A
Anesti33
Guest
So I just completed a read of this Hunger Games novel by Suzanne Collins, who is a Catholic woman. I was wondering what other people think of her writing?
She is heavily influenced by Enlightenment philosophers and the culture of the Ancient Roman Empire. Locke and Hobbes are quoted in the preface to this book, and most of the action takes place in the Capitol, with marked Roman influence. Every Capitol character has a Roman name, for example.
I found the original trilogy fascinating for themes of self-sacrifice and chaste romance. The violence of children killing one another, I took as a necessary evil, and the consequences were amply laid out here. Introduced here was Coriolanus Snow, the protagonist of the new novel, President and autocrat of the Capitol of Panem.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes Snow (Coryo, as his friends call him) a much more nuanced and conflicted character, but he is clearly cold, calculating, and ambitious. The prequel explains so much, such as why he has such a personal connection with Katniss in District 12, and what Panem was like just after the Dark Days destroyed so much.
If there is any heresy or philosophy against the Catholic Faith in Collins’ work, I have yet to detect it. The new novel is a difficult pill to swallow, written as it is from the point of view of the incipient oppressive dictatorial regime. Many of the characters harbor a distaste for people from the Districts. There is one sympathizer, however…
So I hope two things: that this is the beginning of a new trilogy or novel series, and that it is translated into a film sooner rather than later. I can’t wait to see who will play the entrancing Lucy Gray on the big screen!
She is heavily influenced by Enlightenment philosophers and the culture of the Ancient Roman Empire. Locke and Hobbes are quoted in the preface to this book, and most of the action takes place in the Capitol, with marked Roman influence. Every Capitol character has a Roman name, for example.
I found the original trilogy fascinating for themes of self-sacrifice and chaste romance. The violence of children killing one another, I took as a necessary evil, and the consequences were amply laid out here. Introduced here was Coriolanus Snow, the protagonist of the new novel, President and autocrat of the Capitol of Panem.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes Snow (Coryo, as his friends call him) a much more nuanced and conflicted character, but he is clearly cold, calculating, and ambitious. The prequel explains so much, such as why he has such a personal connection with Katniss in District 12, and what Panem was like just after the Dark Days destroyed so much.
If there is any heresy or philosophy against the Catholic Faith in Collins’ work, I have yet to detect it. The new novel is a difficult pill to swallow, written as it is from the point of view of the incipient oppressive dictatorial regime. Many of the characters harbor a distaste for people from the Districts. There is one sympathizer, however…
So I hope two things: that this is the beginning of a new trilogy or novel series, and that it is translated into a film sooner rather than later. I can’t wait to see who will play the entrancing Lucy Gray on the big screen!