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The entire Hunger Games series is important to read for many reasons. Something that I've seen people criticize the movie for is that they don't seem younger enough in the movies. I thought the actors that portrayed them did perfectly, but after rereading, I agree. There are so many scenes where the characters are laughing together that were cut. Those scenes mean so much to me though. When Peeta and Katniss giggle over something like the way Effie says something or the ridiculous situations they are put in because of the Capitol. It shows that they are young and it shows how there's light even in darkness. And it shows camaraderie.
The berries. I realize the answer to who I am lies in that handful of poisonous fruit. If I held them out to save Peeta because I knew I would be shunned if I came back without him, then I am despicable. If I held them out because I loved him, I am still self-centered, although forgivable. But if I held them out to defy the Capitol, I am someone of worth. The trouble is, I don’t know exactly what was going on inside me at that moment.
2024 reread: Unfortunately
Catching Fire did not hold up as well as
The Hunger Games on reread; it just isn’t very good. I did tear through it in two days, though, and since my ratings are based on enjoyment instead of quality (and I undeniably liked it) I’ll still give it 3 stars.
There are two major problems with this book. The first is structural: the Quarter Quell’s “theme” isn’t even announced until the halfway mark (
exactly halfway, which tells me that Collins did plot this out quite carefully), which means the first full half of the book wanders around more or less aimlessly. I assume this was done in order to make the Quell a big twist, which turns out to be a huge mistake because it gives the plot nowhere to go. Yes, technically Katniss and Peeta are touring the districts and trying to act in love to keep Snow happy and avoid a rebellion, but that’s a very amorphous goal that doesn’t have much for the characters to really
do or or many ways for them to gauge their success. Things happen, but they’re not headed in any specific direction; events unfold chronologically because that's how time works, and not for any real purpose from a plot perspective. There’s very little tension and no sense of progression, completely unlike the first book (which continually raised the stakes even in the lead-up to the Games).
Now, a lack of a strong, propulsive plot isn’t necessarily a bad thing—many of my favorite novels are quiet character studies that are far from being plot-driven—which brings me to the second major problem: Collins is very bad at writing quiet contemplation focused around internal emotional stakes. Unfortunately, with no real plot to focus on, the first full half of the book is left with psychological introspection as its main attraction. And it is
rough. The angst and melodrama are cranked up to 11, and not in a fun way. The love triangle is much more prominent in this sequel, which I can’t really blame Collins for as teenagers being hormonal and illogical and over-the-top is kind of par for the course, but I
can blame her for the way she handles it: if I thought the argument between Katniss and Peeta was too rushed at the end of the first book, Collins more than makes up for it here with seemingly endless angsty, repetitive, pointless arguments between Katniss and her love interests. When Katniss is alone, it’s not any better, as she’s either rehashing one of the three major dilemmas that she fixates on (should she run away? which boy does she love? what does her future hold?) or feeling sorry for herself (which would be fine if her thoughts weren’t so painfully bland and cliche, like
I can’t fight the sun. I can only watch helplessly as it drags me into a day that I’ve been dreading for months.). In the hands of a stronger writer, this could be endlessly interesting, but here it’s just boring. Put simply, there is no depth, innovation, or interest to the internal ruminations that are literally half of the book.
But I read on in anticipation of the Quarter Quell, and once the theme was announced the pace immediately picked up. I thoroughly enjoyed both the preparation for the Games and the time spent in the arena. Collins is excellent at writing action scenes, and this Games was particularly interesting because of the relationships between the competitors (even if it wasn’t
quite as compelling as the first book; keeping Katniss in the dark meant that she wasn’t able to be as proactive or in control, and having broken the rules in the first book meant it was hard to take the stakes that seriously). In fact, all the new competitors were not only completely entertaining but felt more complex than those in the first book.
Catching Fire would have been much stronger if 1) the Quell’s theme had been announced at the beginning, which would have given Katniss something to work towards, and 2) Katniss had been an active participant in the plan, which would have given her the ability to be more proactive and given the reader a better understanding of what was going on (and would have made the ending less jarring).
That doesn’t mean there weren’t other, smaller things that made me roll my eyes. Several plot contrivances felt particularly jammed in (the Darius situation, stumbling upon Twill and Bonnie in the woods, the opportunity to overhear a secret broadcast in Madge’s house), perhaps because these characters pop in for their important plot-shaping scene(s) and then effectively disappear. The “boy with the bread” bit is at least toned down, especially when the Games start, but there’s still way too much of it, with nary a mention of Peeta without bread being close behind (he brings bread every time he visits; his talent is painting because he used to frost cakes; the smell of bread precedes and generally clings to him; when visiting one district
I find Peeta admiring a table of elaborately decorated cakes. Bakers have come in from the kitchen especially to talk frosting with him, and you can see them tripping over one another to answer his questions. At his request, they assemble an assortment of little cakes for him to take back to District 12, where he can examine their work in quiet.). The ending comes out of nowhere and feels like an interruption, when it should have felt like a major achievement. A lot of the writing is just bad.
In sum, Collins is great at writing action, and very bad at writing philosophical introspection…and this book is split pretty evenly between the two. I’m still glad I reread
Catching Fire, but I’m not sure if I’ll end up rereading
Mockingjay (which I remember being boring and filled with endless naval gazing even on my first read).
Original 2012 rating: 5 stars
Some favorite passages:
Your stylist turned out to be prophetic in his wardrobe choice. Katniss Everdeen, the girl who was on fire, you have provided a spark that, left unattended, may grow to an inferno that destroys Panem,” he says.
Since I’ve been home I’ve been trying hard to mend my relationship with my mother. Asking her to do things for me instead of brushing aside any offer of help, as I did for years out of anger. Letting her handle all the money I won. Returning her hugs instead of tolerating them. My time in the arena made me realize how I needed to stop punishing her for something she couldn’t help, specifically the crushing depression she fell into after my father’s death. Because sometimes things happen to people and they’re not equipped to deal with them.
When Haymitch pushes it aside, we find ourselves in the dome of the Justice Building. It’s a huge place filled with broken furniture, piles of books and ledgers, and rusty weapons. The coat of dust blanketing everything is so thick it’s clear it hasn’t been disturbed for years. Light struggles to filter in through four grimy square windows set in the sides of the dome. Haymitch kicks the trapdoor shut and turns on us.
No wonder I won the Games. No decent person ever does.
Yes, my holding out the berries had been the spark, but I had no way to control the fire.
I can’t help catching glimpses of us on the huge screens along the route, and we are not just beautiful, we are dark and powerful. No, more. We star-crossed lovers from District 12, who suffered so much and enjoyed so little the rewards of our victory, do not seek the fans’ favor, grace them with our smiles, or catch their kisses. We are unforgiving. And I love it. Getting to be myself at last.
If I can make it clear that I’m still defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol will have killed me . . . but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels? The beauty of this idea is that my decision to keep Peeta alive at the expense of my own life is itself an act of defiance. A refusal to play the Hunger Games by the Capitol’s rules. My private agenda dovetails completely with my public one.
If I can make it clear that I’m still defying the Capitol right up to the end, the Capitol will have killed me . . . but not my spirit. What better way to give hope to the rebels? The beauty of this idea is that my decision to keep Peeta alive at the expense of my own life is itself an act of defiance. A refusal to play the Hunger Games by the Capitol’s rules. My private agenda dovetails completely with my public one. And if I really could save Peeta . . . in terms of a revolution, this would be ideal. Because I will be more valuable dead. They can turn me into some kind of martyr for the cause and paint my face on banners, and it will do more to rally people than anything I could do if I was living. But Peeta would be more valuable alive, and tragic, because he will be able to turn his pain into words that will transform people.
Yes, it’s great to have allies as long as you can ignore the thought that you’ll have to kill them.
The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol’s plans. The symbol of the rebellion.
The best science fiction book I have ever read!
I loved every single one of the Hunger Games books. Catching Fire I especially liked because there is a bit of a plot twist at the end that I did not expect the first time I read the book. I highly recommend this series to those who have not read it.
