Lately, I have been reading Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Pretty grim stuff. And, as I don't want to get into Toni Morrison at the moment (we do enough of this in class) let's talk about The Hunger Games.
I read the first one a while ago, and I have to say, I was not that excited to continue. Yes, I think the story is great and OMG who will she choose--Gale or Peta? (Peta, of course, he's had much more screen time, and I'm already halfway through the second and all Gale has done has been to get injured...). And yes, Suzanne Collins has done one of my favorite things and written a strong female character. Don't get me wrong, I much prefer Katniss Everdeen to Bella Swan. Here, then, are my issues:
1. Why, when you have all the letters of the English language and an infinite number of ways to arrange them, would you name a character Katniss? Change but one letter, and it's Katpiss. Please. Yes, this is a petty thing and really has nothing to do with anything at all, but I mean, come on. Names don't have to be pretty, but do we need to rhyme them with cat piss? Especially when they are a strong, main, female character?
2. Which brings me to my second point--Katniss Everdeen is as much an impossible character as Bella Swan. True, the situation she is in does not call for your everyday character, but she takes the butt-kicking philosophy to an extreme. While Bella Swan is a character who everyone can relate to (because let's be honest, Bella is a shell of a character who each reader fills), Katniss Everdeen is a character who almost no one can relate to. She's harsh to a fault and for some reason, does not fall in love with the boy who saved her life and would have given his for hers. Because let's be real--girls who are raped, or who are almost murdered, or who have real problems, latch on to that first comforting person, the person who saves them. Anyone ever seen SVU?
And I'm not just saying this because I'm on team Peeta. Frankly, I'm on team Gale, mostly because I like his name better. But really, Gale doesn't have a chance in hell, at least not for a very long time. Or he shouldn't.
Which brings me to my last point:
3. The Hunger Games has been commercialized to the point where I can't stand it. I absolutely love the idea, and it has been very successful, but I can just see how she planned it out, desperately wanting people to have Team Gale or Team Peeta shirts, just like they had for Twilight. Just wait till the movies come out...
BUT, let me say, that I would MUCH rather have young girls read this book, where she kicks ass and can fend for herself and many others, than have them read Twilight. So maybe my real problem with it is that her characters aren't so relateable. Also, I could very easily do counterarguments for all that I'm saying here, like what on earth does it matter if it's commercial, if it gets kids to read? Especially if it gets young girls to read and feel empowered. I just really want people to read it, I guess, and the problems I have are all reasons I feel kids wouldn't want to pick it up. Well, apart from the Team Peeta/ Gale thing, that's a personal pet peeve. Kids eat that shit up.
So there you have it. Keep in mind I'm only about halfway through the second one (and I still have to finish Song of Solomon by Friday), so I'll keep you posted. Now, on to some more writerly things, because who doesn't want to know writerly things? And by writerly things I mean I'm going to write and not think and you're going to like it. SO there.
I have had two diet root beers today, and half a slab of swiss cheese. The remnants are still sitting sadly on the stand we call our coffee table. But really, it's more of a glorified box covered in faux marble. If we can even call it that. Maybe I will just call it cube.
Here's a question: if you were to die and be cremated, where would you put your ashes? I mean, assuming you weren't going to just be sitting on a shelf. Where would you scatter yourself? In one place, or across the world? Here is my list, because I've thought about this extensively. Calm down, I've not been thinking of it in a morbid way, more in a recognizing my own mortality way. So, in one hundred years, when I become ashes, I will be spread in:
Lincoln Park. A bit in the front yard of 2634, a bit thrown from the top of St. Clements, and a bit in the park next to Dad's office.
Chicago. Just throw a bit of me off the Sears Tower, making sure you remember it is the Sears tower. If you even think Willis Tower, I will haunt you forever. And alright, some by Ignatius as well.
River Forest. In our backyard.
The Cottage. You could probably leave the urn there. But not near the kitty graves. I don't think one hundred years will be enough for noel to forget me...
Montana. A little in Missoula and little by the Cabin.
Ohio. Denison, over on East Quad, so I can haunt the drunk people.
Paris. In the park by the Pompidou. And a bit in Lyon. This will be a fun trip.
Kortula, Croatia. Throw a bit off that cliff we jumped from...
Bath. Hell, throw me in there with the other ghosts of Linley. And by the Abbey, and by the Royal Crescent. And, most importantly, in front of Ben's Cookies.
London. Trafalgar Square. And the park by the eye.
So really, this exercise is synonymous with the places that have meant the most to me. Probably that would have been less morbid. But hey, can I help it if this is what I think about when I'm not paying attention in Environmental? Absolutely not.
Anyways, I have been learning a lot in my creative writing class, but I'm not going to tell you what. Because frankly, I'm not giving up my secrets that easily...
Alright, I have wasted a sufficient amount of time now, and I will head to bed. Email me if you want to read the first chapter of my NOVEL. Because that's happening. I'm thirty pages in... and they've barely left the station. If they have ten times the adventure they've had (which isn't much..) this will be a three hundred page book. Holy shit. What a bizarre thing this is... If only I didn't have three other classes to deal with... bleh.
good talking to you.
write something. read something. learn something. don't be melodramatic. don't write short sentences.
L.R. Ogden
No comments:
Post a Comment