This is one of those books I have had almost since it was released and yet just kept skipping over. Because of course I want more of The Hunger Games but also, fuck Snow. However, with the new novel focused on Haymitch, that I definitely want to read, I ended up finally deciding to read it – even if I considered skipping it all together.
And overall, I think it was worth the read – I think this is one where you need to go in with a distance from the narrator – think Lolita and Humbert Humbert – though it can be easy to see moments where you might even slightly emphasize with Snow. But the thing is, every time he has a choice, he goes the route of self interest and benefit. Yes, it’s easy to feel bad for the teenager who is hiding his family’s hard times and barely making it, but they also chose to hang on to former glory over changing their station. All around Snow are other characters in privileged positions who are making different choices, even if their protests might be ineffective.
When it comes down it, to me, this novel was less about Snow even though he is the main character and more a vehicle for Collins to further explore the Hunger Games and condemn people for them. There was a really interesting link in last night’s Pajiba Love where someone talked about the message Collins has been trying to communicate vs how it’s been marketed or interpreted.
In this novel, it’s the 10th year of the games, the Capitol is still recovering and still shows the ravages of war. The games are a threadbone version of what they will become, focused on the punishment of it. Hell, in some ways, they don’t even seem to care that much about whether the tributes make it to the games with them being mistreated, starved and not treated for medical conditions, some dying before the start.
It’s the first year they are trying mentors and they are using teens from the academy, who are basically the same age as the tributes, to do this. Snow is one of these, and the fact he does not even appear to be the most callous about this life and death situation demonstrates all the more how cold he is. For many of his peers, this is yet another place to compete and gain recognition. Some are disturbed by the games, like Sejanus and Lysistrata. There is a strong implication that the games might have been on their way out after this year because it was something so distasteful but this year is also where the turn happens: the mentors are asked to brainstorm ideas and Snow contributes quite a few of the ones that lay the ground for the games we see in 74th iteration – the gamification, the investment into the tributes and the way it becomes a media event.
Before this year, the games seem to have been rather quick – tributes dropped into an arena and quickly fought to the death. For these games, in addition to the student suggestions, some external circumstances created structural changes to the arena, lengthening the games and slowly showing the game creators the possibilities, including the addition of scientifically modified creatures.
While some the purely clinical perspective, I thought this novel was very interesting and did what Collins set out to do, I think the ending dragged out a bit and could likely have been trimmed about 50 pages.
Additionally, I would have loved an epilogue or chapter from Lucy’s perspective. Snow very much treats her as a manic pixie girl, and I am very curious how much of her we truly saw, how much was his view and interpretations. Was any of her fondness for Snow true, and is it because she didn’t see through his mask? Or was she aware from the beginning of the type of person she was interacting with and putting on a performance to save her life?
The other thing I appreciate is that Collins isn’t trying to create a super bingeable series. She wants you to sit and think. So am I going to read the next one? Yes, and even very soon. Do I need a palette cleanser first before I go into it? Yes.