For the past little while, I have wanted to join the ranks of the blogging world. I love reading blogs. Some are cute, some are witty, and some are just plain entertaining (mormon bachelor pad, I'm looking at you). But I didn't know what I would write about. I'm not married. I don't have a cool job. I live in my family's play room. I live in Utah, and even worse, South Weber, Utah. I'm not Nate Pence. So as you can see, I had a serious dilemma on my hands. What could I blog about???
But then yesterday, I read "The Hunger Games."
And an idea hit me like semi-truck.
Blog about what you love.
I love books. I love music. I love the Gospel. I love movies. I love (day)dreaming. I love food. I love history. I love talking about politics (to say I love politics would be a lie, so I have to qualify it). I love art. I love people. I love fashion. I love television. I love learning. I love life. And I love to express my thoughts and opinions about every single one of these things.
So to start off my blog of random musings, I want to begin with "The Hunger Games."
(Yes, I know it should be underlined, but I'm still trying to figure out this whole html business, so for now, it will be in quotes.)
"The Hunger Games" is everything I love to read in a book. For one, it's a novel. For two, it's a young adult novel (those always seem to speak to me the most). For three, it is well written. The plot is unique (it's considered science fiction, and there are no spaceships, which automatically makes it original); the setting/background history is very sinister, in the coolest way possible. The characters are well developed and sympathetic. And the themes, oh, the themes. Suzanne Collins did a brilliant job with this book, and I'm blown away about her choice in and execution of using the present tense. I have read books that try to use the present tense, and it hardly ever sits well with me. But it works for this. It adds a level of anxiety that is wholly appropriate for the story. It's as if the future is still undecided, and you, as the reader, need to go through this terrifying and disturbing journey with Katniss as she competes for her life in the Hunger Game.
Okay, I think now would be a good time to give a little summary of the book...
...I've stared at the computer screen for a good 5 minutes trying to think a good way to summarize the book without giving anything too important away. I'm at a loss, so I'll just copy the dust jacket summary, and hopefully cite it appropriately.
"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing the all to send on boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.
"Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister (okay, this is me interjecting: if she lives with her mom and sister, then how does she live alone?), regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before--and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But is she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love."
So that's basically it. And it's basically amazing. It's 374 pages long. It took me four hours to read? Four to five, I think. So a fairly quick read. I highly recommend it. I haven't been this excited about a book since "The Graveyard Book." And what's even better is that it's a trilogy, and the last book is coming out at the end of August. Read it, you'll love it. I definitely did.
*Thanks Katie for the mug. You know me too well.
