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Today’s Blog Post
Powerful Mixed Emotions - The Hunger Games and Deception Point
First meet Rachel and next meet Katniss. I met them over these past two weeks on my holiday read.
Rachel is the central figure in “Deception Point” by Dan Brown. Dan is the guy that I ‘met’ when I first encountered “The Da Vinci Code” – first as a Movie, then as a book.
Katniss is the central figure in “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. This is my first time to read a book by Suzanne. The other books that she has written I would not likely have read anyway… as I believe they were written for children, a different market than where I normally read.
I am not sure which gal I should point to first. Both are a type of heroine that does amazing things to save her world. Rachel saves and larger world, where Katniss saves her small world but perhaps gives her larger world some hope.
Now that should really confuse you.
When you meet the two heroines you will see they work in completely different worlds.
Rachel works closely with the Whitehouse in Washington, D.C. and the President of the USA. You can’t get much higher up the food chain than that.
Katniss works to scavenge food for her mother and sister while they kind of live in a closed camp society in the far distant future, maybe a hundred to two hundred years from now. Her world fell apart by human stupidity. There was rebellion and terrible things that happened throughout civilization that exists up to that time.
Rachel is older than Katniss – maybe in her mid thirties. Katniss is only 16 years old. Rachel is not yet married but it likely takes place when the book ends.
“Deception Point” is an adult book. “The Hunger Games” is supposedly a ‘children’s book’ – but the subject matter is hardly bedtime reading for the grandkids that I have. The older teenagers maybe… not the little guy however.
Both Brown and Collins have shown their masterful work in holding the suspense factor with their words. At times I couldn’t put the books down. At times I wanted to kill someone in the story being revealed in front of my imagination. I had definite strong feelings about the characters that I followed.
“The Hunger Games” movie is coming in March 2012. I think that “Deception Point” is only dreamed about as a movie ( – there is trailer made for a Movie that was never made). And oh do I ever hope for the Blood and Guts that the book describes!
No one in either book ever has a bowl movement. There is one mention of the colour of the one heroine’s urine… but other than that none of them ever go to the toilet. I guess in the readers of today that idea of realism is far from the plot and suspense. You simply don’t need to go.
Come to think of it… none of the Reality TV folk go to the toilet either.
When reading “The Hunger Games” I was struck that this is a whole lot like the Reality TV Programs of today… mixed with nasty bits and pieces of war that is on TV today was well. For the past years the War in Iraq and Afghanistan have been treated a bit like reality TV as reporters bring us up to date accounts of the killings of young men and women in the arena of death.
Having given all of the above I can report that I experienced very strong emotions both up and down as I read the books. It is kind of like a roller coaster ride from my point of view. And it will be a while before I need the thrill again.
BUT that is the problem. Suzanne Collins wrote this book as the first of a Trilogy. I have the other two books ready to go. January will be a fun month to say the least.
I think I may insert a love story or something mushy with suspense in the center of it all. Something by Kate Morton would be good.
I love books. I read books and I collect books. I need to share books too.
So if you need a great read that will twist and turn you a bit… you will love these two. Maybe not at the same time... unless you like really long roller coaster rides.
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
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