What are the hunger games? Catch up on the newest book/movie phenomenon
The successful movie The Hunger Games has further expanded the fame of the popular trilogy of books. But if you’ve been living under a rock, you may have missed the note: what are The Hunger Games? Let’s bring you up to date.
The Hunger Games was originally a young adult novel written by Suzanne Collins. It was first published in September 2008 by Scholastic. It is written in the voice of sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen of Panem District 12. Panem is an isolated nation in a post-apocalyptic world, built on the remains of North America. The Capitol, a highly advanced metropolis, has absolute power over all 12 districts. Each District is responsible for providing a resource or service to Panem and the Capital. District 12, the poorest District, provides Coal from the mines.
The Hunger Games are an annual event in which one boy and one girl, ages 12 to 18, from each of the 12 districts surrounding the Capitol are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle. The boys fight to the death on a digitally enhanced battlefield until only one remains.
At the 74th Annual Games, Katniss’s little sister is selected as a tribute. Katniss volunteers to take her place, thus becoming District 12’s female tribute. She also casts Peeta, the son of a baker. Peeta is quick to announce romantic feelings for Katniss and thus sets up an interesting romantic subplot to support this already fascinating story.
Suzanne Collins’s novel was a complete success after being published. The first print run was 50,000 copies, which was later increased twice to 200,000 copies. By early 2010, The Hunger Games had sold 800,000 copies and was published in 26 foreign languages. The book has now sold millions of copies in print and is also a top seller on Amazon Kindle.
The book was soon given an option and a movie was produced, with the hope of expanding into a trilogy or more. First released on March 21, 2012: The Hunger Games is a science fiction action-drama film directed by Gary Ross. It stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, and Woody Harrelson.
The film received very positive reviews, praising the cast and excellent source material. Empire magazine said, “Lawrence is perfect as Katniss, there’s very little softness about her, plus a wistful determination that good must be done, even if it requires bad things.”
If you think you know a lot about the book and the movie, how about taking The Hunger Games quiz? Check if there is a link below.
