I finished rereading Hunger Games and Catching Fire last night, and I thought I would be okay, but seriously, IS IT AUGUST 24TH YET?! I NEED MOCKINGJAY!!!!!!
…
Ahem.
While I attempt to retain (or regain) my sanity, here is some interesting food for thought.
1. As a design professor once told me, limitations lead to the greatest creativity. If you had anything/everything at your fingertips, you would feel overwhelmed — where to start, what to do?! But when you are restricted, you figure out how to accomplish what you want with what you’ve got.
In terms of story, Jon blogged about how spectacular locations — or lack thereof — can impact a film:
Let’s face it, as Hollywood budgets for summer blockbusters expand, the sets get bigger, the special effects nastier, and the locations trendier. Except Toy Story 3.Think back, most of the action took place in a daycare center. The other parts of the movie were set in Andy’s house and a trash dump. Not exactly Pirates, right? Yet these set limitations set the writers’ imaginations on fire—adding a baroque texture to an otherwise boring series of sets.
2. Books are beloved. Oh, the publishing industry is terrified of ebooks, and ebook lovers call printed editions “Dead Tree Books” like they’re evil, but let’s face it, folks: we love books. I didn’t even realize it, to be honest with you, but then Lee pointed this out:
Nobody throws away books. We give away books to friends or family, donate them to libraries or prisons, sell them at yard sales or book stores, but we don’t trash them. In the worst case scenario, [when moving] books are neatly stacked next to the dust bunnies and left for the next occupant.
Where does this reverence come from?
Good question. And speaking of questions…
3. Team Gale or Team Peeta? Why? (Ooorrr… Team Haymitch? *snicker* Okay okay okay. More realistically: Team Katniss?)
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I know Peeta is the boy with the bread and he deserves her, but Team GALE. We can’t agree on everything, Kristan. :)
1. I agree
2. Well, I have to admit that I’ve thrown books away out of laziness.
3. Team Peeta!
Team Peeta all the way. I have no idea why, but I just love him!
Team Gale all the way! Please let Susan be Team Gale too! Great post! Love the thought on how we never throw away books.
I have no idea who Peeta or Gale are…but I am reading Stephen King’s book On Writing.
Sarah-
Well we’ll see who COLLINS agrees with in Book 3. :P
Kimberly-
Um, because he’s WONDERFUL?! Hehehe.
Samantha-
Oh fine, you bring the comments back to a tie. {shakes head}
Pseudo-
Oh, I hope you’re enjoying it! That one, and Opposite of Fate by Amy Tan, are my faves. I keep them both on my desk. And Opposite of Fate deals a lot with a crazy mother… Another dimension you might find interesting.
I am Team Gale all the way! I also love Peeta, but Katniss does not. She cares for Peeta; she loves GALE! I’m giddy with excitement for Mockingjay, too :)
Mhm, I have seen books thrown away as garbage. It’s a sad, sad thing, but I have seen it. I have done horrid things to Twilight. Okay, so my mother did, but it only happened with my approval. Books are associated with wisdom, so by default they are precious and revered. At least this is my logic on the matter.
Thanks for the mention! On point 2, there’s this great new book out by Gary Shteyngart “Super Sad True Love Story” that sort of talks to this issue of paper text becoming outmoded and what that means. I only read an excerpt but it looks really good!
Thanks for the link! Guess I better go read Hunger Games so I can vote. An informed populace is the basis of a functional democracy.
Ingrid-
You break my heart.
I love BOTH Peeta and Gale. It’s so hard to decide! Tuesday can’t come fast enough…
Arrrgh! I had managed to make it this far into August without remembering that Mockingjay still hadn’t arrived. Four more days…ok…I think I can handle that. I like Peeta because I associated the most with him while reading (devouring) those books. I think Suzanne Collins did a brilliant job creating multiple likable characters with qualities that a broad range of readers could associate with. I had never read her prior to The Hunger Games series. Good stuff.
Sherrie-
Zomg, I JUST TODAY noticed that I had Mockingjay grouped in with a different book that wouldn’t be shipped for at least another week. If I hadn’t noticed, I would have had to wait past Tuesday!!! o_O
Scott-
Haha, sorry, Scott! And yes, I agree she did a brilliant job with her characters — they were all shades of gray (even Peeta and Gale) — and we writers can all learn a lot from her. You know, right after we finish worshipping at her feet. :P