I finished the Hunger Games trilogy yesterday and felt out of sorts for the rest of the evening. I'd read Mockingjay until 3am the night before, and then finished it throughout the day yesterday. It's like when I read Order of the Phoenix in less than 24 hours, and spent the entirety of the next day thinking about Hogwarts. I finished Mockingjay at 8pm and didn't know what to do with myself. How do you deal with the fallout of something like that? I should have just gone for a walk or something, but I wanted to get out of my head. So I went to the grocery store. I worked out. I tried to watch a movie while I ate dinner, but everything felt so trite. I ended up watching an episode of Buffy; not because it was more substantial, but because I'd seen it before and the mood was right. I was worried I'd still be in Mockingjay land today. Thankfully, I woke up without thinking about it. So now I can try to sort my thoughts...
After finishing the series, I feel like I did upon completing The Dark Tower series (by Stephen King). I feel a little down, a little despairing, and a little homesick. That last part, the homesickness, comes from missing the characters who have become so whole and real and familiar. I still think about The Dark Tower characters all the time. They had 7 books to grow on me, though, while The Hunger Games people only had 3. Still, they were vivid and capable of making a huge impact. I was told that Mockingjay was somewhat disappointing, simply because it was anticlimactic. I'm not sure I'd say that. I think it was disappointing because it wasn't remotely hopeful. I'm not sure, though, that I'd say it was hopeless. Rather, it's very realistic. It paints a picture of people who go through a war and come out changed. As a reader--and their biggest fan--you want them all to come out changed for the better. Suzanne Collins avoids that, though, sticking to the truth that not all change--even positive change--is completely beneficial. I thought Mockingjay did an excellent job of showing the psychological wounds as well as the physical wounds that would be inflicted during a civil war. I imagine that the hard part for readers is watching as the fierce, strong characters from book 1 begin to fall apart. I don't think it's spoiling the series to say that anyone surviving The Hunger Games will have nightmares, trust issues, and an entirely different life than they did before The Games. Fans wouldn't enjoy seeing Harry Potter fall apart halfway through the series. However, Harry had a bigger support system than Katniss. And Harry had more shared experiences than Katniss did. Very few people could understand what Katniss had been through or was feeling. I imagine older readers forgiving Suzanne Collins for Katniss' storyline better than younger readers. But I don't think that's the case.
I told a friend that I'd just finished The Hunger Games trilogy and was not in the mood to go out last night. She said, "Oh no! I was just about to start those books! Are they going to suck me in? I thought they'd be a fun, easy read." I told her that they would probably suck her in, although she might avoid that better than I did. But, no, they're not a fun, easy read. Easy, yes, in the sense that The Giver is an easy read: the words aren't difficult, the writing flows well, and getting through the pages isn't a lot of work. But it takes more brain power than anticipated. The Hunger Games is "fun" the way The Giver is, as well. The way any dystopia read is fun. You've thought, you've enjoyed the characters, you've grown, you've learned, and you've imagined. But now there's a little weight on your chest that wasn't there before, and you aren't quite sure how to shake it. It's a shame that any popular series for young readers gets touted as "The Next Harry Potter!" Twilight was nothing like Harry Potter, and neither is The Hunger Games. Harry gives hope for a better world. I'm still not exactly sure what The Hunger Games gave me.
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