Again, the action was spot on. I've thought a bit about it and think I see a defense for using present tense in a novel such as this. After reading the first book, I really had to wrack my brain to figure out a good application for present tense but I see it right in front of me now. I think the tense, as much as the clear word usage, helped to keep things visual and kept the action from getting muddled up and confusing (even if a character was confused during the action). That said, I think it takes just the right writer to make present tense work. So, YA lit writers jumping on this present tense bandwagon: KNOCK IT OFF! unless you're really, really good at it.
THIS. I said before that I really hate present tense, and this trilogy was a rare exception, and that's I think because these books are very action heavy and you are right there with Katniss. She doesn't know what is coming next and neither do you. So it works. But this is a rare exception and this trend HAS to stop! :-)
I very much liked that both Peeta and Gale survived. I hate hate hate when they resolve love triangles by killing someone off (I'm talking to you Pearl Harbor, twice!) and thus making it "easy" for the person to choose. This was so much more complex. She genuinely loved both of them, but in the end, Gale's actions made him a non-choice. And even after that, it's not like she went right to Peeta. They had to ease into it. I thought it was well-done. Or less cliche than usual at the least?
I had no idea Prim would die, and it was like a gut punch. It's not surprising if you think about it, and "rereading" via Mark Reads, it's almost not even an author contrivance. It really seems like Coin orchestrated it, knowing what it would do to Katniss (ie, render her catatonic and out of the way). Coin sent her there (really, a 13 year old in battle?) and Coin sent the parachutes.
Also, rereading it made what Katniss does at the end so much more obvious. I didn't realize how Katniss was playing Coin with agreeing to another Hunger Games, so she could get close enough to end her. Also, on the reread Coin was so much more evil, that I can appreciate why Coin was bad news and just as bad as snow.
Hmm - I did like Peeta, and I thought he was a great compliment to Katniss. Warmth, not fire. I guess I didn't feel like he won by default, but that he gently earned her love by being what she needed. Katniss didn't need burning passion in the end, really - she needed the kind of love that is gentle and strong. Peeta really understood her too - they'd both been through hell and I think that bonded them too.
I think happiness in the woods with Gale is one of the dreams that was killed by the War, really. She could have been happy like that. But the war not only killed people, it killed possible futures, and I think that dream died with the war. And maybe Katniss once wanted that, and by the end, it just wasn't possible anymore. Not so much that she settled, but maybe both what she wanted and what was possible had changed so much.
I think her having kids was in a way a sign of her allowing herself to hope the future could be better. As a sign of faith. The future will need people to build it, and so maybe that's another piece. Teach your own kids and hope they will grow up to better the world. That's a gamble and an act of faith even in real life.
I'd be curious to see what you thought of "Tomorrow When the War Began" series by John Marsden. Don't read spoilers, though. ;-) Short summary is this: "It is a young adult invasion novel, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novel is told in first person perspective by the main character, a teenage girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy garrison in their fictional home town of Wirrawee."
No present tense and they're really gripping and intense YA books. anomilygrace and I got really obsessed with them a few years ago. :-)
Also, discussing books is so much fun. Maybe moreso when you don't agree, because otherwise you're both just like "This was awesome!" "Yes!" :-)
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ninetydegrees
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on 2011-03-07 10:02 pm (UTC)THIS. I said before that I really hate present tense, and this trilogy was a rare exception, and that's I think because these books are very action heavy and you are right there with Katniss. She doesn't know what is coming next and neither do you. So it works. But this is a rare exception and this trend HAS to stop! :-)
I very much liked that both Peeta and Gale survived. I hate hate hate when they resolve love triangles by killing someone off (I'm talking to you Pearl Harbor, twice!) and thus making it "easy" for the person to choose. This was so much more complex. She genuinely loved both of them, but in the end, Gale's actions made him a non-choice. And even after that, it's not like she went right to Peeta. They had to ease into it. I thought it was well-done. Or less cliche than usual at the least?
I had no idea Prim would die, and it was like a gut punch. It's not surprising if you think about it, and "rereading" via Mark Reads, it's almost not even an author contrivance. It really seems like Coin orchestrated it, knowing what it would do to Katniss (ie, render her catatonic and out of the way). Coin sent her there (really, a 13 year old in battle?) and Coin sent the parachutes.
Also, rereading it made what Katniss does at the end so much more obvious. I didn't realize how Katniss was playing Coin with agreeing to another Hunger Games, so she could get close enough to end her. Also, on the reread Coin was so much more evil, that I can appreciate why Coin was bad news and just as bad as snow.
Hmm - I did like Peeta, and I thought he was a great compliment to Katniss. Warmth, not fire. I guess I didn't feel like he won by default, but that he gently earned her love by being what she needed. Katniss didn't need burning passion in the end, really - she needed the kind of love that is gentle and strong. Peeta really understood her too - they'd both been through hell and I think that bonded them too.
I think happiness in the woods with Gale is one of the dreams that was killed by the War, really. She could have been happy like that. But the war not only killed people, it killed possible futures, and I think that dream died with the war. And maybe Katniss once wanted that, and by the end, it just wasn't possible anymore. Not so much that she settled, but maybe both what she wanted and what was possible had changed so much.
I think her having kids was in a way a sign of her allowing herself to hope the future could be better. As a sign of faith. The future will need people to build it, and so maybe that's another piece. Teach your own kids and hope they will grow up to better the world. That's a gamble and an act of faith even in real life.
I'd be curious to see what you thought of "Tomorrow When the War Began" series by John Marsden. Don't read spoilers, though. ;-) Short summary is this: "It is a young adult invasion novel, detailing a high-intensity invasion and occupation of Australia by a foreign power. The novel is told in first person perspective by the main character, a teenage girl named Ellie Linton, who is part of a small band of teenagers waging a guerrilla war on the enemy garrison in their fictional home town of Wirrawee."
No present tense and they're really gripping and intense YA books.
Also, discussing books is so much fun. Maybe moreso when you don't agree, because otherwise you're both just like "This was awesome!" "Yes!" :-)