart uncatchable stealth machine who makes it to the top 4 by basically laughing at the Careers and stealing their stuff.
Glimmer: Incompetent ditz trying to make people believe she’s useful.
Thresh: Strong silent type. (Although he actually had potential)
Cato: Hulking rage monster.
District 1 boy (Marvel): Uh… Uh…
But, all that being said, I can’t say I really actively disliked any of the characters.
Book One: Final Thoughts
The Hunger Games was a great read. Do I think it was an earth shattering work of literary genius? No. I do think it was entertaining and interesting, and the subject matter is something that appealed to me. The narrative wasn’t overly complex and the book didn’t shove its social commentary in your face. It wasn’t trying to be something the author knew it couldn’t be, which I liked. There’s nothing worse than trying to read and getting chastised and berated every five seconds because the author has some sort of agenda. The book is always first and foremost the story of Katniss Everdeen, and I appreciate that. I can see why the fan base is so large and diverse. It’s simple enough to read that it’s not intimidating to young people, yet the subject matter is complex enough to keep older readers entertained.
I think it’ll be interesting to go back and re-read this at some point in the future, knowing what I know now (and after reading the second and third books) and see if that changes my opinion of Katniss and her relationships. Maybe not at all, maybe a great deal. We’ll see. I just know I’m anxious to get started with Catching Fire.
Movie commentary coming up shortly.
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http://img.imgcake.com/crimjpgpe.jpg Mo' buildings mo' problems
ocean kinda grew on me like a flesh eating ...fungus. -BIGPUN9999