/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2407971]

Hey /adv/ whats the obsession with these books? I see English majors reading them and liking them and I cannot understand why?

I read half of the first book (it's a trilogy right?) and it seemed like a shittier version of Battle Royale.

Is it just the same deal as Harry Potter?

[Anonymous No.2407995]

Nope.

[Anonymous No.2408004]

>>2407995

So its not just mindless escapism? Then why does it have such a huge following?

[Anonymous No.2408036]

>>2408004
Because it's mindless escapism.

[Anonymous No.2408381]

>female writer

[Anonymous No.2408395]

Quickly had a look on wiki.
The post-apocalyptic setting is bullshit.
Plus it's a young-teen novel. I mean, this is like twilight, but for the hipsterish teens.

[Anonymous No.2408399]

http://www.theonion.com/video/adults-go-wild-over-latest-in-childrens-picture-bo,14388/

[Anonymous No.2408413]

Another series about to explode, take a bunch of fans with it, over hyped like crazy, then suddenly those same people will start to hate it. Then its on the next to series to consume, while the author swims in a pool of money. I'm not saying its bad, I have no idea. Its just the cycle.

[Anonymous No.2408418]

I keep looking through the books out of curiosity but all I see is bad grammar.

[Anonymous No.2408420]

I personally think it is a good thing these books are being embraced by young budding /lit/heads.
first of all it teaches the virtue of self reliance, charity, and thrift. secondly it presents the wealthy ruling class as dangerous inhumane monsters who abuse their subjugated vassals. if this book converts even one teenager from being just another wanna be "my super sweet 16 brat" than yes, it is worth having to always hear about it. not to mention young readers have to start somewhere and this is a better place than Twilight for feckin' sure

[Anonymous No.2408432]

Like all YA books, they take a generally known and accepted moral/theme and make it the only substance other than romance shlock. Still, to call it substance is generous considering how ham-handedly such simple themes as "racism is bad" and "don't lose your humanity by making kids kills eachother for no sensible reason". The pure lack of logic in the empire's policies doesn't help to make them anything but a 2 dimensional evil power.

[Anonymous No.2408433]

Maybe English majors are people who like to read books.

[Anonymous No.2408452]

I just read through the first one. It's alright as far as young adult fiction goes. The book is written poorly in the first person perspective of a teenage girl. All the characters are one dimensional. The plot is predictable. There are some noble ideas behind the book, I suppose, but not really any development of said ideas. The prose had me cringing and quite a few sentences are unnecessary and accomplish nothing.

A very static, predictable book that does exactly what it was meant to do: entertain through action. Read it if you're fried out on more substantial texts. Or don't. There are better action driven novels.

[Anonymous No.2408469]

I don't get it. I don't study Literature in any way (I'm majoring Economics) but I can't have a decent conversation about literature with anyone.

Hell, I'm 20 years old and most people I talk to are the same age and they still go wild for Harry Potter and such. The english majors are slightly better but they still only want to talk about high school core lit.

[Anonymous No.2408859]

>>2408420
My thoughts exactly.

[Anonymous No.2408873]

i fucking hate this book, I fucking hate this book.

let me repeat I fucking hate this book.

Katnis is a fucking bitch and the author makes way to many bs scapegaots up out of nowhere to make her plot line linear. I read the first book in 3 days and I wanted to kill my self the whole time.

pic related, it's how i felt the WHOLE DANM TIME

[Anonymous No.2409021]

I tried to read a copy of the first book that my friend owned. Eh, I couldn't get into it.

... but I liked Looking For Alaska when I read it a year ago, so I can't really shit talk this book.

[Anonymous No.2410010]

>>2408873
I don't know about you but if I were in Katniss' place I'd be a royal bitch too.

[Anonymous No.2410052]

>female author

>female protagonist

>young adult

[Anonymous No.2410058]

>>2407971
Never read any books past like half the first one of Harry Potter so I can't compare.

But I did read the first of the trilogy and thought it was decent enough for a YA piece, would I finish the trilogy? Probably not, but it wasn't too bad of a time sink for the few hours it took to read it.

[Anonymous No.2410072]

some guy was talking about these books at work and i told him they were for teenage girls and now he hates me

[Anonymous No.2410085]

I stayed away from the books at first just because of the Young Adult title. But they're pretty good short reads. The second one is a lot better than the first.

I think taking from the perspective of American Young Adult literature, it's excellent. Lord knows American authors aren't the best.

[Anonymous No.2410091]

There are so many better books for "young adults" to read that shit like this or Twilight or Harry Potter.

Stuff like Slaughterhouse Five, Heart of Darkness, 1984, The Great Gatsby, Dickens, The Road etc.

[Anonymous No.2410120]

>>2410091
oh you mean the stuff they are forced/expected to read in school?
Hunger Games gives these kids the illusion that they are "choosing" to read the book, which inculcates a literary curiosity

[Anonymous No.2410247]

I have read the first book, and I liked it. I have only seen the Battle Royale movie, but I must say, I think I like The Hunger Games better. Good YA I guess...

[Anonymous No.2410259]

I don't want kids reading shit teen books. But reading is become less and less popular very quickly. If you get kids to read what they want, maybe, just maybe, they'll enjoy decent literature later in life. I'm not saying all of them will, but instilling a love of reading in a young person is important.
But if any adult is reading this book, then they're just stupid.

[Anonymous No.2410289]

>>2410091
Sometimes I wonder if /lit/ was ever a child.

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO READ FOR ENTERTAINMENT
I READ FOR ENTERTAINMENT
CLASSICS ARE ENTERTAINING TO ME

[Anonymous No.2410682]

Because it's a fun story.

I'm not quite sold on the writing style itself, and I keep catching myself mentally rewording it and adding in different punctuation. The way she uses commas when periods or semicolons would be better, and how whole important bits are left out as small infodumps instead of actual scenes really bothers me. But I practically devoured the books, and I'm looking for an ebook of Mockinjay since the library system here only has two copies and eleven people on the waiting list.

I actually didn't really expect it to be this popular. I knew about the movie, and I first saw the books in a Walmart back in 2010, but I didn't think anyone would be reading Mockingjay yet, because mostly I don't think highly of people and expect them only to read the book when the movie is coming out so they can feel superior to everyone who just watched the movie.

tl;dr: It's fun, dumbass.

[Anonymous No.2410694]

>Hey /adv/

[Anonymous No.2410695]

>>2408420
>virtue of self reliance, charity, and thrift.
That's because the main character is a good hearted but still ultimately selfish and emotionally hollow person afraid to make social ties and intent on survival at all costs, even the ones that she doesn't want to pay. The ultimate twist of the first book only really happens as a result of her moral code clashing with her desperation.

[Anonymous No.2410701]

>>2409021
Is that any good? It's all DEEP and depressing, and I could go for a good book until I can find an ebook of Mockingjay. I got the Kindle Fire so that I'd be encouraged to read more, but all I've read is Catching Fire and played Angry Birds and download a bunch of apps I'll only use once.