“‘I … I’m no good at this. I’m not my mother. I’ve no idea what I’m doing and I hate pus,’ I say. ‘Euh!’ I allow myself to let out a groan as I rinse away the first round of leaves and apply the second. ‘Euuuh!’
‘How do you hunt?’ he asks.
‘Trust me. Killing things is much easier than this,’ I said. ‘Although for all I know, I am killing you.’
‘Can you speed it up a little?’ he asks.
‘No. Shut up and eat your pears,’ I say.
( … )
’ You know, you’re kind of squeamish for such a lethal person,’ says Peeta as I beat the shorts clean between two rocks. ‘I wish I’d let you give Haymitch a shower after all.’”
— The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“Numerous animals have lost their lives at my hands, but only one human. I hear Gale saying, ‘How different can it be, really?’
Amazingly similar in execution. A bow pulled, an arrow shot. Entirely different in aftermath. I killed a boy whose name I do not know. Somewhere his family is weeping for him. His friends call for my blood. Maybe he had a girlfriend who really believed he would come back …”
— The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“To hate the boy from District 1, who also appears so vulnerable in death, seems inadequate.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“Stupid people are dangerous.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“And there I am, blushing and confused, made beautiful by Cinna’s hands, desirable by Peeta’s confession, tragic by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“‘They’re betting on how long I’ll live!’ I burst out. ‘They’re not my friends!’
‘Well, try and pretend!’ snaps Effie. Then she composes herself and beams at me. ‘See, like this. I’m smiling at you even though you’re aggravating me.’”
— The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“You don’t forget the face of the person who was your last hope.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It’s not that I don’t agree with him. I do. But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle of the woods? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t make things fair. It doesn’t fill our stomachs.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
“We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your wits.” — The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Back:
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 them all to send one 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, 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 if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Acclaimed writer Suzanne Collins, author of The New York Times bestselling Underland Chronicles, delivers equal parts suspense and philosophy, adventure and romance, in this searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present.
Thoughts:
I’ve obviously already read this, but when I first started, I had already seen the film, which I enjoyed. Obviously, I enjoyed the book a lot better, although there were a few slow points.