Just in case you come late, and there are in fact spoilers below.
Scroll carefully. Slowly. Will you be reading Mockingjay tomorrow?
If so, keep reading. Carefully.
I don't want Mockingjay spoilers running like mad rabbits all over the web. BUT I also don't want to be shut up like a clam, unable to talk to anyone at all about it. Because, call me crazy, but I just have this feeling that it's going to be wild. And I have a feeling that it will leave everyone wanting to discuss it with all haste. So, I thought, maybe we could designate a spot. A blog post.
Just for the discussion of Mockingjay.
So, beginning tonight, I will stop checking the comments and only return tomorrow once I have finished the book. I invite you to do the same. Come back when you're done, and we can discuss in the safety of this post without fear of anyone who hasn't yet read the book stumbling onto something they don't want to know.
And don't worry: I will make it quite obvious that this is a DANGER ZONE for those people who have not yet read the book.
Until that time, if you know of any other such safe-spots, do post the link here! Or if you have any thoughts to add, or if you merely need a place to put on your CAPS LOCK and scream about how bloody excited you are, please do. We're all crazy here.
UPDATE: Go crazy. I want to hear your thoughts. And if you've come this far without reading the warning signs, please know that THIS POST DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS ABOUT MOCKINGJAY. And I'm hoping that you, dear Reader, will add some more.
I'm looking forward to reading this...so excited!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I'll definitely be back tomorrow...or maybe the next day...depending on whether my husband or I wins the coin toss on who gets to read the book first. ;)
ReplyDeleteCheck this out if you want. Suzanne Collins reads the first chapter.
ReplyDeletehttp://onourmindsatscholastic.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-suzanne-collins-reads-excerpt.html
I'll have to stay away until mine arrives...
ReplyDeleteI read it...
ReplyDeleteOh my god. So intense. I need somebody to talk to about it but I can't find anyone who's done!
I loved it. I don't even know where to start. I haven't been able to go 15 minutes without thinking about it. Fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI just finished.
ReplyDeleteLike, maybe three minutes ago.
I need to process. And I need to blow my nose and put some kind of compress on my eyes to alleviate the swelling.
But yeah. I loved it, too. Whoosh. I think I'll take Ophelia on a long walk, and maybe I'll scrape up some intelligible thoughts along the way.
Anyone done more processing than me?
Finished reading it at 3:45 this afternoon. Had to go into work with blotchy skin and red eyes from crying.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know! I cried and cried... should've seen most of it coming, since her other series is thematically very similar. But, of course, I didn't.
ReplyDeleteHere is the first thought that has assembled itself coherently in my head:
We all spent a lot of time pre-Mockingjay speculating over the Gale/Peeta issue. And while in the back of our heads we all knew that it wasn't the primary issue of the books, we still persevered in building up its significance.
But I think we were overlooking a very important fact: that to Katniss, the boy she ultimately chose was not a pressing issue. As Gale points out in Mockingjay, Katniss's choice ultimately hinges on which one of the two she can't physically survive without--a revelation that amazes and shames her. But I think it's the truth.
Unlike other heroines who leap into romance with both feet, Katniss almost has no inclination for it at all. She loves both Gale and Peeta, but not, I think, in a particularly passionate-romantic way. She loves them with fierce devotion and loyalty... reinforcing the animalistic impulses that define her character. (Everything Katniss does is either in an effort to survive, or to protect someone she is devoted to.) Even at the very end, when she discovers Gale has moved to District 2, it seems she is relieved--not because she doesn't love him, but because his choosing to extricate himself from her life removes the pressure of her having to make a decision between him and Peeta.
You get the almost disturbing impression that Katniss could move on and live without either of them. (She mentally gives both of them up on a number of occasions.) But I think this goes back to her animal nature. Katniss is a survivor in her very essence. And people, no matter how dear, do not deter her will to live--or her (also somewhat animal) instinct to fight for freedom.
Unless that person is defenseless and innocent.
And I think this is why we should've seen Prim's death coming from Chapter One of the Hunger Games. Why we should have seen Rue's murder as the foreshadowing it is. Because Prim is the one certain person Katniss is willing to give up her own survival for, the one person whose death she is utterly determined to prevent. The only one whose death would truly shatter her.
I know there is a deeper significance to Prim's death than just irony and the cyclical nature of the narrative. That it's about more than just bringing Katniss back to the ducktail moment and having her understand that there was never anything she could truly do to protect Prim except bring down the Capitol. I don't see it yet, because I'm still choked up about it. But I think maybe it has something to do with her kids. Something to do with her letting go. Or maybe it is just part of the reminder that stays with her forever, that there are much worse games to play.
That's all I'm thinking so far. Anyone want to add to or debate it?
I'm not sure I can argue with you Hanna. But here are some thoughts I had.
ReplyDeleteAs a 23 year old male, I loved the story of survival and rebellion that the first 2 books had to offer. I did feel a little shameful about the fact that I was devoured by this teenage love triangle. I just felt all "teeny" about it. Like I was way too old for this, but I did love it. It's funny because when you google any commentary on the Hunger Games you get a lot of "Peeta vs. Gale" stuff. It almost came across as sort of a superficial type of book. When I finished Catching Fire I was only asking the superficial questions. I wanted to actually cheer for Collins for not going that route when she so easily could have. The people reading Mockingjay for that reason, will be taught a lesson, just like I was.
It's funny because a lot of the questions I had at the end of Catching Fire were answered, but very anticlamactically. Like "Who will she end up with?" and "How will she kill Snow, or he kill her?" If I were to go back in time and tell my old self, who had just finished Catching Fire, "Hey, Snow gets either trampled to death by a crowd or strangles himself on a rope" and "Yo, she goes home, gets a little older, looses touch with Gale, and goes with Peeta", my old self would be so pissed. That's what made the thing so great. Collins makes you care about more important things. At the end, who she ends up with and how she kills Snow isn't that important. Collins almost made me feel ashamed for caring so much about the Peeta/Gale thing. Lesson learned.
I also left Catching Fire thinking either Gale, Peeta, or Katniss dies. I never thought about Prim. It seriously never crossed my mind because, yet again, I was thinking on a more shallow level. I thought, "How will the war play out surrounding the love story?" and not the other way around. Thank God for Collins.
That's all I got for now. I'm sure I have more thoughts. But 27 hours later, I'm still processing it all.
Correction: I said "Collins almost made me feel ashamed for caring so much about the Peeta/Gale thing." She DID make me feel ashamed. I don't know why I said almost.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know what to do with myself.
ReplyDeleteVomit most likely.
I haven't been left in such an emotional muddle by a book in a while.
I need time to think. I'll be back when I can think straight (and when I'm not at work).
Jason, I totally agree. I was feeling rather ashamed of myself, too, by about the middle of the book. It was so easy to get swept up in what our culture--and our impulses--dictate as the focal point of the book: the romance.
ReplyDeleteAnd Collins did a fabulous job of blowing that out of the water, and reminding her readers that in the face of such violence and catastrophe, something like a love triangle is actually rather insignificant. And I agree with you on the Prim thing. I was prepared for everyone else to die. But not Prim. Not Prim at all.
After sleeping on it, I think I know my complaint with the book. And that is Katniss's character. She begins Book 1 with a far deeper knowledge of herself than she ends Book 3 with. Her deterioration throughout Mockingjay not only made me feel a little like I was going insane at times, but it also left me feeling hopeless. I wanted to see her rise above the horror of her life, and reach down inside herself for the strength she's always had. I wanted her to truly come into her own, and separate what she was in her essence from all that everyone else wanted her to be. In the District 8 disaster, we got a glimpse of that, but I wanted more from her. Instead, we watched her fall apart.
Collins, I think, writes like the Watchmaker. She seems to build the clock with extraordinary skill and deftness, and then set it in motion and watch it play out to its logical conclusion. (Katniss going mad. Snow's anticlimactic death. Peeta being tormented into a weapon. Gale fading out of her life. Madge's family being found dead.)
And I think, for me personally, I want a little more Author Intervention. I want a character who will stand up to the madness that is threatening and refuse its hold. I want terrible circumstances that end with a heroic display of sacrificial strength, and a whisper of hope for the future at the end. For me, Mockingjay seemed too much like a tragic documentary, or a Holocaust novel. Too much like a warning, too little like a story.
But that's just me. And maybe that was Collins' point. Literature moves and stirs the world, and people who write differently than, say, JK Rowling will be able to achieve different things. And I think this book will achieve amazing things.
Okay, back to processing.
Jordan, I agree with you. I felt like puking for a while, too. Or just staring around vacantly and wondering why everyone around me isn't in mourning.
ReplyDeletePlease note this is Tana Martin writing, not Konnor Martin, but Konnor is the one with a gmail account which I will be using as a means to log in. I finished the book last night and I am in mourning. I'm desperate for communication about this book. I will be sending out some thoughts to the blog this evening when I return from class/work. I'm taking notes everywhere I go today reminding myself of all the things I need to speak out loud, or in this case write for someone to read.
ReplyDeleteAha!
ReplyDeleteThanks Hanna for pointing out what I didn't like about Mockingjay. Katniss. She just acted so unlike the character that I thought she was, and I didn't buy any of her explanations for her behavior (when she gave them).
Throughout the series, when she does something rash or impulsive, I understand why, but when she shoots Coin instead of Snow my only thought was how lame of a solution that was to her problems.
I still can't understand why she voted "yes" on the new Hunger Games.
She just fell apart on us (mentally and physically) and I didn't like it.
I finished yesterday afternoon on my train ride home and had to put on my sunglasses so I could cry quietly, in peace.
ReplyDeleteI loved the whole book. I thought everything was perfect.
Though I cared about the romance, I knew that it was never going to be Suzanne Collins' point.
I don't know... I don't know what to say. Except to react to what you guys have said. So -
@Jordan - it was my impression that she voted YES for the Hunger Games as her final ACT. Haymitch gets this, which is why he states that he's with the "Mockingjay," not simply Yes, or that he agrees. He's with the "Mockingjay." All along, Katniss has been a pawn. A Capitol pawn and then a pawn for the rebellion. She concludes her part in the game by voting yes, securing Coin's trust and probably ensuring nothing will prevent her from being allowed to kill Snow.
She shoots Coin because, I think, Coin would have become another Snow. Another dangerous dictator.
I liked Katniss' fall. Throughout the entire series, she was never any less than completely human.
I just finished reading Mockingjay. All I can say right now is WOW!
ReplyDeleteGah. I JUST finished reading it. So many thoughts!
ReplyDeleteOkay first off. I love Peeta, and I was with all of you on the whole Gale vs. Peeta thing. And through Collins' genius, I wasn't even like "yeah!" when she ended with Peeta. It was just like "oh. that seems like the right thing." Exactly how you said, Jason. And the same with Snow dying. He just died somehow. And it was great. Because, honestly at that point in the book, I didn't want her shooting Snow square in the face. I felt like she wouldn't be able to mentally recover from that.
And Jason, I never thought about Prim dying either. Like literally did not think about. I was convinced Katniss, Gale or Peeta would die - just like you said. And I think Prim died for the reasons you said Hanna, she was the only person Katniss would do ANYTHING for. And she just couldn't save her. But man was it hard when she died. And even though the book never officially said that the rebels were the ones that dropped the silver parachutes (right?), I thought it was them right off. Before Katniss even thinks about it. It would make no sense for the capitol to do that.
I loved the book. There were a few things I didn't like... It's hard to put them into words. i think Hanna and Jordan pretty much described them.
Thanks for having the blog, Hanna!
I really have no semblance of coherent thought to contribute to this discussion. This book has left me devastated. I can't remember the last time a book evoked so much emotion from me. I wanted to cry, scream and sink to the floor in an incoherent mess. I just finished the book and it seems like there will be a lot of processing to come.....I am lost somewhere between anger and mourning. I think more than anything I am morning the loss of what I thought the book was going to be. I didn't expect teen literature to wound and shape me as it did. More thoughts to come
ReplyDeleteI really have no complaints. It was very raw and real. Katniss was perfect to me.
ReplyDeleteNow that a couple weeks have gone, I've had some less important thoughts about the book. First, has anyone heard that Brandon Flowers song called "Crossfire?" Well, it's super corny but when I was reading the book I had that song stuck in my head the entire time. As corny as it is, the song applied to the book perfectly. Hah.
Anyways, I wanted to get someone's opinion on something. I know Collins is doing the screenplay for the movie, but how in the world is that going to work? First, are they going to market it to teens or adults? And the thing I'm most concerned with is the ending to the series. I just feel like there is no way they let it end that way in the movie. I'm just thinking out loud here, but if I were a betting man, I'd say they will change how the love triangle ends.
Teresa, I am with you completely. I felt the EXACT same way. Seriously: devastating. Come back when you've figured out why you feel the way you feel. I want to hear.
ReplyDeleteJason, I've been wondering the same thing. Honestly, one of my first thoughts when I put down Mockingjay was, "Oh God, please don't let them go through with the movies." Because I simply cannot stand to watch them turn Katniss' hollow, empty ending into something shiny and pretty. Whatever they do, it will turn the love triangle into something garish and teeny-bopperish, and I think it will be horrible. And that isn't even considering the audience. I think they'll have to do some serious finagling to keep it PG-13. I mean... kids killing kids on TV? (Sound familiar??)
If this helps your perception, they want it to be the next Twilight. Ugh.
I finally got the book and finished it the other night. I waited to process it before contributing in the discussion. I was left with two questions at the end of it all.
ReplyDeleteThe first was the question of why Katniss agreed to another Hunger Games. @HH, I think you're right. She was still playing the Mockingjay, acting as she believed would best ensure her own survival afterward.
We already know Coin wanted her dead. Katniss was still playing. And I think in the final "games" that was the war, the only way for Katniss to survive at the end was to kill Coin. If she hadn't, Coin or someone working for her would have killed Katniss.
My other question remains unanswered. I understand Katniss losing faith in Gale and letting him go after he left for District 2, but why would he leave her at a time when she was at her most vulnerable? I'd have thought he'd be right there for her after Prim's death, because he knew best how she felt about Prim.
I also thought Katniss' withdrawal into herself after it was all over echoed the way Haymitch was at the beginning. Alone, barely taking care of themselves. She and Peeta needed each other then to continue to survive, because I think without having someone else who knew what they'd been through, neither one would want to go on.
Ok, just finished. I know I'm way behind, but it took forever for Amazon to send it to Germany! You all will probably not read my comment, but I have to write something! (I'll post a review on my blog later.)
ReplyDeleteThis was so much more psychological than the other two. I loved it.
When she killed Coin I was like, "Yes! She got the right one!" It kept flipping back and forth to confuse us and Katniss, but I never trusted the rebels. And when Boggs told her not to trust them it solidified my mistrust.
@Michelle I think Gale didn't comfort her because he knew they weren't meant for each other. It was over long before Prim died.
I expected Prim to die. I can't believe you all didn't see that! I thought it was so obvious. (I hate typing, I didn't say that with a conceited voice or anything...)
I was kinda mad that she ended up with Peeta. When Gale said she would decide who she couldn't survive without and then she said she could survive without either of them, I agreed. She doesn't need either of them. (But like you all said, the triangle was not the point.)
Katniss is just so real. She reacts correctly, not theatrically. This is where I disagree with you Hanna. Her reactions are what make the book. The fact that she never stands up for herself is real. So real that it's painful but not annoying. (I'm a literature reader, so this aspect was my favorite.)
Time to reflect more. Need to start writing notes!
Oh! She voted yes because it was her way of saying, "This will never end. Humans are sick and will constantly want to hurt each other." And then she killed Coin to say she could be better than that. Coin, the only other person who knew they had voted yes for another games. (So obviously those games didn't happen, right?)
ReplyDelete