| The Hunger Games | |
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| [ The North American first edition cover. |
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| Author(s) | Suzanne Collins |
| Cover artist | Tim O'Brien |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Hunger Games trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction/ Young adult/ Adventure / dystopian |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
| Publication date | September 14, 2008 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 374 |
| ISBN | 0439023483 |
| OCLC Number | 181516677 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.C6837 Hun 2008 |
| Followed by | Catching Fire |
The Hunger Games is a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was originally published on September 14, 2008, by Scholastic.[1] It is the first book of the Hunger Games trilogy.[2] It is written in first person and introduces sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem where the countries of North America once existed. This is where the government, working in a central city called the Capitol, holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive.
The book has been released as a paperback and also an audiobook, which was read by Carolyn McCormick. The Hunger Games has an initial print of 200,000 – twice doubled from the original 50,000. Since its initial release, the novel has been translated into 26 different languages and rights have been sold in 38 countries. The book received mostly positive reviews from major reviewers and authors, such as Stephen King. Hunger Games is the first novel in a trilogy, followed by Catching Fire, published September 1, 2009,[3] and Mockingjay, published August 24, 2010.[4]
Contents |
Collins says that the idea for The Hunger Games came from channel surfing on television. On one channel she observed people competing on a reality show and on another she saw footage of the invasion of Iraq. The two "began to blur in this very unsettling way"[5] and the idea for the book was formed. The Greek myth of Theseus served as inspiration for the nation of Panem in the books, with Collins describing Katniss as a futuristic Theseus. The sense of loss that Collins developed through her father's service in the Vietnam War also played a role in the story, whose heroine lost her father at eleven years of age, five years before the story begins.[6]
The Hunger Games takes place in an unidentified future time period after the destruction of North America, in a nation known as Panem. Panem consists of a wealthy Capitol and thirteen surrounding, poorer districts. District 12, where the book begins, is located in the coal-rich region that was formerly Appalachia.[7]
As punishment for a previous rebellion against the Capitol, every year, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 from each district are selected by lottery and forced to participate in the Hunger Games, a televised event in which the participants, or "tributes," must fight to the death in a dangerous, outdoor arena, controlled by the Capitol, until only one remains. The story follows 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, a girl from District 12, who volunteers for the 74th Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Also participating from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, a baker's son whom Katniss knows from school and who once gave her bread when her family was starving.
Katniss and Peeta are taken to the Capitol, where their mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, a former Hunger Games victor, instructs them to learn about the other tributes. They are then publicly displayed to the Capitol audience. During this time, Peeta reveals on-air his long-time unrequited love for Katniss. Katniss believes this to be a ploy to gain audience support for the Games, which can be crucial for survival, as audience members are encouraged to send gifts like food, medicine, and tools to favored tributes during the Games. The Games begin with eleven of the 24 tributes dying in the first day, while Katniss relies on her well-practiced hunting and outdoor skills to survive. As the games continue, the tribute death toll increases. Days later, Katniss develops a short alliance with Rue, the twelve year-old girl from District 11 who reminds Katniss of her sister Prim. When Rue is killed by another tribute, Katniss shoots him through the side of the neck with one of her arrows and comforts dying Rue. She sings to her, and then spreads flowers all over her body as a sign of disgust towards the Capitol.
Supposedly due to Katniss and Peeta's beloved image in the minds of the audience as "star-crossed lovers," a rule change is announced midway through the games, stating that two tributes from the same district can win the Hunger Games as a pair. Upon hearing this, Katniss searches for Peeta and finds him wounded. She nurses him back to health and acts the part of a young girl falling in love to gain more favor with the audience and, consequently, gifts from her sponsors. When the couple are finally the last two tributes, the Gamemakers suddenly reverse the rule change and try to force them into a dramatic finale, where one must kill the other to win. Katniss, in the hopes that the Gamemakers would rather have two victors than none, retrieves the poison berries called “nightlock” from her pouch and offers some to Peeta. Upon realising that Katniss and Peeta mean to commit suicide, the Gamemakers announce that both will be the victors of the 74th Hunger Games.
Though she survives the ordeal in the arena and is treated to a hero's welcome in the Capitol, Katniss is warned by Haymitch that she has now become a political target after defying her society's authoritarian leaders so publicly. Afterwards, Peeta is heartbroken to learn that their relationship was at least partially a calculated ploy to earn sympathy from the audience, although Katniss remains unsure of her own feelings.
Katniss Everdeen is the 16-year-old protagonist. She lives in a region of District 12 known as the Seam, which is the poorest area of the district. She is described as having dark hair, olive skin, and grey eyes. Her best friend is Gale Hawthorne, and she breaks the law with him regularly to go hunting in the woods surrounding their district, which is a forbidden act, yet never get caught as many important people buy their kills. She volunteers to be a tribute in the Games in order to save her sister, Primrose Everdeen, who was originally chosen. She survives the Games along with Peeta Mellark and under the mentorship of Haymitch Abernathy.
Peeta Mellark is 16 years old as well, and was born in the richer part of the district to a baker. He has wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, a physical indicator of the wealthier people who were born in town, and is described as being very strong. He is the chosen male tribute to represent District 12. He saves Katniss' life multiple times during the Games, and has had a crush on her since he first saw her but never had the courage to reveal it until the Games.
Haymitch Abernathy is the mentor of Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen, and is the tribute winner of the 50th Hunger Games. Haunted by the nightmares of the Games he was in, he is always drunk, and is rarely sober throughout the book. At first he does not bother to protect Peeta and Katniss from the doom awaiting them in the Games, but after they prove their strength he guides them to the very end of the Games.
Gale Hawthorne is 18 in the first book of the trilogy, and is Katniss' best friend. They met in the forest a few years prior to the beginning of the novel and since then became best friends and hunting partners. Gale's appearance is similar to Katniss', as is true of most people who live in their area. Gale became head of the Hawthorne family after his father was killed along with Katniss' father in a mine explosion.
The major themes in The Hunger Games, as noted by a reviewer, are "government control, 'big brother,' and personal independence."[8] The themes are shown through the Capitol's controlling rules for the residents of the different districts, as well as the Hunger Games themselves, where the Capitol has children fight to the death, simply to assert their power. The theme of personal independence is evident in many of the characters in the books, including Katniss, Gale, and Peeta, as they fight against the government in order to simply survive in the face of the corrupt Capitol. Survival and self-preservation are also apparent.[9] The theme of power and downfall, similar to that of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, was pointed out in Scholastic's Discussion Guide.[10]
The Hunger Games was first published as a hardcover in the US on September 14, 2008. An audiobook version was released in December 2008, and is read by Carolyn McCormick.[11] A trade paperback edition of the book was released on July 6, 2010.[12]
An audiobook version of The Hunger Games was released in December 2008, is read by Carolyn McCormick, and runs at about eleven hours, ten minutes.[11] The magazine AudioFile said, "Carolyn McCormick gives a detailed and attentive narration. However, she may rely too much on the strength of the prose without providing the drama young adult listeners often enjoy."[13] School Library Journal also praised her performance: "Carolyn McCormick ably voices the action-packed sequences and Katniss's every fear and strength shines through, along with her doomed growing attraction to one of her fellow Tributes."[14]
After writing the novel, Collins signed a six-figure deal for three books with Scholastic in 2006.[5] The first book originally had a 50,000 first printing, which was then bumped up twice to 200,000 copies.[5] As of February 11, 2010, The Hunger Games has sold 800,000 copies[15] and 26 foreign editions.[16] Rights to the novel have been sold in 38 territories,[15] and there are over 2.9 million copies in print.[17] The book is a USA Today[18] and The New York Times Best Seller.[19] It was on The New York Times list for over 100 consecutive weeks as of September 2010.[20]
The Hunger Games trilogy has sold exceptionally well in ebook format. Suzanne Collins is the first children’s or young adult author to sell over one million Kindle ebooks, making her the sixth author to join the “Kindle Million Club,” which recognizes authors who have sold over 1 million paid units in the Amazon Kindle store.[21]
The cover of The Hunger Games is black, featuring a gold bird, also known as a mockingjay, with an arrow inscribed in a circle. This is an image of the pin given to Katniss by the mayor's daughter, Madge Undersee, which Katniss wears in the arena.[22] The image matches the description of the pin that is given in the book, except for the arrow: "It's as if someone fashioned a small golden bird and then attached a ring around it. The bird is connected to the ring only by its wing tips."[23] The UK cover's title is in red, and it has "HG" in big letters with Katniss standing in the middle wearing the gear she is described as wearing in the arena.
The Hunger Games has been well-received by critics. In Stephen King's review for Entertainment Weekly, he praised how the book is addictive and also compared it to "shoot-it-if-it-moves videogames in the lobby of the local eightplex; you know it's not real, but you keep plugging in quarters anyway." However, he stated that there were "displays of authorial laziness that kids will accept more readily than adults", that the love triangle was standard for the genre, and that the reality TV "badlands" were similar to Battle Royale, The Running Man, and The Long Walk. He gave the book an overall B grade.[1] Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight series) said, "I was so obsessed with this book....The Hunger Games is amazing."[24] Elizabeth Bird of School Library Journal praised the novel, saying it is "exciting, poignant, thoughtful, and breathtaking by turns". The review also called it one of the best books of 2008.[25] Booklist also gave a positive review, praising the character violence and romance involved in the book.[26] In a review for The New York Times, John Green wrote that the novel was "brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced", and that "the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins's convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine." However, he also noted that sometimes the book does not realize the allegorical potential that the plot has to offer and that the writing "described the action and little else".[27] Kirkus Reviews gave a positive review, praising the action and world-building, but pointed out that, "poor copyediting in the first printing will distract careful readers—a crying shame".[28] Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, claims it is the "closest thing to a perfect adventure novel" he has ever read.[29] Time magazine was positive and praised the hypnotic quality of the violence.[30]
The Hunger Games received a number of awards and honors. It was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of the Year" in 2008[31] and a The New York Times "Notable Children's Book of 2008".[32] It was the 2009 winner of the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction Category.[33] The Hunger Games was also a "2008 Cybil Winner" for fantasy and science-fiction books along with The Graveyard Book.[34] It also one of School Library Journal's "Best Books 2008"[35] and a "Booklist Editors' Choice" in 2008.[36] In 2011, the book won the California Young Reader Medal.[37]
The Hunger Games has been criticized for its similarities to the 1999 novel Battle Royale. Although Collins maintains that she "had never heard of that book until [her] book was turned in," The New York Times reports that "the parallels are striking enough that Collins’s work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff," but that "there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently."[38]
Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is being produced by Nina Jacobson's production company Color Force.[39][40] Collins adapted the novel for film herself,[40] and her script was reviewed by screenwriter Billy Ray.[41] It is anticipated to have a PG-13 rating, because of the high action, violent actions and intense situations.[42]
The film will be directed by Gary Ross with Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as the role of Peeta, and Liam Hemsworth as the role of Gale.[43] The filmmakers went into production in late Spring 2011[44] with an anticipated release date of March 23, 2012.[45] A sequel is due to be released on November 22, 2013 [46]
The book has inspired a number of parodies including The Hunger Pains written by the Harvard Lampoon[47][48] as well as The Hunger But Mainly Death Games [49][50]
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