Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) [Kindle Edition] review

Product Description
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But now that she's made against each other in the bloody arena alive, she's still not safe. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. Who can they think should pay for that unrest? Katniss. And what's worse, President Snow has caused it to be clear that nobody else is safe either. Not Katniss's family, not her friends, not individuals of District 12. Powerful and haunting, this thrilling final installment of Suzanne Collins's groundbreaking The Hunger Games trilogy promises being one in the most brought up books in the year.
A Q&A with Suzanne Collins, Author of Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games)
Q: You have said in the start that The Hunger Games story was intended as being a trilogy. Did it really end just how you planned it from your beginning?

A: Very much so. While Some know every detail, of course, the arc with the story from gladiator game, to revolution, to war, for the eventual outcome remained constant through the entire writing process.

Q: We understand you worked around the initial screenplay to get a film to become according to The Hunger Games. What may be the biggest distinction between writing a novel and writing a screenplay?

A: There was several significant differences. Time, for starters. When you are adapting a novel in a two-hour movie you can't take everything with you. The story has to become condensed to fit the new form. Then there is the question of how best to look at a novel told inside the first person and present tense and transform it in to a satisfying dramatic experience. In the novel, you never leave Katniss for a second and so are privy to all or any of her thoughts so you need a approach to dramatize her inner world and to make it possible for other characters to exist outside her company. Finally, you have the challenge of the way to present the violence while still maintaining a PG-13 rating so that your core audience can view it. A lots of situations are acceptable on the page that wouldn't be on the screen. So how certain moments are depicted may ultimately be inside the director's hands.

Q: Do you imagine you're capable to consider future projects while working on The Hunger Games, or are you immersed inside world you get lucky and be currently creating so fully it is simply too difficult to think about new ideas?

A: I've several seeds of ideas boating in my head but--given that much of my focus is still on The Hunger Games--it is going to be awhile before one fully emerges and that i can commence to develop it.

Q: The Hunger Games is an annual televised event by which one boy the other girl from each with the twelve districts is forced to participate in a fight-to-the-death on live TV. What can you think the appeal of reality television is--to both kids and adults?

A: Well, they're often setup as games and, like sporting events, there's an fascination with seeing who wins. The contestants are generally unknown, which makes them relatable. Sometimes they've very talented people performing. Then you have the voyeuristic thrill—watching people being humiliated, or taken to tears, or suffering physically--which I've found very disturbing. There's also the opportunity for desensitizing the audience, so that when they see real tragedy playing out on, say, the news, this doesn't happen have the impact it should.

Q: If you were instructed to compete inside Hunger Games, so what can you believe your special skill would be?

A: Hiding. I'd be scaling those trees like Katniss and Rue. Since I had been trained in sword-fighting, I guess my best hope will be to acquire hold of your rapier if there is one available. But the truth is I'd probably get of a four in Training.

Q: What can you hope readers will come away with once they read The Hunger Games trilogy?

A: Questions about how precisely elements in the books could possibly be relevant of their own lives. And, if they're disturbing, whatever they might do about them.

Q: What were some of the favorite novels when you had been a teen?

A: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Boris by Jaapter Haar
Germinal by Emile Zola
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
(Photo © Cap Pryor)


Gr 7 Up–The final installment of Suzanne Collins's trilogy sets Katniss in one more Hunger Game, but this time it can be for world control. While it is a clever twist for the original plot, it means that there exists less focus on the individual characters plus much more on political intrigue and large scale destruction. That said, Carolyn McCormick is constantly on the breathe life in to a less vibrant Katniss by showing her despair both at those she feels in charge of killing and possibly at her own motives and choices. This is definitely an older, wiser, sadder, and extremely reluctant heroine, torn between revenge and compassion. McCormick captures these conflicts by changing the pitch and pacing of Katniss's voice. Katniss is both a pawn in the rebels as well as the victim of President Snow, who uses Peeta to try to control Katniss. Peeta's struggles are very evidenced in the voice, which goes from rage to puzzlement to an unsure come back to sweetness. McCormick also helps make the secondary characters—some malevolent, others benevolent, and many confused—very real with distinct voices and agendas/concerns. She acts as an outside chronicler in giving listeners just “the facts” but also respects the individuality and unique challenges of every with the main characters. A successful completion of your monumental series.–Edith Ching, University of Maryland, College Parkα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games) [Kindle Edition]