The book is set in a post-apocalyptic North America where the continent is split into one Capital district (set in the Rocky Mountains) and client 13 Districts (though one district is uninhabitable). The Hunger Games is a yearly, mandatorily televised event where the two random youngsters (one of each sex, called "tributes") are randomly picked from each client district and sent to an area to fight to the death in a televised death-match where only one is allowed to survive. The game is televised to the entire population and serves as both entertainment and a way to remind the client Districts not to rebel. The people watching however may donate gifts to their favorite tributes to help them win the game (which, yes, is cool, but is also a bit deus ex machina.) Win the game, get to live and go home. Lose the game and you do get to go home...but in a pine box.
The heroine of Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen, a tribute from District 12 (formerly Appalachia) who volunteers herself when her sister's name is pulled as the female tribute. Katniss is a skilled bow hunter and extremely cleaver and very likable. Complicating matters is that the male "tribute" is an acquaintance of hers who may or may not have unrequited feelings for her.
The plot is fairly similar to that of BR. There are differences. The "tributes" generally don't know each other, where as in BR they're all classmates. People able to give gifts to fighters, where as in Battle Royale, this doesn't happen. The Hunger Games are also televised, which is something not touched on very much in the original BR novel, but, I understand was part of the manga version.
I have to say I was skeptical after hearing about The Hunger Games, but I did like it...quite a bit actually....but I didn't love it. Katniss is one of the bright spots. She is a sympathetic character, having volunteered for the games to save her beloved younger sister. She's well written and caring. She's skilled and has taken on the weight of the world in taking care of her family, but sometimes, a very strong main character isn't enough.
Also, I had read in a few reviews that the novel was a bit "disturbing" in that they had essentially teenagers forced to kill people, which is understandable; however, I found The Hunger Games a really tame read for a novel about a bunch of people trying to kill each other to stay alive. Out of the 24 "tributes" there are only a handful or so of these deaths we actually witness and most are not overly grisly. This does make sense because the story is told in the first-person by Katniss and she didn't witness these other deaths, but as a reader the running death-count without the knowledge of the characters or how they died bothered me.
Part of what I liked about Battle Royale was the more omniscient narrator. I got to know most of the students at least a little bit and, as a reader, got to view almost all of the deaths. This created empathy, meaning that while reading I actually felt sorry for the characters who died, even if they were just people I had briefly met a few pages before.
With The Hunger Games, I really don't get to know anyone else aside from the District 12 "tributes" and a few other characters who interact with them. I'd like to care about these other characters, or at least know something more about them than they're from a different District. We don't get to even know how most of these people died let alone what their names were.
However, overall, I did enjoy the book and managed to read it all in a day. I'd have to say I enjoyed Battle Royale better, despite the fact that Katniss is probably a more sympathetic and better character than BR's Shuya Nanahara. I'll definitely be checking out the final two books in the series. I still have some questions about the ending, but hopefully they'll get sorted out as the story progresses.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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I had a sort of opposite experience: I was raving about The Hunger Games to one of my friends, who then said 'that sounds like Battle Royale'. I watched it, but I prefer The Hunger Games, because I couldn't really connect with the characters in the movie and didn't feel much of anything at their deaths.
Anyway, what did you think of Katniss's last scene with Rue? I cried reading that one, it was so sad! (I'm trying, but maybe failing, not to have spoilers here)
I have a review review for Battle Royale almost done, but it's for the book.
The movie is TERRIBLE! Especially in comparison to the book. I'm not surprised you didn't get to really connect to the characters in the film, since they're really done so poorly. It's MUCH better in the book.
With Rue....(and I'm assuming that most people have read Hunger Games already) I wasn't crying, but I figured she'd not make it as soon as she appeared and there were the comparisons to her Prim. It was sad, but since I expected it, I wasn't too surprised.
I didn't even know there was a book! I should get to reading that one then :)
I have an award for you over at my blog:
http://between-thepages.blogspot.com/2010/09/versatile-blogger-award-and-one-lovely.html
I don't know that we were supposed sympathize for the other tributes initially. Katniss takes the approach that caring will lead to difficulty in surviving, and it is really only after the fact (once the games are done), that she really starts to think about more than Rue and Thresh. If you aren't planning on reading the rest of the series, you really should. The scope of what Collins did in the trilogy is pretty impressive.
@Read the Book: I think you're right that she starts thinking about the other tributes more after the games than before or during, but I still find that as a weakness in the novel.
Plus, having 24 people in an arena and not letting the author know what happened to a large percentage of them (or even giving them a name) felt odd to me. Having that many characters whose deaths really mean essentially nothing reminded me of a horror film where there are always people who die early and no one even bothers to remember them. It would have been a stronger novel if I actually cared about people who were dying rather than just one or two characters. You know?
I finished the trilogy last week when I got a hold of Mockingjay from the library. I haven't reviewed the other two books, but I didn't think the scope of the books was that tremendous (possibly because I don't really read YA) Why did you think it was that impressive?
I just thought that Katniss herself was very well-done; she is so...herself. I also thought that Collins did a good job of making us truly see things the way Katniss did (which I know is part of what bothered you); I liked that we were limited in our understanding because Katniss was limited. I also thought that Collins' ability to bring up issues and the horror related to them was commendable. In that way, it reminded me of 1984. And I think the books are impressive in their own right, not just because they are young adult novels. I'm still trying to formulate my thoughts on the books (and, obviously, not really succeeding), so I might need to get back to you! ;)
No problem on having to get back to me. It takes me a while to formulate what I think on some novels, too!
I may not have been clear. I thought Katniss was a great character and I really liked seeing things through Katniss's eyes.
What I didn't like was that we ONLY saw things through her eyes. I would have rather she focused on more than just really one main character and two side characters (Rue and Peeta), but rather focused on the rest of the tributes as well.
I think it would have added more suspense to the novel and been more interesting since at times the death toll in Hunger Games (and both Catching Fire and Mockingjay) seem like a video game-like than something real. Neither Katniss or the reader knew about the other tributes so we really didn't even get a chance to care if most of them lived or died (or, ironically, we were happy that they died so Katniss was one step closer to winning.) That's what I felt was the flaw.
For example, there was a tribute in the first book that had a noted problem with his legs. It would have been nice to see how he survived the first few days and have his character more fleshed out, but we didn't get that.
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