Returning to The Hunger Games: Rediscovering a Classic

0:00 Hey guys, welcome back to Such a Fun Read. I am your host and resident reader Sheree, and here we will be diving in each week to chat about the books we love, the books people just can't stop talking about, and how we deal with being book obsessed. Today's episode is a bit of a throwback. I'm currently under the weather. Well I'm...why do we say under the weather? Maybe I'll look that up when I'm not sick. Yeah, I'm sick. And I'm also currently in bed recording this intro. I really didn't want to go a week without an episode, so I figured why don't I put my book talk on the Hunger Games that I did last November on the podcast.

0:43 I reread the Hunger Games for the first time in years. Figured it was a good time since it was right before the prequel movie came out, and I can't think of the name of the prequel movie right now, or I guess the prequel book. Battle of the Songbirds and Snakes, that's it right? Yes, that's what it's called. I read that too, but that's not what this episode is about. Anyway, please enjoy this discussion of me rereading the Hunger Games. So I want to talk about the Hunger Games. The story focuses on Katniss Everdeen. She's a 16-year-old girl living in District 12 of Panem, which is a post-apocalyptic nation.

1:28 On the day of the reaping, she ends up volunteering for her 12-year-old sister, Graham, whose name was called to participate in the Hunger Games. I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute! Now this is not a first-hand read for me, but it has been a while since I have read it. There are some things that I actually forgot that happened in this book. It is one of my favorite series, so I definitely want to have some discussions about the books in this series. I want to talk about some scenes I really enjoyed, moments in the book that I really enjoyed. I want to talk about some characters that I forgot about since they weren't in the movies, and I've seen the movies quite a few more times than I have read the books.

2:09 And yes, we can talk about Teen Pita versus Teen Gale. I also want to do a quick summary of the world so that we can familiarize ourselves with where we are. Maybe you don't remember or you have not read the books in ages, and that is what I'm here for. So we are in the world of Panem, which is the United States of America in the future. And Panem pretty much has like a totalitarian dictatorship as well as a police state. And there are 12 districts, well, 13, but we'll get to that later. And each district has a purpose for the capital. I was going to say a purpose for the world, but let's be real. Their purpose is pretty much for the capital.

2:50 Now, you don't really get a sense of what all the districts do in this book. They do mention a few of them, but they don't talk about all of them. But I did find some information online, and I pretty much source it from fan of dot com. So district one, they manufacture luxury items for the capital. It is one of the wealthiest districts as well as a career district and career districts are where they train their children to fight in the Hunger Games. We have district two and they manufacture weaponry as well as masonry. They also make the trains as well as supply the peacemakers to every district. And they are also a career district. District three, their industry is electronics and they also make automobiles and firearms.

3:36 District four, their industry is fishing and they are also a career district. I do find it interesting that districts one, two and four are the career districts and not districts one and two or districts one, two and three. Like I feel like if they're going to do three districts, why not just do it one, two and three? Why skip three? District five, their industry is power production and they also have a hydroelectric dam. District six, their industry is transportation. District seven, their industry is lumber. District eight, their industry is producing textiles and they also have a factory for primarily producing peacekeeper uniforms.

4:17 District nine, their industry is grain and they also have a bunch of large farmlands. District 10, their industry is livestock. District 11, their industry is agriculture and district 12 is coal. Their industry is coal and they are one of the poorest districts. And of course there was district 13. They were the military district and they are no longer around. Well at least for now. They were the district that would instigate the first rebellion against the capital and they led the other districts in this rebellion, which as you can see did not go well and hence forth we have the Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the 12 districts must provide one girl and one boy called tributes to participate.

5:03 The 24 tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. So the Hunger Games in Pan Am is pretty mystery like a sporting event or reality TV. Everyone in the districts watch them and there end up being prizes as well. Not just for the winner but also for their district. The district receives prizes such as large amounts of food and pretty much everyone outside the capital is kind of starving. Maybe some of the career districts are better off but mostly a lot of the districts are starving.

5:50 So if you have someone in the Hunger Games and they win, your district is pretty much kind of better off for that year. I think that's one of the reasons why they have the careers because if district one, two or four wins, then they keep the food away from the really hungry people. So that's pretty much a quick background of the world. Now I want to talk about some of the things that I really enjoyed in this reread. And also yes, I am going to be getting into spoilers. So FYI. One Katniss. I really enjoy Katniss in this book. It is written in first person so we are in Katniss' head the entire time.

6:31 And I have to say I was not annoyed by her. I understood her motivations for why she wanted to do certain things. I understood when she would be confused by her feelings and emotions. I know a lot of times she was in the arena, she felt alone and she would think of Gail. And then she would try to figure out what those feelings meant. And I understood that. Her time with Rue and how she wanted to protect her. Her time with PETA and how her feelings kept confusing her. All of this made sense to me. I really do like Katniss as a main character. And I'm very happy she did not annoy me. And I'm hoping that continues during my reread. Next, I want to talk about the fast paced nature of the story.

7:11 This story moves and it moves quickly. Things are happening to these characters and these characters have to deal with what's happening. Things aren't drawn out. In the first chapter we learn who the character we are following is and we get a sense of the world. We know it is reaping day and know what is coming. And we don't have to wait long to know who is chosen because Pram is named as the first tribute at the end of chapter one. It also felt like there was a cliffhanger at the end of this chapter and I was here for it. Let's get to some scenes I really enjoyed. And I want to bring up Katniss and PETA in the cave. Their time in the cave wasn't really short. They were definitely in there for some days.

7:53 They conversed a lot. They were able to get to know each other better. There are also some cute moments. Oh, and Katniss did put PETA to sleep against his will. That also happened. You know that part in the movie where Katniss leaves to go off to the feast, the one that has what every tribute remaining needs? Well, in the movie Katniss waits until PETA is asleep before she leaves because she lied to him and told him she wasn't going to go anywhere. But in the book Katniss actually gets something from a sponsor that helps put people to sleep. She then puts it in PETA's food, starts to feed it to him. But then when he notices that something is wrong, she forces him to swallow it.

8:38 That does come back up later and they do talk about it. I just thought it was interesting to have Katniss do that. And that was definitely something I did not remember happening. I could also add some of her moments with Brew in here as well. While the story does move quickly, when we have these moments where these characters are able to interact, it does feel like it gives the story time to breathe. Another thing I did enjoy was the actual start of the Hunger Games, which was the start of Chapter 11. This was an intense start to the chapter when it actually started or the countdown to it starting and then Katniss started to figure out whether or not she should go for the bow and arrow, Amos told her not to because there were just going to be so many of the other kids attacking each other and trying to kill each other.

9:23 And she would just put herself at risk. And then we see PETA remind her of that as we see when they lock eyes and he shakes his head at her, he knows what she's thinking because she was staring down those arrows. Also 11 of the tributes ended up dying during that time, which is pretty nuts. Then we have Katniss not knowing if PETA is dead and her worrying about him, to then at the end of a chapter, see that he is actually with the careers and working with them. And then there's Chapter 12 where Katniss is alone, she's looking for water. She thinks she's not going to get any gifts from any of the sponsors because she believes that Hamish doesn't like her.

10:05 And then that chapter ends with a wall of fire descending on her and so on and so on. The arena isn't a joke and I'm pretty sure I would not have lasted. I don't think I'm pretty sure. I'm sure I would not have lasted. And there are other things that I really enjoyed. I think the characters are fleshed out well. I think the story is fleshed out well. The story doesn't go all over the place and the world building works. I'm remembering how this book got so popular when it came out. And I know a lot of people want to say that the book didn't get popular until the movie, but I disagree. Opening weekend, this movie made $152 million.

10:47 I repeat, $152 million domestically. I think the books had to have been popular to get people to actually want to go see this movie and it was huge. Now I already talked about the things that I did enjoy and I did mention something that I forgot happened earlier about Katniss pretty much putting Peters asleep against his will, but I do have some other things I forgot about and I want to talk about them. So first off, and I know this is probably small, but I forgot the districts had mayors. I don't know why. Like it makes sense that the districts would have some type of leadership.

11:28 I just never really thought about it. But for district 12, it's kind of important for the book because we get to meet the mayor's daughter Madge and she actually plays a role early on. Her and Katniss are kind of friends. I mean, they kind of hang out at school, but mostly because they're maybe the only ones left and everyone doesn't want to hang out with them. I don't know, but they kind of sit at the same tables together. They don't really talk a lot, but they're friendly to each other. I'll say that. Also, Madge is the character that gives Katniss the mockingjay pen. I know in the movie they have it be this lady at the black market that gives her the mockingjay pen and they ended up making a big deal about the mockingjay pen.

12:12 Well, I guess she gives it to Prem saying, hey, this is going to keep you safe. But when Prem had it, her name got called, so kind of didn't keep her safe. So also in the book, Madge gives her the pen after Katniss volunteers. I don't think it really matters who gives her the pen. I just thought it was interesting that Madge, a character that was removed from the movies, is the one who gave her the pen. And I think she ends up showing up again later in the books, but I can't remember. But I will be rereading the other books in the series, so I guess I'm going to end up finding out. Another thing is having the reaping explained to me more and why names are entered multiple times.

12:56 And this one, I'm going to have to read it. I took notes. So here it goes. One becomes eligible for the reaping the day they turn 12. That year, your name is entered once, the next year twice, the year after that three times, so on and so on. By the time you're 18, your name would be entered in seven times. You can also have your name added in more times for food. They call it a tesserae. A tesserae is worth a meager year supply of grain and oil for one person. You can also add your name in for your family members to receive a tesserae as well. And these entries are cumulative. Katniss has had a tesserae for her, her mom, and her sister ever since she was 12.

13:39 So for present day, this is why Katniss' name is in there 20 times and Gail's name is in there 42 times. Also Gail is 18. He's two years older than Katniss and he has two little brothers and his parents. So he gets tesseraes for a family of five. That is why his name is in there more than Katniss. Next thing I forgot about is the AVOX girl. I would say this is a character I'm not a fan of being removed from the movie. So I'll explain AVOX. They are someone who committed a crime and they got their tongue cut out. And while Katniss is eating on the train with PETA, Hamage, Effie, Senna, everyone else, she ends up seeing this girl who looks familiar to her, but she can't really place her.

14:24 Later on, she talks to PETA about it and she mentions how one day when she was with Gail in the woods, she saw these two people like running and it was like they were running away from something and it was a girl and a boy and they did end up getting caught. I believe the boy ended up dying and Katniss while she was hiding with Gail, she locked eyes with the girl and that girl cried out for help, but Katniss didn't come out hiding. She didn't help, which I don't know what she would have been able to do if she had. I think Katniss definitely felt guilt when she saw that girl. And also in terms of the movie, I kind of wish we would have gotten to see a scene with them. I don't even think there's a deleted scene.

15:04 Maybe there is. I don't even think there was a deleted scene with the AVOX girl. Another thing I forgot was PETA having a leg problem. So when PETA got cut in the games by Kato, Katniss tries to help him and everything, but once they're out on save one, Katniss learns during their interview with Caesar that PETA kind of has a new leg. He had to get a metal and plastic device to replace flesh in his leg. I don't think it's a brand new leg. I think he just replaced things, but I could be wrong, but it is definitely something I forgot about and definitely something I wish they would have added. I feel like that would have explained certain things in future movies, but we'll get to that when we talk about catching fire.

15:48 Another thing I forgot was the mutts faces being the falling tributes. So at the end where the mutts show up and they have to run away and pretty much climb onto that thing. I don't know what it's called, but climb onto that thing to pretty much save themselves from the mutts. So in the movie they're like hounds, but in the book they are things that have the faces of the falling tributes. So I get what the book was going for here. To have Katniss having the remaining tributes see the fallen tributes. To see how Katniss reacts when she sees Rue's face on a mutt. I'm sure that wasn't fun.

16:30 I don't know if that would have translated well in movie form. I really don't. Like I get what they were going for in the book, but I just don't know if that would have worked in the movie. So I'm okay with them changing that. The hounds, they were scary enough. Another thing I forgot about was how things ended with Katniss and Peeta. Things are pretty icy. So in the movie things were a little bit more open ended. Katniss tells Peeta that they just forget when Peeta asks her, hey, what do we do now? And then Peeta's like, I don't want to forget. So we know that Katniss wants to forget, Peeta doesn't want to forget. We know that, right? Although I'm pretty sure Katniss was talking about everything else that happened in the arena and I know Peeta was talking about his feelings for Katniss.

17:14 I get that. But in the book, Peeta realizes that Katniss was pretty much being coached by Hamage with all of the lovey dovey stuff, with all of the romance and everything like that. And he doesn't really take it too well. He's not happy about that. And I know at the start of the Catching Fire movie, it is icy between them. But in the book at the end of the Hunger Games, that's when the iciness began. Some other things as well that I forgot about would be Katniss losing her hearing after she blew up the food supply for Kato and the other careers. District 11 sending Katniss bread after Ru's death. I believe this one was a deleted scene. There were also two other winners before Katniss for the Hunger Games from District 12.

17:59 For some reason, I just kept thinking it was Hamage. But no, not just Hamage. I don't know why I just kept thinking it was Hamage. Again, probably because I have not read this book in forever. Another thing was the meaning of the three finger gesture. It was used in like funerals and to show admiration and also to say goodbye to people, which I did find touching after Katniss did that after she buried Ru. And of course, there are possibly some other things that I just can't remember right now. But these are things that came to mind that I forgot about. Now I point out some things that they didn't include that I would have liked for them to have included in the movie. But I want to talk about some things that were added to the movie that were in the book.

18:43 And these are mostly stuff with characters outside of Katniss. Since the book is in first person, we don't get moments with people outside of Katniss. So it was nice that they added this. I would say seeing the game maker in this element and how he manipulated the games, seeing Hamage out there talking to sponsors. I think that was really helpful because obviously, like I said, we don't get either of those things. And also President Snow, the scenes of President Snow and the game maker, they definitely add to how sinister he is. I mean, he's already sinister since you know this world has a Hunger Games and he hasn't gotten rid of it. So that could explain how sinister he is.

19:25 But the movies helped to also paint a picture, especially with him talking about why they have the Hunger Games. Why do you think we have a winner? I mean, if we just wanted to intimidate the districts, why not round up 24 of them at random and execute them all at once? Hope it is the only thing stronger than fear. Yeah, he's not great. Okay, now it's time to talk about Team PETA versus Team Gale. I know this wasn't as big as Team Edward versus Team Jacob from Twilight, but it was a thing. It was out there. It was a thing. Let's talk Gale first. So Gale is two years older than Katniss. I think I talked about that earlier.

20:05 I believe they met when she was 11, 12, 13. They met when she was younger. They met a while ago. He gave her the nickname Katniss because when she introduced herself, she was quiet about it and that's what he thought he heard. So he pretty much calls her Katniss from here on out. Gale and Katniss kind of look alike. They both have straight black hair, olive skin and gray eyes. But a lot of the families that work in the mines look that way. Early on in the book, Katniss does mention that there's nothing romantic going on between them, but she also brings that up again as well after he visits with her after she volunteers and me thinks someone protests too much.

20:46 Just saying. Something for Gale in the negative column was he was kind of a dick to match the mayor's daughter. He mentioned how she wanted to look nice just in case her name was picked and he was kind of a dick about it and he threw her money in her face. I mean, I get it. I don't have to like it, but I get it. I mean, his name is in there 42 times while her name is probably only in there once because she's the mayor's daughter. I get why he was acting the way he was, but I still don't have to like it. Also the end of Gale's visit when he went to visit her after she volunteered. Before he leaves, he says Katniss remember I and then he's interrupted.

21:26 I'm guessing he was going to say I love you. I don't know. Katniss wonders if he was going to say I love you. At first I was thinking is this the right time? But then again, Katniss is kind of going off to fight for her life. So why not say it if you can't? She does end up thinking about Gale a lot while she's in the arena, possibly because he's like her best friend. Also possible that maybe she has feelings for him that she'd never thought about before. And that's pretty much all I have about Gale for this book. He wasn't in it a lot. So but by the end of the book, she is confused about her feelings for Gale.

22:07 Now let's go to PETA. So when PETA is chosen at the reaping, Katniss actually is not happy. She knows him and she doesn't like that his name was chosen. So their only interaction happened years ago after her father died. Katniss had taken over head of household at the age of 11, pretty much because her mother couldn't really do anything. She kind of just sat there and Katniss knew that they needed to eat. So she did what she could to help them eat. One day she was in town trying to trade, but she wasn't able to. Also just to let you know, stealing is prohibited and it is punishable by death.

22:49 So Katniss, she felt defeated and she was like sitting outside of the bakery or across from the bakery. I think PETA's mom came out once and like yelled at her to get away and maybe she removed to a different spot. I don't remember, but PETA does come out. You can see that he has like a red mark on his cheek from being struck. He's also carrying loaves of bread and these loaves of bread were actually burnt. So it's possible that he got struck, he got hit because the bread was burnt. And I guess he was supposed to throw that bread over to the pigs, but he ends up throwing it in the direction of Katniss.

23:31 He helped her that day. He kind of saved her life, but Katniss doesn't like that she feels like she owes someone anything. and the fact that he is also going to be a part of this, just she doesn't like it. And there are also moments before they get into the arena that Katniss isn't sure if she could actually trust PETA. She doesn't know if he is really being nice or if he's just trying to get her to let her guard down. At the end of the day, only one of them is supposed to be able to survive. Also there are moments in the cave like I talked about earlier. They do end up sharing a couple of kisses. The first one, it was just a kiss, but the second one Katniss felt something.

24:16 This is the first kiss that we're both fully aware of. Neither of us hobbled by sickness or pain or simply unconscious. Our lips neither burning with fever or icy cold. This is the first kiss where I actually feel stirring inside my chest, warm and curious. This is the first kiss that makes me want another. And also how I mentioned earlier that they aren't on the best of terms at the end of the book. Out of the corner of my eye, I see PETA extend his hand. I look at him unsure. One more time for the audience. He says, his voice isn't angry. It's hollow, which is worse. Already the boy with the bread is slipping away from me. I take his hand, holding on tightly, preparing for the cameras and dragging the moment when I will finally have to let go.

25:01 So which team am I on? Well, I'm kind of on team Katniss is 16. Why are we making her choose right now? But if this is not acceptable and I have to make a choice, I have to say team PETA. A lot of that has to do with how much more of him we get in the book. We end up spending a lot more time with PETA than we do Gail. Also she might not want to admit her feelings for PETA, but she definitely does have feelings for him. Gail, we're still not sure. So those are my thoughts about The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm definitely happy I decided to do a reread of this book. Pretty much of this series.

25:41 I plan to read all of them, not just the trilogy either. I plan to read the Ballad of Sombars and Snakes as well. I have not read that one yet, so that one will be new to me. But the others I have read is just I have not read them in so long. So it'll be very interesting to see what I forgot about in those books as well. And definitely let me know your thoughts on this book if you've read it for the first time, if you've re-read it recently, or maybe you've even just seen the movie. Just let me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of Such a Fun Read. I really hope you enjoyed today's discussion and definitely let me know your thoughts.

26:22 Also don't forget to rate us five stars and show us love on your favorite podcast app. That would really help the show. Thanks again and I will talk to you all again next week. Happy reading!