MCVSD discussion

Ok, so who's reading The Hunger Games for the first time? Who's rereading? We should probably establish rules about spoilers- should we say that you shouldn't post here until you are finished with the first book? This way we can post spoilers about book 1 without ruining it for anyone. But let's NOT post spoilers for CF or Mockingjay since we'll discuss those in future months. Any thoughts about ground rules relating to this or anything else before we begin?

Rereading! <3

rereading!!! So excited for this, if I can find a book to borrow, lol. I can probably read it in a day though.

Rereading!!! It's been a long time since I've read book 1 so I am looking forward to it. :)

I'm finally getting around to reading Mockingjay. I can't wait for all the discussions!

Maybe we should create different discussion threads but still within the MCVSD group? I didn't want to start a whole new group that people would have to join. We could always start a thread for new readers and a thread for rereaders.
I'm so excited! I'll be rereading, too! Can't wait!

I think it should be fine if we have multiple threads within the MCVSD group. That's what it's for, right? :)

Mrs. Gross, how many copies of Hunger Games do you have? Because I have to borrow one.

Just finished re-reading the first book! :)

I think it would be great to have different discussions for people who have finished it and are rereading, and people who are reading it for the first time. :)

Kiera, all of my copies are gone! They are very popular. ;) Ask around- I'm sure a lot of people have a copy sitting at the bottom of their lockers.

i am just reading it for the first time so don't spoil it for me :)

Kayla's book is a lend me on the nook, I am going to do that.

I will reread it once I'm done with Othello :)

Ms. Mulhern Gross wrote: "Kiera, all of my copies are gone! They are very popular. ;) Ask around- I'm sure a lot of people have a copy sitting at the bottom of their lockers."

Bluh... oh well, I'll get my hands on a copy somewhere!!

I'm rereading, which is a good thing because I had a months-long gap between reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Would these count for the 40 books challenge?

Of course, Julian!

I am going to start re-reading tonight. I am so looking forward to it!

Not planning on rereading the first book, but I'll give the other two a try eventually.
So, when does the discussion start?

Ok, I will start the discussion!

I recently read an awesome book called Tankborn, another dystopian that focuses on genetic engineering and class issues. There were a lot of similarities to HG.

And because I teach humanities, this popped into my mind on my reread. In 1848, Karl Marx wrote in The Communist Manifesto, “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."

Panem is obviously a society that deals with class issues in a drastic way. But our modern society also has issues with class and social structure. Do you think there is anyway to eliminate class struggles or are we doomed to end up like Panem?

There really is no way to stop class distinction, but if we don't pass any laws that grant higher classes more rights, I don't think it will escalate into too much of a problem. As long as in the future, money still has limitations.

(btw, I think I might still have your copy of Mockingjay, Mrs. Gross... x3)

Sorry for not answering your question Mrs. Gross, but I just had a sudden thought. Our society is, on a much softer degree , similar to Panem. The rich and powerful ( Capitol ) gorge themselves with whatever money can buy, while the poor and middle class ( the Districts) have little. We also contribute a higher amount of the earnings than rich people, like the Districts giving all their produce to the lethargic Capitol. In a way, we are Panem, and we need a Mocking jay to liberate us from our unfair system, hopefully in a more nonviolent way. The question is, will anyone rise to the challenge?

Athul, great pickup! Dystopian novels are often frighteningly close to reality...I think this is one of the reasons it's such a popular genre. What I really like about HG is the way it reminds me of how our society loves sensationalism so much. The people in the Capitol didn't care about the lives that were lost in the games (and I think Collins was right to make it about children- it intensifies the horror I feel about the complete disregard for life).

To tie this in to Mrs. Gross's original question, I will add that I think this sensationalism, especially in our society, revolves around the classes. We idolize people like Snookie and Kim Kardashian (sp?) and put them on a pedestal, thus giving them a higher status. It is a slippery slope indeed.

I know this is sort of random, but does anyone think Hunger Games will become more popular than Harry Potter. I mean, they tried to make franchises out of Eragon and Percy Jackson, but they flopped. Does anyone think that Katniss will survive ? I am curious.

I don't think it'll outdo HP, but I do think it'll be around for quite some time. It has such a broad appeal...lots of my adult friends have read it, and *almost* everyone (sorry, Erika) :) loves it. I am pretty confident in the film because Lionsgate always makes great movies, and they're not afraid to be edgy. I don't think they'll water it down. At least I hope so!

I have to say, abuot it getting better than Harry Potter,
a lot of people are put off because it has such a morbid theme.

My mother was horrified when she found out I read it, and loved it.

So I think that will be a turn off for a lot of parents/people.

Plus it won't appeal to 7 year olds like harry potter could.

Yeah, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. However, I don't think it has a morbid theme. The point (for me, anyway) is that people need to be strong and fight when they see injustice in the world. So of course the Games and everything going on in the Capitol needed to be dark and morbid and intense...the exaggeration of the horrifying nature of it makes it so in our face that we can't ignore it.

I do agree that the books lack the childlike wonder that gives HP such a broad and far-reaching fan base.

Initially, reading the story about how children were forced to go fight to the death, I was horrified as I think any normal person would be. But as I read on, I kind of...got used it almost. I feel that Collins did not really put much focus on the fact of how horrifying this is, not as much as she could have, especially in the first book. I have yet to read Mockingjay though, so I don;t know what happened after Catching Fire ends.

Going back to your question Mrs. Gross, I think there will always be social classes. I mean,there has always been hierarchy in history and even with all our advancements, we still have social classes. I feel its just human nature. Its also not necessarily a bad thing unless the top class is ruthless and cruel(like in HG).

Michelle wrote: "Yeah, it's definitely not for the faint of heart. However, I don't think it has a morbid theme. The point (for me, anyway) is that people need to be strong and fight when they see injustice in the ..."

Yeah , I agree with that. everyone who reads Harry Potter wants to become a wizard or witch because of all they can do, but no one would want to become a tribute.

I hope it's ok to add a new topic (this is inspired by Athul's other post in this group about the widespread appeal of HP). Why do you think so many people love The Hunger Games? What is it about this series that people love so much?

I know that I love THG because I love dystopian literature. And dystopian literature is really popular right now. In fact, it is so popular that many adults are "worried" that teens and kids are going to be scarred for life because they are reading books like THG. The NYTimes did a great piece on this a few months ago: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/...

And this article from the WSJ stirred up quite the controversy on Twitter (and inspired the hashtag #yasaves). http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
It was such an interesting story to follow (and it's what got me to finally ask one of my froshies to teach me how to use twitter! haha).

I think people love the Hunger Games because its such a real possibility, and its really interesting to think about.
Panem is supposed to represent the future of North America and if you think about it you could really see something like that eveolving from our country. Its very strange and interesting to think that allow we are horrified by what happens in Panem now, it is definitely possible that one day we may not think its hat bad, or actually enoy things like the Hunger Games as the Capitol does.

Yes, Kayla! I don't follow hockey at all, but I read this NYTimes article last week and was horrified. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/spo...) It's about a player who recently died and his death was most likely caused by the absurd number of concussions he suffered. His position? Fighter. That's it. We think that humanity has evolved past gladiator games but thousands of people attend hockey games and cheer on the fighters. It's horrifying! We haven't changed that much- just the technology has.

As I said in our meeting on tuesday discussing the book.

I have absolutely no faith in humanity and i know its only a matter of generations before my descendents are being sent to the hunger games. Sorry optimists but we are on a steep slope.

We can see the paralells books have to present day, and its only a matter of time before the worst happens. :P

Kiera, have you read anything by Kurt Vonnegut? Try Cat's Cradle. If anyone knows about humanity, it's Vonnegut.

Cool, I'll check it out.