Ah--the sequel to The Hunger Games. I didn't like this one as much, but it's not a bad book. It just didn't strike me in quite the same way (though it did have me flipping through the later pages and reading random sentences... Not sure what to make of my reaction? Well, it meets Stephanie Meyer's "high expectations". Oh yeah--on the back of the book there is a quote of praise from Stephanie Meyer: "It not only lived up to my high expectations, it surpassed them. Stunning". You know who has no right to have high expectations or any expectations of anything at all? The author (authoress?) of the Twilight saga.
Anyways. This is set following the original games--Katniss and Peeta's actions have sparked many rebellions--for example, the third district is completely out of commission, the eighth district had be controlled... and the Capitol is keeping an eye on them. Collins does a very good job of illustrating the tension between Katniss and the Capitol--instead of just describing the idea of Big Brother, she makes the reader feel like they're the ones being scrutinized. Of course, it helps that the book is from Katniss's point of view... But still. It's very eerie.
Now, the Capitol wants to get back at Katniss specifically for essentially making them look like fools. This upcoming year is also the seventy-fifth year of the games. Every twenty-five years the games are "special" versions, known as Quarter Quells--in these there are one or more major twists on the game that year--for the seventy-fifth, those chosen for the games are chosen from each district's pool of winners. Katniss, of course, is the only female winner from her district. More twists are the incredible difficult and twisted challenges of the arena--it's set up like a clock, and... I didn't quite get how this worked, exactly, but if you were in the four o'clock area at that time, you would have to deal with whatever danger would be released. For example, one area spits out acid rain at its time, one starts a huge lightning storm... The worse locks you into its sliver for the whole hour where muttation birds (that's what they call it; I know, it drives you nuts, doesn't it?) scream in the voices of people you care for--one sounds like Katniss's sister, a winner from one of the other games named Finnick hears the girl he loves.... And so on.
Oh, and there are still issues about everyone thinking Peeta and Katniss are still madly in love. They would have given Katniss some slack had she done a convincing job of this, but according to the head of the Capitol, she did not.... So... Um... Yeah, let's go!
Oh, okay. My first note is 78 pages in--every half year between games, the survivors of previous games meet at the Capitol, celebrate, hang out, are doted upon by the Capitol, whatever. These parties have huge dinner setups. Katniss is so excited about all the food that she is determined to try as much as possible--one bite from every dish (she gives the rest to Peeta). She is asked why she has stopped eating, she explains that she is full, and the person who asked laughs and shows her a vial of liquid. You take a sip in the bathroom and bam! You vomit up your meal and are free to continue eating. Now, I made connections to Ancient Rome pretty clear in my last post, but I get excited about that sort of thing, so sorry if this is tiresome. (You don't have to read this, you know.) In ancient Rome, there were these things called vomitoriums. Well--depending on your source, that wasn't their real name, but the point is, you would stuff yourself at an elaborate upper-class Roman feast. Granted, no Roman feast could compare to the elaborate dishes at the Capitol, but we're still talking about things like flamingos stuffed with sparrows, roasted songbird tongues, dishes involving dormice... A lot of things getting stuffed into other things. You got full but you didn't want to miss out on the rabbit fetus? Well, fortunately for you your host was kind enough to provide (or you owned yourself, which if you were upper class wasn't so unusual) an ostrich feather long enough for you to tickle the back of your throat. You went into the vomitorium--or whatever the proper name was--tickled your throat, vomited, came back, and went on with your meal of strange things that most people would be horrified to eat. (Incidentally, could my willingness and drive to try unusual foods be related to the fact that I'm Italian and almost certainly have Roman roots? I'd try most of things that a Roman nobleman would have eaten... Except for maybe the tongues. Maybe. I'd love to try the fish sauce, though!) Anyways... Katniss is just as horrified and disgusted as you probably are right now, and goes back to her room.
Oh okay, and her other friend, Gale, wants to run away (back at home). She agrees to, and tries to start planning in her head how she could do so while taking her and Gale's family with her and Gale. Gale abruptly informs her that he loves her--she's so shocked she can't think straight and responds with--wait for it--"'I know'" (Collins 97). If you're not laughing, you've never seen a Star Wars movie. Sorry.
Aaaand... Wow, there's been about a month break between what's up here and what you're reading this very second, so sorry if I'm a little foggy. Finals and all of that, and general laziness... Anyways, I guess I described the hunger game arena this year in basic detail... They start out on platforms in the middle of the ocean and they have to swim to that island with all the traps on it... So if you can't swim (which is a possibility, depending on your district), you're pretty much done from the start, there. I don't remember if anyone specifically gets screwed by that factor (the belts on the tributes' uniforms are flotation devices when used properly, or something like that), but that would be interesting if they were... Again, a little foggy on the details...
Ah, yes! Me being me, I've marked one of the most heartbreaking moments in the book. Katniss and Peeta befriend two people from whichever district was in charge of fishing (oops). One is a young, popular man who won a few years before Peeta and Katniss, and the female tribute is an elderly woman whose shining day came many, many decades before. Anyways, they all get stuck in the part of the island with the gas that affects your nervous system--it doesn't kill you right away, but it sets you up for a pretty excruciating death if you don't find shelter. Peeta needs to be carried. It hits Katniss, and she starts having trouble controlling her body--Mags, the old lady, can't move fast enough to escape it, but the other guy--Finnick--can't carry Peeta and Mags. So, Mags: "Mags hauls herself up, plants a kiss on Finnick's lips, and then hobbles straight into the fog. Immediately, her body is seized by wild contortions and she falls to the ground in a horrible dance. I want to scream, but my throat is on fire" (Collins 301).
My next note is... Ugh, it's so stupid, but the Beavis and/or Butthead in me thinks that it is hilarious. People commonly describes the noise clocks make on the hour or half hour or whatever as chimes or bongs. This book is no different. "Twelve bongs last night" (Collins 325). Daaaaaaaaaayum, Katniss.
Oh man, and my last note is on another thing I thought was hilarious but will probably make everyone else in the world facepalm. I mentioned how Gale kissed Katniss earlier in the is post, right? (Not going back to check. Deal with it.) Well, he does, in the privacy of Katniss's own home, but somehow the president knows anyways. But after Katniss kisses Peeta towards the end of this book, she thinks: "I kissed Peeta about a thousand times during those Games and after. But there was only one kiss that made me feel something stir deep inside. Only one that made me want more. But my head wound started bleeding and he made me lie down" (Collins 352). I don't know why I found that so hilarious but I do.
Anywayyys... Like I said, I'm kind of fuzzy on the end, which is probably better for you, because I can't inadvertently (or advertently?) spoil the end. All I remember is that the members of Katniss's Hunger Games "team" had planned a rebellion in their game, and Katniss's obliviousness prevents her from understanding it (again, I can't blame her at all, because I'd be the same way). Buttt it also means major consequences for the districts that the members of those rebellions hail from... Well, I'm sure there will be a recap in Mockingjay! I'll keep you guys updated, because God knows if your libraries are anything like my local libraries, you won't be able to even get your hands on a free copy till next January (31 holds on it at Wallingford! 31 holds!!). Wheeeeee.
MLA Citation Information: Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. Scholastic Press: United States of America, 2009.
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