rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2010-08-29 03:45 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2010-08-29 03:45 pm
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Okay, fine, I'll just read it. After all, it's sitting in a delivery box in my home.
I gave up and read Mockingjay even though I'm not done with Eragon or Pratchett's Reaper Man, because I want to know! Also because I'm tired of tiptoeing around on LJ. Most of you have been great about not posting spoilery stuff outside the LJ cut, but not everyone is so courteous. THE BOOK HASN'T EVEN BEEN OUT FOR A WEEK YET, Y'ALL! STOP GIVING AWAY KEY INFORMATION!
(This rant is probably not directed at you if you're actually reading it. Heh. I just feel the need to say it anyway.)
Wow, that was REALLY, REALLY dark. For me the ending was just the right amount of light and hope to redeem that, but whoa.
Hard to say that the darkness wasn't justified by what came before, though. Everything was foreshadowed well, and the characters stayed true to themselves. Katniss was always the woman who cared first and foremost about her loved ones, and reluctantly accepted the role of rebel leader. On fire, yes, but burning only when she served a purpose. And that purpose had to be personal. It's interesting, I found myself a bit impatient with her a few times in books two and three. I honestly have no idea how I'd react in her situation, but I found myself wanting her to move forward, if only for the sake of not sitting still. But that was delineated as part of her character early on. Given a (personalized) reason, she's unstoppable. Without a reason, she flounders, especially when she feels like she's failed to save the people she loves.
I do sympathize and identify with her, even when feeling impatient. Katniss isn't the big-picture person. Or... um. I need to refine my thoughts/wording about this, I think. I'll come back to this idea another time.
Gale... oh, Gale. He had the spark but didn't know how not to burn the innocents as well as the guilty. (Too much big picture, not enough personalization.) He's definitely an interesting character, and I'd love to know more about what he does now that the main battle over.
Peeta, who had the resolve to give up on himself from the beginning (for Katniss), then really did lose himself. Then with that same resolve he came back again. Interesting that the character I liked without reservation in books one and two is the one who was given the most trying personal arc. I wouldn't say he's my favorite character, but I had no hesitation or moments of impatience with him as I did with Katniss and Gale.
I could have been okay with a less romance-centered ending, but I LIKED IT! I like how it worked to show the gradual rebuilding of individual love and trust (and self) as a mirror for a country that's been broken for a long time and needs to heal as well. I also like it for what it wasn't: swoony, oh-so-easy love. Instead it was love because we're happier together, even when it's difficult.
I'm not sure why but it wasn't until the buildup for the third book (and reading someone's article about books one and two) that I realized the connection to ancient Rome. Panem et circenses indeed. Nicely done, Collins.
Oh, and YES, I CRIED at the end when Peeta brought the primrose plants. Had to put the book down for a few minutes.
eta: and when the cat came back, too... *sniffle*
So count me as a definite fan of the final book. Yup!
(This rant is probably not directed at you if you're actually reading it. Heh. I just feel the need to say it anyway.)
Wow, that was REALLY, REALLY dark. For me the ending was just the right amount of light and hope to redeem that, but whoa.
Hard to say that the darkness wasn't justified by what came before, though. Everything was foreshadowed well, and the characters stayed true to themselves. Katniss was always the woman who cared first and foremost about her loved ones, and reluctantly accepted the role of rebel leader. On fire, yes, but burning only when she served a purpose. And that purpose had to be personal. It's interesting, I found myself a bit impatient with her a few times in books two and three. I honestly have no idea how I'd react in her situation, but I found myself wanting her to move forward, if only for the sake of not sitting still. But that was delineated as part of her character early on. Given a (personalized) reason, she's unstoppable. Without a reason, she flounders, especially when she feels like she's failed to save the people she loves.
I do sympathize and identify with her, even when feeling impatient. Katniss isn't the big-picture person. Or... um. I need to refine my thoughts/wording about this, I think. I'll come back to this idea another time.
Gale... oh, Gale. He had the spark but didn't know how not to burn the innocents as well as the guilty. (Too much big picture, not enough personalization.) He's definitely an interesting character, and I'd love to know more about what he does now that the main battle over.
Peeta, who had the resolve to give up on himself from the beginning (for Katniss), then really did lose himself. Then with that same resolve he came back again. Interesting that the character I liked without reservation in books one and two is the one who was given the most trying personal arc. I wouldn't say he's my favorite character, but I had no hesitation or moments of impatience with him as I did with Katniss and Gale.
I could have been okay with a less romance-centered ending, but I LIKED IT! I like how it worked to show the gradual rebuilding of individual love and trust (and self) as a mirror for a country that's been broken for a long time and needs to heal as well. I also like it for what it wasn't: swoony, oh-so-easy love. Instead it was love because we're happier together, even when it's difficult.
I'm not sure why but it wasn't until the buildup for the third book (and reading someone's article about books one and two) that I realized the connection to ancient Rome. Panem et circenses indeed. Nicely done, Collins.
Oh, and YES, I CRIED at the end when Peeta brought the primrose plants. Had to put the book down for a few minutes.
eta: and when the cat came back, too... *sniffle*
So count me as a definite fan of the final book. Yup!