Perfect Saturday

Nowhere to go; no marking to be done; weather - rainy and cool; books, tea, and last night’s recorded Escape to the Country. This is heaven on earth!

I’ve just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I have to say that this is NOT what I would normally choose to read, but the power of the teenage readers around me has got me on board. Firstly, I do not like fantasy or futuristic or post-apocalyptic books. I can’t help but think that the whole idea of the “games” is nonsensical. I like my books to be about the past or now, with believable happenings.

The whole time I’m reading, engrossed by the desire to know who wins – I am constantly returning to the thought that for a tribute to win, someone must die. It’s all feeling a little like what I experienced when I watched Titanic – engrossed by the costumes and characters and plot, and then it hits me again - I know what the end has to be – and it’s not happy.

For a book written for young people, it is engaging and well written. Katniss is no prissy 16 year old, and has colour and depth of character. Will I read the other books in the series? Probably not – I’ve been told that the others aren’t as well written, and I have too many others waiting in the wings. Also this one left a bad taste – I didn’t enjoy the whole concept – too violent; too much suggestion of power in big brother’s hands. Post-apocalyptic books always seem devoid of a moral compass and to be centred on the break-down of society: God is nowhere to be found – no-one is even looking for Him. The characters always seem to have no hope. I’m glad I’ll be teaching Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, not this book, when our Visions of the Future unit begins.

Chrysanthemums are bursting out!