Aussie Readers discussion

Just finished reading The Hunger Games -- what a page turner! I might have to go back and re-read some parts before I can write a proper review, but would love to know what your thoughts are if you've read the book, particularly about the basic premis of the plot: teens forced (more or less) to take part in a bloody survival battle as a way to enforce iron rule and reign in rebellion.... I know it's not a novel idea (I believe many ancient stories tell of sacrifical act required by dominions to ruling power) but it's intriguing to have this seemingly barbaric practice performed by a post-apocalyptical society "not too far in the distant future". Your thoughts? Maybe I am taking this book too seriously? I just think it has a great potential to be more than "just" a young adults/teen action book!

Well done Dhitri, you'll have lots of people here to chat with you...I haven't read it, but I know lots who have! Also the talk of it being made into a movie, and the nephew of one of our members is one of the actors in the movie!!!!

Oh, a Hunger Games thread. You know I'll be all over this one!

Youve just finished the first one?
Dude, shut down your computer and loose yourself in 'Catching Fire'. It just as good-if not better-than the first.
No spoilers, since you haven't read it, so that gives me literally nothing to say. Even the ENTIRE PLOT is a spoiler.
Before I read it, I had no idea what was going to happen, except for the small blurb "Katniss Everdeen won the Hunger Games. Now the Capitol wants revenge".
Please go read it right now. Enjoy.

Mockingjay, the final book, ruined the trilogy for me. Suzanne Collins is such a copout. I was so pissed off with that book, that I THREW IT across the room. THREE TIMES.
The finale dampens my entire opinion on the books.

But yeah, finish all three so we can talk IN DEPTH :)

Uh oh, don't want to be throwing my Sony reader across the room! :D

I am halfway through Catching Fire - so far loving it!!!

Phewwww I finished all three and just wrote my review for the first book. Please check it out, I tried hard to keep spoilers out of the review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now onto writing my review for the two other books. Heads up, I feel you Jess, found the 3rd book disappointing! The ending is so... aaaargh! Will elaborate in a separate post after writing my reviews...

I want to read this series but I'm afraid

Knowledge Lost wrote: "I want to read this series but I'm afraid"

Not sure what you mean by being afraid. But I can tell you that the story haunts you long after you put down the book, but not in a horrific way, but more in a reflective kind of way.... trust me, it's worth the risk!

My review of Catching Fire http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I mean I don't want to be tricked into reading twilight

Knowledge Lost wrote: "I mean I don't want to be tricked into reading twilight"

I have not read Twilight so can't comment. But I think the themes here are more far-reaching, such as poverty, oppression, dissent, loyalty, etc. So it's not just some teen romance disguised in sci fi.

My review of Mockingjay: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Good review!
Here is my Mockingjay review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Hello all,

Haven't posted before but have been lurking around for a while... :) I've just finished Hunger Games and Catching Fire but haven't got my hands on Mockingjay yet (it should be arriving at my door any day now!). Can't wait to finish the trilogy but have heard heaps that it's disapppointing etc.

What are the general rules re. spoilers? (sorry, if that's discussed elsewhere - happy for you to point me there! :)

Huge welcome, Muphyn! Great to see you joining our chats! If you head on over to http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/3..., you can tell us who you are...lol

With spoilers, pretty much don't give endings away for those who haven't read it..and anything that would spoil it for the reader..:)

Thanks, Brenda!! Promptly visited that thread. :)

Do you somehow mark spoilers (e.g. through html tagging or at the start of the comment or ...?)?

Yes you can do that, so that if the reader wants to view the spoiler they just click on it, but it's closed to normal viewing! Does that make sense?
Laura might be able to help you more with that, as I'm not sure how you actually do it...she'll be along to help out shortly...lol
I saw your intro...there are quite a few from Melbourne, and Vic in general!!

To mark spoilers in your post, you can click on the (some html is ok) box, located on the top right hand side of this comment box. There you will find a long list of 'html's for different things (bold text, italics, underlined etc).
Copy and past the one that says 'spoiler' (which is near the bottom)

Or copy and paste this (But delete the @) Then write your text on the dotted line
<@spoiler>...

I know Im not Laura, but hopefully I helped :)

Thank you so much Jessica!!!Much appreciated. I didn't know how, and didn't know who else did, so you have also helped me!! :)

(view spoiler)[testing, testing... (hide spoiler)]

Oh look I did it....thanks again Jess! :)

:) Hey, thanks for the explanations... I actually know how to do it, I was more asking as to what's expected, appropriate in this group... :) thanks heaps though!

I read the first one a while ago. I really enjoyed it but do not feel compelled to read the next one/s. One thing that I wasn't sure about was why the world had become like it had. Does it explain this?

Tango wrote: "I read the first one a while ago. I really enjoyed it but do not feel compelled to read the next one/s. One thing that I wasn't sure about was why the world had become like it had. Does it explain ..."


Exactly my question. The book didn't give much, just that it is post-apocalyptic North America (nuclear war perhaps?) but the natural resources seem to be all intact (I would have thought a nuclear war would render most North America infertile and so very little agriculture) and there's still ancient style coal mining (maybe in the Rockies) and large scale manufacturing (maybe in Mexico area?). Anyway point is I also wanted to see a little bit more elaboration as to how this world came to be (and wrote that in my review, too)...

Ok let's kick off the discussion with the characters, because I think they are the ones that carry the weight of the story and made this book so addictive:

So what do you think of Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch and Gail? What do you think of how the characters developed in the course of the trilogy? Is there anything you'd change or re-write? And... who'd make the best spin off story?

Random question - Is there anyone who has read The Hunger Games and also seen Battle Royal? If so, are there any comparisons?

Ahhhhh..Finally my book arrived :D! It's on mt TBR but will get more priority.

special treatment. I'm interested in how you enjoy it, I sort of trust your opinion

who's opinion o.o no-one called special treatment in this thread...Or am i very lost..lol

I think 'Knowledge Lost' is saying that you are giving 'The Hunger Games' special treatment, since its getting more priority.
And I also think its your opinion being referred to.
I think.
:)

Ive said it before, but I'll say it again:
I LOVEEEEE the first two books. I hope you do as well, Laura :)

Correct Jessica

I loved this series, especially the first book. I am also one of those people who didn't feel as frustrated with the last book.

I was just wondering if you guys have heard about the casting for the movie and have any thoughts?

Here is some of the main characters listed on imdb.com:
Katniss - Jennifer Lawrence
Gale - Liam Hemsworth
Effie - Elizabeth Banks
Peeta - Josh Hutcherson
Seneca Crane - Wes Bently

It will be interesting to see how Elizabeth Banks plays Effie. I think it was a good choice picking a lesser known actress for Katniss.

Who plays Haymitch?

It seems that the latest news doing the rounds is that Woody Harrelson has been cast as Haymitch and Stanley Tucci to play Caesar Flickerman.

I wouldnt say Jennifer Lawrence is 'lesser known'...after all, she was nominated for 'best leading actress' at this years academy awards, falling short to only Natalie Portman.

Thanks Jessica, I forgot that was her. I guess I meant that they didn't just go for a really popular actress amongst young people. They thought about the role. I hope that clarifies what I was trying to say. Although being my age I may be out of touch with who is actually popular with the young ones...lol.

★ Jessica ★ wrote: "I think 'Knowledge Lost' is saying that you are giving 'The Hunger Games' special treatment, since its getting more priority.
And I also think its your opinion being referred to.
I think.
:)

..."

Ooohh...haha..makes sense now..lol xD

This book is going to be read after my last book for my Autumn challenge :D Looking forward to it actually.

I know what you mean Amanda...to tell the truth, I hadnt heard of her before she was cast as Katniss...but I saw her at the Oscars (Which was after she was cast, though I instantly recognized her from the role).
Shes not an unknown, but shes not overly famous either.

Laura, I hope you enjoy it! Its fantastic :)

The movie is released on March 23 next year. Here is the official cast thus far:

Katniss Everdeen........Jennifer Lawrence
Peeta Mallark............. Josh Hutcherson
Gale Hawthorne...... Liam Hemsworth
Effie Trinket.............Elizabeth Banks
Haymitch Abernathy..........Woody Harrelson

Rue.......................... Amandla Stenberg
Thresh..................... Dayo Okeniyi
Cato.......................Alexander Ludwig
Clove...................Isabelle Fuhrman
Foxface..............Jaqueline Emerson
Marvel....................... Jack Quaid
Glimmer............... Levin Rambin

Primrose Everdeen...... Willow Shields
Mrs. Everdeen......... Paula Malcomson
Seneca Crane.............Wes Bentley

The biggest name in this movie so far is Stanley Tucci as CEASAR FLICKERMAN!

I know what you mean Amanda. I would have died if they had casted Kirsten Stewart as Katniss... Jennifer Lawrence seems the perfect fit for the role. I wonder if Katniss was a blonde? I always thought of her as a brunette somehow...

She was described as a brunette with grey eyes and tanned skin.
District Twelve is in the Appalachia region.
Thats probably you imagined Katniss the way you did.

Started Battle Royale last night and cant wait to get back to it. Such an interesting book. It's Hunger Games but for adults. Highly recommended on what I've read so far. Anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games should seriously consider it. Warning: it is a bit violent, but not in a revoltingly detailed way.

★ Jessica ★ wrote: "She was described as a brunette with grey eyes and tanned skin.
District Twelve is in the Appalachia region.
Thats probably you imagined Katniss the way you did."

@ Jessica and Dhitri - I've finished the third book now. Whew! I loved them, but agree with you both about the third one. I could sort of see what Suzanne Collins was trying to do but I think she tripped herself up, and it all just got confused and dithering, with a too-neatly wrapped up ending.

It'll be interesting to see what they do with the movie(s)! I was afraid Kirsten Stewart would be cast as Katniss too, but Jennifer Lawrence is terrific. Have you seen "Winter's Bone"? She'll be a perfect Katniss. They'll just dye her hair. And Liam has light brown hair so they'll have to dye his too!

Liam will also need to grow it MUCH longer as well.
Haven't seen Winter's Bone yet, but will hire it on DVD next weekend :)

Yes he will - it gets really curly when it grows too, so the long straight dark hair of Gale might be a challenge to achieve!

I read Winter's Bone AFTER I saw the film, which is unusual. The film sticks closely to the book. I'll be interested to hear what you think of the film - Lex and I loved it.

In regards to the movie, theses are bviously not real, but exciting none the less:

NICE^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! finished it all last year! cnt w8 till the movie CUMZ OUT!!!!

I absolutely adored The Hunger Games. I found it to be such an incredible & haunting story. I think I finished it in a day. I havent read the others yet. Basically because I'm waiting for them to becime available in Australia on the Kindle. I also have three uni essays to finish in three weeks, so I dont want the distraction! I cant wait though! I will reward myself after my essays are done!!

just finished the first one a couple of days ago
being a gamer gotta say...tekken!
think i have said it before

also could someone please trick KL into reading twilight i would love to read that review hahaha

i actually thought i would really dislike this book...but i didn't it was awesome.

dunno about the next ones tho, i don't understand how the story continues but ill give it a shot

also just found out woody harrelson is going to be in the movie :D:D i love him!

NEVER! And my review may look like this http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Or this http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... :)

Woody Harrelson as Haymitch...hmmm. Not sure what to think.
There is a full cast list in message: 37