The Hunger Games Movie!

The first pictures of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen have arrived online!

I'm always wary when a book I love is made into a movie, but I am excited to see what they do with it. Lawrence's photos and interview are available here.

My post on The Hunger Games Trilogy is here.

Saturday Poem

After the Storm
Derek Walcott


There are so many islands! 
As many islands as the stars at night 
on that branched tree from which meteors are shaken 
like falling fruit around the schooner Flight. 
But things must fall, and so it always was, 
on one hand Venus, on the other Mars; 
fall, and are one, just as this earth is one 
island in archipelagoes of stars. 
My first friend was the sea. Now, is my last. 
I stop talking now. I work, then I read, 
cotching under a lantern hooked to the mast. 
I try to forget what happiness was, 
and when that don't work, I study the stars. 
Sometimes is just me, and the soft-scissored foam 
as the deck turn white and the moon open 
a cloud like a door, and the light over me 
is a road in white moonlight taking me home.
Shabine sang to you from the depths of the sea.

Not to Disturb

By Muriel Spark

A dark, witty novella by the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The novel tracks the scheming servants of the aristocratic Klopstocks in their Swiss villa one dark and stormy night. Convinced the Klopstocks and their male secretary are going to come to blows over a love affair, the servants begin cash in on their possible fame. Definitely not a novel for everyone, but Spark has a knack for simple, sharp writing.

Amazon's Top Armageddon Post Apocalypse Books

In keeping with my recent review of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy, Amazon recently posted a list of the best post apocalypse books.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

By Suzanne Collins

I stumbled upon this young adult trilogy when I kept hearing about the upcoming movie. Set in a post apocalyptic world called Panem (in what used to be the United States) 12 districts are held under the brutal rule of the Capitol which demands two teenage sacrifices each year for the televised Hunger Games. Acting as gladiators, the teenagers must fight each other to the death, while surviving the torturous traps set by the Gamekeepers.

The Hunger Games are a constant reminder to all of the districts of their dependence upon the Capitol and it's total supremacy.

Katniss Everdeen (living in what was once Appalachia) offers herself as a sacrifice when her sister is initially chosen. Along with her likable schoolmate Peeta Mellark, she sets out for the Captiol intent on surviving the Games and returning home to her mother and sister.

The first book in the series, The Hunger Games, deals with Katniss' fight for survival in the "arena" of the games and her necessary but uneasy alliance with Peeta. I would discuss the following books, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, but they contain major spoilers. However, Collins did the impossible by creating two follow-up books that enhance and sometimes surpass the initial book.

Collins has created an engrossing set of novels that deal with everything from pop culture, war, love, survival, science, and what it means to be human when forced into inhumane situations. I literally couldn't put these books down and finished the trilogy in a single week.

For readers who are worried the books will be too violent, I will admit there is a lot of violence, but I didn't find it to be excessive or overly uncomfortable. 

I also found the science fiction aspect highly enjoyable. I rarely read sci-fi, but when I do it is usually intended for young adults (i.e. Ender's Game).

Suzanne Collins' Amazon Page can be found here.

Water for Elephants

By Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants is my latest reading assignment for book club. Instead of the usual meet-up to discuss the book over wine and food we'll be seeing the movie as well. The book was an easy read but came across a little flat. I found the details about circus life during the Depression to be the most interesting, but the rest of the story failed to hook me. While the romance is played up as the main story arc it came across almost like a throwaway. The beautiful (and helpless) female lead was one dimensional and her tortured relationship with her abusive/psychotic husband was barely fleshed out. And of course the ending was tied up with a nice bow, giving the reader the standard happy ending.

Oddly enough I am excited to see the movie version.

Portraits of Writers

In their own words....

Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Flannery O'Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find

Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace