The Cost of Success

Sometimes reading a book series is like removing a bandage: it's best done quickly. I knew that if I didn't complete "The Hunger Games" trilogy immediately, I'd never get there. With that in mind, I downloaded the final two books on my borrowed Kindle and got to work.

If you think the first book is full of horror, the second, Catching Fire, focuses on the unfairness of life (in another horrific way). Katniss and the other former victors are informed that, in "celebration" of the 75th anniversary, 24 of them will face each other in a special version of the Games. Gore ensues.

While reading the first book, I was entirely focused on the terrible things that were happening, what children were being forced to do in order to survive. The fog somewhat lifted during the second book (perhaps too saturated by sadness?), and a corner of my mind resumed it's usual occupation while book reading: catching errors.

No, I don't mean typos and grammatical mistakes (although, thanks to a former teacher who used to award extra credit points for those catches, I see them, too). I'm talking about leaps in the plot that just don't make sense (why everyone lives in fear of being overheard through hidden receivers everywhere, but don't worry when they're walking down the street). I found myself really being taken off track by these thoughts until I forced myself to remember: these books were written for teen readers. Lay off a little, Kerry.

So, I finished the series as if I were a sixth grader on summer vacation. I ignored jobs I knew needed to be completed (yes, I do believe those dishes will wash themselves). I pretended not to hear someone calling me from the other room. I vacuumed while holding the book in my other hand (sinfully easy to do with a Kindle; I must keep that in mind). My one submission to reality is that I limited my reading to when my husband was home, so at least my kids weren't left to completely fend for themselves while I remained in the war world of Panem.

Collins' concludes the trilogy quickly, violently, and unexpectedly. Previously, important characters were killed off every chapter, then page. Suddenly, I found myself rereading sentences to comprehend the realization that several major characters died within a sentence. With a word or two, they were gone and never mentioned again because the plot, Katniss, life was moving forward. Survivors don't exist because they dwell on life lost. Survivors march on.

***
There's no great place to mention this, so as an aside I'll just point out that Katniss' younger sister, Prim, is an exquisite character to watch evolve over the course of the three books. Many of the characters have stunted development (especially the victors, as their lives so abruptly changed by playing the Game as a teen), but Prim is one of the few children in the story who are allowed to grow into themselves. To say more would ruin the storyline, but I found myself really interested in how Prim found success in her life despite the absence of the sister who had so protected and sheltered her.