Two years ago I read "The Hunger Games." I don't want to be melodramatic, but it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life (and I include the time when my lung collapsed). Collins managed to take things I had previously considered benign aspects of our culture (reality television, beauty pageants, food shortages) and made them seething forces of evil. My memory of the reading experience was reading it till I got too tired, falling asleep, having nightmares involving what I had just read, waking up, and then picking up the book again.
Not wanting to disturb my sleep cycle any more than I needed to, I was slow to pick up its sequel, "Catching Fire." I liked it fine, perhaps because friends who read it had lowballed it. Sure, it wasn't as gripping as THG, but the bar had been set pretty high, in my opinion. Plus, it provided significant back story about supporting characters (Haymitch's experience in the games, the mayor's wife's illness, the meaning of the mockingjay pin), which is my cardinal rule for any sequels.
So reading "Mockingjay" dovetailed perfectly with the Summer Reading Challenge. I knew I would read it quickly so it would give me the requisite numbers, plus I was anxious to see how the series ended. I would say it was totally satisfactory, tying up all loose ends and taking its characters into unexpected developments. The last fifty pages, in particular, brought the characters in such unexpectedly morally ambiguous predicaments that I was faced with the "Toy Story 3" conundrum: not knowing what the right decision for the main characters to make.*
I think some of the disappointment in the latter two books of the trilogy lies in that nothing can match the initial spectacle and shock of THG. I was conscious of how often Collins referred to events of the first book to maintain her street cred. The third time she referenced The Most Horrifying Death Scene Ever** from THG I wasn't sure if she was doing it to illustrate Katniss' mental state or just remind the reader just How Awesomely Horrifying that scene was. Once the fighting kicked into overdrive, the novel succumbed to "Armageddon" syndrome, where peripheral characters who I wasn't even aware existed started dying. And while I've never seen or read "Battle Royale, " "Series 7," or "The Running Man," I know the debt THG owes all of them. To add to that list of influences, it was hard not to read the end of the book without echoes of "Cold Mountain" and "A Very Long Engagement" running through my mind.
That being said, I enjoyed reading it and would certainly recommend it to anyone (except Kerry, since it breaks one of her Cardinal Rules of Literature: killing children) interested in a fast-paced and thought provoking read. I anxiously await the movies so I can only talk loudly about how terrifying they are in front of Kerry (and then watch them through half-closed eyes).
*Seriously, "Toy Story 3" messed me up. I mean, the attic's not a terrible place, right? And that day care center seemed like a perfectly reasonable fate. I mean, it's not like you can just waltz into a situation and expect to go to be king of the hill, right?
**I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't read it yet, but I of course am referring to the part when Collins brutally kills off your favorite character and you realize you aren't reading your father's Young Adult novel.
For what it's worth, Cherry Jones is my pick for President Coin for the eventual film adaptation. Maybe that's because I've watched too much "24?"
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