Things that throw me out of a story-

[mary_j_59]

This is not a formal book review. It's just a few short comments on The Hunger Games , which really is a good book. But not an excellent one, and not, perhaps, as good as it could be. My sister tells me the series gets better, and I certainly intend to read the next two. But -

There are a few things that jerk me right out of a story when I'm reading, and, unfortunately, a couple of these are in The Hunger Games. One of these is glaringly inaccurate natural history or history. In this case, it's natural history - or botany, rather. In the first chapter, when Katniss is in the woods with Gale, he tosses her a blackberry. There follows a rapturous description of the feel and taste of the berry. All well and good. But - later on, the kids gather a gallon of strawberries. No. Just no. In what world does this take place? In my world, strawberries ripen in June, and blackberries (the ones with the seeds and prickers, not black-capped raspberries, which are a different thing), in late July to early August. You'd never find them ripe at the same time. As my sister says, maybe these are odd, mutant strawberries that ripen all summer. Or maybe Collins is actually thinking of black-capped raspberries, which might be ripening just as the late strawberries are finishing. Or - something. But I found it jarring.

That, in itself, isn't so bad. As I said, bad or apparently incorrect facts in a story will jerk me out of it, but I can get back in, espcially if, as in this case, most of the other facts seem correct. Unfortunately, bad grammar jerks me out again. I think part of what strikes me as bad grammar may just be a stylistic choice; there are lots of sentence fragments, which may reflect Katniss's stress and the way she is thinking - in short, rapid bursts. But also, at a couple of points, Collins confuses "lie" and "lay". "I lay in the stream", she has Katniss say, and this is supposed to be present tense. A person does not "lay", unless she's doing it in simple past. A person lays an object; a person lies. This sort of thing drives me wild. It looks as if Collins is switching tenses, and it's actually annoying.

Then there's a stylistic choice. Collins writes the whole series in present tense, first person. This is meant to make it more immediate, but I, personally, find it distances me. I'm not being told a story; I'm being subjected to a newspaper account. But that, of course, is just my point of view.

As far as the story itself, the themes and the characterizations go, I think Collins is very successful. This is an angry story with a pretty strong moral sense - like the narrator herself. It's hard to read, because of the extreme violence and cruelty. And I am wondering: who benefits from this violence and degredation? Because someone must, or it would not go on.

Panem. Bread and circuses. And how does this reflect our society? Those are interesting questions. It's a good book. I just wish that, from a grammar/stylistic pov, it were better written.

Comments

[sionna-raven.livejournal.com]

If faulty grammar or spelling throws you out of a story, count yourself lucky not to be German. Things like that are standard. You learn to overlook them at first reading or you can't read anything at all. In books translated from English, especially children's or young adults ones, they tend to oversimplify the language, because.... young German readers are stupid???
We had a spelling and grammar reform a few years ago. As a result hardly anybody knows the new rules and people around my age or older are slowly forgetting the old ones. Everybody is making up his own set of rules and using it as they like in a mishmash of old and new. Yes, even in printed books, newspapers etc.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

ell, actually, things like that are pretty standard in English-language books, too. A lot of things that I would consider bad grammar are perfectly acceptable in published works. And - I blame Bill Gates! Seriously! Microsoft Word fills my manuscripts with red and green underlines and then tells me solemnly, "There are so many grammar and spelling errors in untitled that Word cannot continue to display them." Some of the so-called "errors" are names; some are typos, and some are perfectly correct constructions. Very few are actual mistakes. For example, in a sentence like "Kiril himself had never seen ..," Word will underline "himself". Every time. It also hates this construction: "Chris bit his lip, then shrugged." Can you see anything wrong with that sentence? No? I can't, either. But Word absolutely hates it.

Thus, we let machines tell us what is acceptable grammar and what isn't. Thus we lose individual voice and style. At least, that's one of causes, IMHO. Just a thought
Link | Reply | Pare

[(Anonymous)]

In Washington state you can get both blackberries and strawberries in August in some places. Saw some of each at the farmers' market. But not many places have that kind of overlap. I'm glad you liked the second book better.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Sorry, that was me, Oryx.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

A belated thanks for commenting! As the books are meant to be set in Appalachia, which has a climate much more like New England's than like Washington State's, I still don't believe in the ever-bearing strawberries. My sister tells me it jarred her, too, but then she shrugged mentally and told herself, "mutant futuristic strawberries", and kept reading. The last two really are tremendously smart books - it's a worthwhile story, overall. As I told Professor Granger, Katniss actually does grow up, even though she's severely damaged and does some terrible things. Unlike some other fictional characters we could name!

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

As my sister said, escaped cultivars gone wild must be the explanation. I just bought fresh strawberries from a neighbor, who has started to grow the ever-bearing type more common in Switzerland! So life has corrected me. :)