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Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy #35
Of Bread, Blood and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy
This collection of fresh essays on Suzanne Collins’s epic trilogy spans multiple disciplines. The contributors probe the trilogy’s meaning using theories grounded in historicism, feminism, humanism, queer theory, as well as cultural, political, and media studies. The essayists demonstrate diverse perspectives regarding Collins’s novels but their works have three elements in common: an appreciation of the trilogy as literature, a belief in its permanent value, and a need to share both appreciation and belief with fellow readers. The 21 essays that follow the context-setting introduction are grouped into four parts: Part I "History, Politics, Economics, and Culture," Part II "Ethics, Aesthetics, and Identity," Part III "Resistance, Surveillance, and Simulacra," and Part IV "Thematic Parallels and Literary Traditions." A core bibliography of dystopian and postapocalyptic works is included, with emphasis on the young adult category--itself an increasingly crucial part of postmodern culture.
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256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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October 12, 2013
A must read for academics and fans alike!
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program.
In anticipation of the 2012 release of the film, a number of books about The Hunger Games trilogy hit the market - much to my geeky joy. As far as academic volumes go, Smart Pop's most excellent The Girl Who Was on Fire was one of the early releases (later updated to include several chapters on the film), followed by The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A Critique of Pure Treason from The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series; Of Bread, Blood and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy (part of the Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy series); Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy by Tom Henthorne; and finally The Panem Companion, written by fan/academic V. Arrow. I was lucky enough to win a copy each of Of Bread, Blood and the Hunger Games and Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy from Library Thing (and still hope to snag a copy of The Panem Companion on its blog tour!).
Though written by academics - not a few of whom use papers previously presented at academic conferences as jumping off points - Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy can be enjoyed by everyday fans and serious scholars alike. Whereas academic pop culture anthologies run the risk of coming across as dry and even a bit tedious, Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games is neither. With few exceptions, the authors are engaging and insightful. Where jargon appears, it's thankfully kept to a minimum.
In contrast to many similarly-sized academic anthologies - which usually feature twelve or so essays - Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games contains a whopping twenty-one essays! As a result, each piece weighs in at just eight to ten pages. Though I was often left wanting more, this is far better than the alternative - namely, nodding off in the last few pages of the piece, even as you wish for the author to get to the point and wrap it up already! Perhaps the individual essays' short lengths is what helps to keep Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games feeling so fresh, concise, and to the point.
The twenty-one essays in Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games cover a range of topics, from crisis economics to food as a cultural metaphor and the shifting boundaries of human and "other." Reality television rears its oft-ugly head, and art, fashion, and propaganda also make for common topics of discussion.
While an existing knowledge of The Hunger Games trilogy is assumed, when the texts are discussed in relation to other works - The Running Man, the Harry Potter series, Twilight, Battle Royale, Ender's Game, and William Shakespeare's Henriad all make appearances - the authors do a good job of explaining the pertinent details (that is, at least given the space allotted).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of my favorite pieces examine gender in the trilogy. In her contribution, "Of Queer Necessity: Panem's Hunger Games as Gender Games," Jennifer Mitchell makes the argument that Katniss - who is able to transition between masculine and feminine gender roles with relative ease, sometimes exhibiting "male" and "female" characteristics simultaneously - is at her core a genderqueer protagonist. Likewise, Ellyn Lem and Holly Hassel ("'Killer' Katniss and 'Lover Boy' Peeta: Suzanne Collins's Defiance of Gender-Genred Reading") see the trilogy's blended genres (romance vs. war story) as a way to "bridge the gap" between young adult literature that, traditionally, has been stratified along gender lines. Peeta, the gentle, caring, and peaceful baker, exists opposite the "male-identified" Katniss, holding her morally accountable for actions. This mixing and flipping of gender roles provides a much-needed contrast to traditional YA fiction (the history of which Lem and Hassel summarize neatly for the reader, in a highly enjoyable and informative intro).
As an atheist, I expected to hate Tammy L. Gant's "Hungering for Righteousness: Music, Spirituality and Katniss Everdeen" - indeed, the first few pages are filled with furious scribblings - but I quickly came to love it. Largely absent from The Hunger Games 'verse, religion has been replaced, in part, by music. "The ubiquitous presence of folk songs, lullabies, and songbirds suggests that Suzanne Collins uses music to fill the space meant for religion in Katniss's life." Not because religion is necessary - rather, the human heart needs hope and a sense of meaning (spirituality, if you will) to take flight.
Also intriguing is "Apples to Oranges: The Heroines in Twilight and The Hunger Games." Amanda Firestone asserts that it's unfair to compare Katniss Everdeen's feminist merits to those of Bella Swan, since the two are born of completely different genres (post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction and romance), each of which are governed by different rules and conventions. While her argument is compelling, I couldn't help but come away with the conclusion that, if Firestone is correct, romance is inherently (or at least traditionally) misogynist and thus much more poisonous to young women (and men!) than the violence found in The Hunger Games and its ilk. At the very least, the romance genre is in need of a drastic overhaul.
Given the whitewashing of the film(s) - see, e.g., the tumblog Katniss is Olive-Skinned - I'm a bit disappointed that none of the essays looked at the intersection of race and class in The Hunger Games. While it's true that Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games only discusses the trilogy, these are important enough topics of conversation to merit a mention on their own, even absent the film's whitewashing. Indeed, there's even one essay that talks about the story's geographical setting - "Coal Dust and Ballads: Appalachia and District 12" - in which a look at race and class would have been right at home.
Also annoying: while several authors mention Katniss's early insistence that she remain childfree, only to eventually succumb to starting a family with husband Peeta, none note that he seems to have coerced - or, at best, pestered - her into doing so: "It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly. When I first felt her stirring inside of me, I was consumed with a terror that felt as old as life itself. Only the joy of holding her in my arms could tame it. Carrying him was a little easier, but not much."
While this is perhaps meant to be charming or even inspiring, I find a lack of respect for a woman's bodily autonomy anything but. Pregnancy and childbirth can be a trial even in the best of times. Begging your wife who, as a survivor of multiple death games and a war on top of that, is recovering from PTSD and not keen on birthing and parenting kids, to do it anyway? "For me." That's just plain cruel. If you want children and she doesn't, perhaps you aren't that compatible after all.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2012/12/19/...
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program.
In anticipation of the 2012 release of the film, a number of books about The Hunger Games trilogy hit the market - much to my geeky joy. As far as academic volumes go, Smart Pop's most excellent The Girl Who Was on Fire was one of the early releases (later updated to include several chapters on the film), followed by The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A Critique of Pure Treason from The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series; Of Bread, Blood and the Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy (part of the Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy series); Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy by Tom Henthorne; and finally The Panem Companion, written by fan/academic V. Arrow. I was lucky enough to win a copy each of Of Bread, Blood and the Hunger Games and Approaching the Hunger Games Trilogy from Library Thing (and still hope to snag a copy of The Panem Companion on its blog tour!).
Though written by academics - not a few of whom use papers previously presented at academic conferences as jumping off points - Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games: Critical Essays on the Suzanne Collins Trilogy can be enjoyed by everyday fans and serious scholars alike. Whereas academic pop culture anthologies run the risk of coming across as dry and even a bit tedious, Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games is neither. With few exceptions, the authors are engaging and insightful. Where jargon appears, it's thankfully kept to a minimum.
In contrast to many similarly-sized academic anthologies - which usually feature twelve or so essays - Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games contains a whopping twenty-one essays! As a result, each piece weighs in at just eight to ten pages. Though I was often left wanting more, this is far better than the alternative - namely, nodding off in the last few pages of the piece, even as you wish for the author to get to the point and wrap it up already! Perhaps the individual essays' short lengths is what helps to keep Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games feeling so fresh, concise, and to the point.
The twenty-one essays in Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games cover a range of topics, from crisis economics to food as a cultural metaphor and the shifting boundaries of human and "other." Reality television rears its oft-ugly head, and art, fashion, and propaganda also make for common topics of discussion.
While an existing knowledge of The Hunger Games trilogy is assumed, when the texts are discussed in relation to other works - The Running Man, the Harry Potter series, Twilight, Battle Royale, Ender's Game, and William Shakespeare's Henriad all make appearances - the authors do a good job of explaining the pertinent details (that is, at least given the space allotted).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of my favorite pieces examine gender in the trilogy. In her contribution, "Of Queer Necessity: Panem's Hunger Games as Gender Games," Jennifer Mitchell makes the argument that Katniss - who is able to transition between masculine and feminine gender roles with relative ease, sometimes exhibiting "male" and "female" characteristics simultaneously - is at her core a genderqueer protagonist. Likewise, Ellyn Lem and Holly Hassel ("'Killer' Katniss and 'Lover Boy' Peeta: Suzanne Collins's Defiance of Gender-Genred Reading") see the trilogy's blended genres (romance vs. war story) as a way to "bridge the gap" between young adult literature that, traditionally, has been stratified along gender lines. Peeta, the gentle, caring, and peaceful baker, exists opposite the "male-identified" Katniss, holding her morally accountable for actions. This mixing and flipping of gender roles provides a much-needed contrast to traditional YA fiction (the history of which Lem and Hassel summarize neatly for the reader, in a highly enjoyable and informative intro).
As an atheist, I expected to hate Tammy L. Gant's "Hungering for Righteousness: Music, Spirituality and Katniss Everdeen" - indeed, the first few pages are filled with furious scribblings - but I quickly came to love it. Largely absent from The Hunger Games 'verse, religion has been replaced, in part, by music. "The ubiquitous presence of folk songs, lullabies, and songbirds suggests that Suzanne Collins uses music to fill the space meant for religion in Katniss's life." Not because religion is necessary - rather, the human heart needs hope and a sense of meaning (spirituality, if you will) to take flight.
Also intriguing is "Apples to Oranges: The Heroines in Twilight and The Hunger Games." Amanda Firestone asserts that it's unfair to compare Katniss Everdeen's feminist merits to those of Bella Swan, since the two are born of completely different genres (post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction and romance), each of which are governed by different rules and conventions. While her argument is compelling, I couldn't help but come away with the conclusion that, if Firestone is correct, romance is inherently (or at least traditionally) misogynist and thus much more poisonous to young women (and men!) than the violence found in The Hunger Games and its ilk. At the very least, the romance genre is in need of a drastic overhaul.
Given the whitewashing of the film(s) - see, e.g., the tumblog Katniss is Olive-Skinned - I'm a bit disappointed that none of the essays looked at the intersection of race and class in The Hunger Games. While it's true that Of Bread, Blood and The Hunger Games only discusses the trilogy, these are important enough topics of conversation to merit a mention on their own, even absent the film's whitewashing. Indeed, there's even one essay that talks about the story's geographical setting - "Coal Dust and Ballads: Appalachia and District 12" - in which a look at race and class would have been right at home.
Also annoying: while several authors mention Katniss's early insistence that she remain childfree, only to eventually succumb to starting a family with husband Peeta, none note that he seems to have coerced - or, at best, pestered - her into doing so: "It took five, ten, fifteen years for me to agree. But Peeta wanted them so badly. When I first felt her stirring inside of me, I was consumed with a terror that felt as old as life itself. Only the joy of holding her in my arms could tame it. Carrying him was a little easier, but not much."
While this is perhaps meant to be charming or even inspiring, I find a lack of respect for a woman's bodily autonomy anything but. Pregnancy and childbirth can be a trial even in the best of times. Begging your wife who, as a survivor of multiple death games and a war on top of that, is recovering from PTSD and not keen on birthing and parenting kids, to do it anyway? "For me." That's just plain cruel. If you want children and she doesn't, perhaps you aren't that compatible after all.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2012/12/19/...
April 16, 2013
This "did not finish" is NOT the mark of a bad book. I simply read the articles that applied to my thesis and didn't read the others. (I have a habit of reading for way too long and then not writing soon enough, hence me stopping after reading the necessary articles)
Very interesting; I highly recommend it.
Very interesting; I highly recommend it.
September 22, 2020
This has been fascinating.
Though I didn't read them all, I've read quite a few of the essays in this book for class, and I plan on reading more. It's been an interesting and fascinating time, reading analyses of the Hunger Games. How themes, genre, and time change the messages.
If you like Suzanne Collin's series, this is a cool read.
Though I didn't read them all, I've read quite a few of the essays in this book for class, and I plan on reading more. It's been an interesting and fascinating time, reading analyses of the Hunger Games. How themes, genre, and time change the messages.
If you like Suzanne Collin's series, this is a cool read.
December 18, 2013
I am doing my thesis on The Hunger Games and this book sooooo helped me to get an analytic perspective of the books I love, highly recommended for english/literature majors like me :)
February 28, 2014
really enjoyed it. a good collection of essays, a couple of essays were very good and interesting.
May 1, 2020
It's hard to rate a collection - some of the essays I really enjoyed and found insightful, while others were harder to connect with or feel enlightened by. Overall, I appreciate the academic view given to the Hunger Games trilogy and the way that they, and Katniss in particular, are taken seriously as contributions to both young adult writing and to literature in general. That being said, there's a reason I was never an English major despite my love for books...picking apart author's meanings or implications has never been something I've overly enjoyed, so some of these essays felt like a stretch to me. Of course, in some cases this was definitely due to my frame of reference - some of the essays were comparing The Hunger Games to books I've never read or were drawing from other research or ideas I'm not familiar with. Others, such as the comparison to Ender's Game, which is a book I've read many times, were familiar territory and thus more easily understandable. The collection is definitely a good resource and more than anything, makes me want to reread the original trilogy!
May 25, 2019
All in all I found a lot of material I can use for my paper so I can recommend it to anyone who would like to get a closer look at the power structures etc. within The Hunger Games .
May 22, 2021
A shallow rip off of Battle Royale and some small minds trying to find something interesting. Distasteful.
May 16, 2023
These critical essays are almost better than the actual trilogy. Super helpful for using as sources in papers, and for understanding the popularity of YA dystopia.
July 25, 2023
3.5/5
June 16, 2024
I wanted to like this but the thing was it really didn’t offer anything new, useful, or anything groundbreaking.
December 3, 2025
246 pages. This is what I would call a scholarly book and is written in a very readable style. This covers a very wide range of information and some of the material includes:
History, politics, economics, culture, ethics, aesthetics, identity and resistance of Panem
The book had not yet gotten 'scholarly' attention. (Here's one thing I center on. 'Scholarly' has two approaches as far as I have seen. One form is full of information but is also very readable. The other is written in such an incredibly complicated. One book on Alice in Wonderland I read was this way to the point when I just ended up laughing at the written style. Pompous would be a good way to describe it.)
The book has loads of information it and I will note some of the topics below:
The book involves, in relation to the story, the study of history, politics, economics, culture, ethics, aesthetics, identity, resistance, surveillance, thematic parallels and literary traditions.
The author said that The Hunger Games had not (at time time of the review) gotten the 'scholarly study' that it deserves.
What was being done was reshaping history through the use of violence.
The games are a symbol of the absolute power of the Capitol.
Observation and cultural memory.
District 12 is tied in to Appalachia.
There are many similarities between The Hunger Games and our reality shows such as Survivor.
The Capitol seems to have withheld any medical advances it made from the Districts.
An imbalance of power leads to an imbalance of the amount of food available.
Hunger for food can lead to a hunger for justice.
The Capitol is beautiful on the outside but is rotten on the inside.
There does not seem to be any widespread use of any religion in Panem.
Spirituality is not the same as religion.
The importance of the lullaby sung to Rue. (That scene was so sad. Probably hit me the hardest of anything in any of the movies.)
The sending of bread to Katniss by District 11 is something that had never been done before. No district had ever sent someone anything from a different district during the games.
Katniss has a lot of typical male qualities in her.
The importance of fashion.
The use of surveillance by the Capitol.
Punishment as a spectacle.
The effects of today's reality shows.
The relationship of Shakespeare to the series.
The masks of femininity.
Roles and expectations.
How adults and children perceive each other.
What makes a romance story.
This is not, of course, all that is discussed but it gives you an indication of just how thorough this book is and yet at the same time is very readable and understandable.
History, politics, economics, culture, ethics, aesthetics, identity and resistance of Panem
The book had not yet gotten 'scholarly' attention. (Here's one thing I center on. 'Scholarly' has two approaches as far as I have seen. One form is full of information but is also very readable. The other is written in such an incredibly complicated. One book on Alice in Wonderland I read was this way to the point when I just ended up laughing at the written style. Pompous would be a good way to describe it.)
The book has loads of information it and I will note some of the topics below:
The book involves, in relation to the story, the study of history, politics, economics, culture, ethics, aesthetics, identity, resistance, surveillance, thematic parallels and literary traditions.
The author said that The Hunger Games had not (at time time of the review) gotten the 'scholarly study' that it deserves.
What was being done was reshaping history through the use of violence.
The games are a symbol of the absolute power of the Capitol.
Observation and cultural memory.
District 12 is tied in to Appalachia.
There are many similarities between The Hunger Games and our reality shows such as Survivor.
The Capitol seems to have withheld any medical advances it made from the Districts.
An imbalance of power leads to an imbalance of the amount of food available.
Hunger for food can lead to a hunger for justice.
The Capitol is beautiful on the outside but is rotten on the inside.
There does not seem to be any widespread use of any religion in Panem.
Spirituality is not the same as religion.
The importance of the lullaby sung to Rue. (That scene was so sad. Probably hit me the hardest of anything in any of the movies.)
The sending of bread to Katniss by District 11 is something that had never been done before. No district had ever sent someone anything from a different district during the games.
Katniss has a lot of typical male qualities in her.
The importance of fashion.
The use of surveillance by the Capitol.
Punishment as a spectacle.
The effects of today's reality shows.
The relationship of Shakespeare to the series.
The masks of femininity.
Roles and expectations.
How adults and children perceive each other.
What makes a romance story.
This is not, of course, all that is discussed but it gives you an indication of just how thorough this book is and yet at the same time is very readable and understandable.
September 4, 2016
As with any anthology that includes multiple authors, enjoyment isn’t going to be even across the board. For the most part they were challenging and entertaining. Some of them were a little dense for me, but most of the ones I had trouble paying attention to were about political or historical subjects that I just don’t find interesting in any context. Some of my favorite essays were about food as metaphor, District 12 parallels to Appalachia, gender politics and representation, audience voyeurism, and of course the literary comparisons which are right up my alley.
January 22, 2015
An amazing collection of essays all revolving around Suzanne Collin's "The Hunger Games". This collection excels in both focus and the breadth of material it covers. While the collection itself focuses on "The Hunger Games", occasionally calling to a few dystopiac predecessors, it covers a range of subjects within a certain concentrated world. Many of the essays are compelling and well-researched, and very few are dull. It does well in both organization and theme. Particular favorites were Valerie Frankel's "Reflection in a Plastic Mirror", Ellyn Lem and Holly Hassel's "Killer Katniss and Lover Boy Peeta", and Rodney M. DeaVault's "The Masks of Femininity".
February 27, 2015
Insightful essays on how Hunger Games is a response to genre young adult fiction and comparing it to both classic and modern literature. Critiques on Katniss as a feminist role model and challenging the stereotypical role of females in media.
April 22, 2015
Väldigt intressant, placerar den här eftersom jag inte läst hela utan bara de delar som är relevanta för min c-uppsats
October 29, 2019
really enjoyed it. a good collection of essays, a couple of essays were very good and interesting.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews