Hello Friends,
In September of 2009 I had two things going for me:
- I had just procured a gig as a substitute teacher in a new district, and…
- ….a book I had been waiting quite some time for had been released.
Now, anyone familiar with the field of education (or, more specifically, the world of subbing) should immediately identify the fortunate correlation. For those of you who are unsure, please allow me to explain…
Being a per diem sub is, quite possibly, the loneliest job in the world.
I’m serious. It’s pretty much the modern-day equivalent of a lighthouse keeper.
…only lighthouse keepers aren’t presented bogus shipping manifests by giggling wayward sailors with super clever names like Captain Ben Dover and First Mate Mike Ocksmall.
From the moment you enter a new school as a per diem sub you’re s stranger in a strange land. And they’ll all probably let you know it too, both the faculty and the students. So, as a result, to keep you occupied and sane until you, too, can finally join a clique of your own and start judging the newcomers that arrive after you, a book can become your best friend.
Back in the fall of ’09, that book for me was Suzanne Collins’ Catching Fire.
I had read its previous installment, The Hunger Games, earlier in the year and had immediately fallen in love with it. The writing, the characters, the plot, the dialogue, the visuals…my god, the visuals. In fact, if you had asked me at the time what my favorite book was, of course I would’ve answered Good Omens.
Easily.
Duh.
But Collins’ first book would have undoubtedly been a close second.
So imagine my excitement when I learned that there would not only be a sequel, but a trilogy. And imagine my jubilance at being able to read said second book in the library of my new job during all the per diem downtime. And, finally, imagine my disappointment when I came up to the last few pages and discovered that I had found the overall experience of the book to be… well, quite disappointing.
It wasn’t bad, just not as good as I had hoped. And definitely not as good as the first. But I guess sequels seldom are.
I trudged on anyway, because I had to finish it. I had to know what happened. And, boy, was I glad I did. For there, at the end of a book I had so highly anticipated and yet been so terribly let down by, was the single greatest cliffhanger I had ever read. Perhaps even the best closing line to a book I had ever seen.
Upon completion, as I sat in that library where no one knew my name, I closed the book with a sense of accomplishment I never would have imagined feeling a mere few pages earlier. All because of six simple words. I wanted to talk to someone about it, anyone, but couldn’t. For I knew no one.
For I was a lonely lighthouse keeper. So I kept those six words to myself.
It’s amazing how six small words can change your entire perception of something. It’s even more amazing how long a year can be when waiting to find out what happens after those six small word were uttered. And that’s exactly what “Catching Fire” did for me.
The series eventually concluded with Mockingjay, leaving some readers satisfied and others, not so much. I, personally, was content. Neither sequel lived up to the first book, but they were still good. And it made a fine story told via a fine trilogy. Of course, my fondness of the last line in Catching Fire helps, as it still haunts me to this day as a prime example of excellent writing.
Surprising considering it was my least favorite of the three books.
Even more surprising when considering what a monumentally better film it made than the first.
And that says a lot, because I felt THE HUNGER GAMES was quite an exceptional movie. It was well cast, well scripted and filmed beautifully. So how can the second one be better? I’m glad you asked…
The entire cast (well, those who lived anyway) return to reprise their roles in CATCHING FIRE, which essentially leads to a lot of more of the same. But despite the negative context there, this is actually a good thing as it allows director Francis Lawrence to focus more on plot development and expanding upon already existing chemistry. This, rather than having to reintroduce old characters and devices.
As such, Jennifer Lawrence‘s Katniss is still strong but believably vulnerable, Liam Hemsworth is still brooding and jealous as Gale, and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta (despite being portrayed relatively more masculine this time around) is just as sincere a hopeless romantic as he’s ever been. And oddly enough it’s this sense of familiarity that allows such a seamless and honest love triangle to emerge.
I know, I know. Another love triangle. Ugh.
Difference here, though, is this one tends to work. Whereas, let’s face it, Jacob never really had a shot with Bella, both Gale and Peeta appeal to Katniss for distinctively relative reasons… none of which I will explain for fear of spoilers. Regardless, it’s difficult to fault her for her actions as they’re often identifiable.
The rest of the cast shines as well, Woody Harrelson as a snarkier Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as a more humanistic Effie, Donald Sutherland as an evil, calculating President Snow and Lenny Kravitz as… well, let’s be honest here, he’s a bad actor and there’s a thousand people who would’ve made a better Cinna. But still, Lenny freakin’ Kravitz.
Top that off with Stanley Tucci‘s over the top on-air personality, Phillip Seymour Hoffman‘s masterful ambiguity and newcomer Sam Claflin‘s… um… oddly hypnotizing mouth?… and you have enough star-power, clout and eye candy to spell blockbuster in just about any language.
The special effects are also impressive, especially the mutts (which looked significantly more frightening this time around and significantly less Zuul-like), as is the cinematography, which can somehow take a post-apocalyptic, impoverished town or arena of adolescent death and make it absolutely breathtaking. And the fact that Lawrence, much like Gary Ross before him, distances the movie from the first-person narrative of the books, and allows us to watch events unknown to Katniss, opens up a level of omniscient storytelling that makes the overall experience that much more fulfilling.
But perhaps more than anything, the main reason why I can tell you that my least favorite “Hunger Games” book has somehow managed to become my most favorite HUNGER GAMES movie (so far), is because of how faithful it is. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more verbatim adaptation in my life.
One of my biggest gripes with the first film was how minimized, how outright insignificant Katniss’ acquisition of the mockingjay pin was. In the book it was a symbolic moment, a person birthed of relative political power giving a symbol of revolution to a tribute about to enter a game designed to punish previous revolutionary actions. It was almost ironic, like everything Katniss would eventually stand for, and stand against, was being green-lighted by those she would ultimately fight.
It was beautiful.
In the movie, though she finds it in the market and probably thinks it’s a super cute piece of 1928 costume jewelery that’ll totally match her Games attire. Because. really, who doesn’t love a bargain? Does this pin make my ass look fat?
There’s not one similar instance, however, I could think of in CATCHING FIRE. Everything has it’s purpose, and nothing is cheapened for the sake of pace. Suzanne Collins proved herself to be a competent writer throughout her trilogy. One that can make you visualize almost anything with a mere handful of words, and nothing proves it more than this particular film. Each scene plays out exactly how I always envisioned it, exactly how Collins had conditioned me to see it. Even those six small words that have haunted me for the past four years.
Only this time, after hearing them spoken, and watching them unfold on the screen before me, I could turn to those around me and talk about it. I could be excited about it, I could express how I got goosebumps, just like I knew I would.
Because this time I wasn’t manning the lighthouse.
FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 4 maimed Careers.
Live, Love, Learn,