How did I miss this post when it first appeared? Weird.
It's a little late to get into extended analysis now. But the thing is, I thought I was reading the same trilogy you were reading for the first two books... and I thought I was still reading that trilogy in the third book (which I thought was the best of the three). It's in the third book, when we see the Capitol up close, that I felt no American reader can escape the knowledge that the Capitol is us. (On the same note, I didn't share diceytillerman's feeling that the portrayal of Capitol citizens in the movie was deliberately alienating. Quite the opposite, really -- I got "the Capitol is us" message from the very first scene of the movie, the disturbingly familiar-feeling conversation between Seneca Crane and Caesar Flickerman on some kind of news show.)
I don't share the "Katniss the kingmaker" reading of the events of Mockingjay. It's not clear that Katniss's action has made any real difference to the governance of Panem in the long run -- other than preventing a restart of the Games. Although I would say that it is the single moment of clearsighted action in which Katniss accomplishes anything real in the entire book (which is one of the complaints of many readers, though for me it's not a complaint; and it's of a part with the action of the other books, in which most of what looks and feels like decisive action while it's happening turns out to be meaningless. Most -- but not all). I also understand from the third book that being a child soldier doesn't prepare you for a life in politics. It prepares you for a life of recovering from PTSD.
I was reading yesterday about drone attacks in Pakistan. TRIGGER WARNING for violence -- I quote: "Based on interviews with witnesses, victims and experts, the report accuses the CIA [drones] of 'double-striking' a target, moments after the initial hit, thereby killing first responders." Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html
I felt my breath taken away when I read that line; it hit home for me how just painfully, immediately relevant a book like Mockingjay can be.
Sigh. Some day I'll get my act together and write my Hunger Games essay that explains all my feels.
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It's a little late to get into extended analysis now. But the thing is, I thought I was reading the same trilogy you were reading for the first two books... and I thought I was still reading that trilogy in the third book (which I thought was the best of the three). It's in the third book, when we see the Capitol up close, that I felt no American reader can escape the knowledge that the Capitol is us. (On the same note, I didn't share
I don't share the "Katniss the kingmaker" reading of the events of Mockingjay. It's not clear that Katniss's action has made any real difference to the governance of Panem in the long run -- other than preventing a restart of the Games. Although I would say that it is the single moment of clearsighted action in which Katniss accomplishes anything real in the entire book (which is one of the complaints of many readers, though for me it's not a complaint; and it's of a part with the action of the other books, in which most of what looks and feels like decisive action while it's happening turns out to be meaningless. Most -- but not all). I also understand from the third book that being a child soldier doesn't prepare you for a life in politics. It prepares you for a life of recovering from PTSD.
I was reading yesterday about drone attacks in Pakistan. TRIGGER WARNING for violence -- I quote: "Based on interviews with witnesses, victims and experts, the report accuses the CIA [drones] of 'double-striking' a target, moments after the initial hit, thereby killing first responders." Here's the link: http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/25/world/asia/pakistan-us-drone-strikes/index.html
I felt my breath taken away when I read that line; it hit home for me how just painfully, immediately relevant a book like Mockingjay can be.
Sigh. Some day I'll get my act together and write my Hunger Games essay that explains all my feels.