The Hunger Games

So I finished reading The Hunger Games this weekend. Wow. What a plot. What a character.

There were several things that struck me about this book. The first and probably the most obvious strength of this book is the pacing. Suzanne Collins has a unique ability to clutch the readers attention with her words and make it nearly impossible to put this book down. One thing she does that is especially compelling is to break her chapters up at a moment when it would normally be least expected. Her cliffhangers are unequaled by anything I've read recently. As a father with a day job I no longer have time to read books in one sitting. But I came closer with this novel than I have with any of late.

I don't have time to go on about this book forever but one other thing I would like to point out about Suzanne Collins is her writing. It's not simple, exactly, but I think the term direct describes it well. I've gotten some feedback recently about my own writing which basically has clued me in to how much I overwrite when it comes to description and setting a scene. Suzanne Collins does not have that problem. Of course she is writing for a YA audience, so there is that to consider but even as an adult I find her writing to be perfect for her subject matter. She does not use long sentences and tends to get right to the action. She occasionally spends some times describing something like an outfit the characters are wearing but there is a plot related reason for this that I won't go into for spoiler reasons.

Here is one quick example of a sentence from The Hunger Games that I thought said SO much with SO FEW words:

... she gives me a nod, and as she slips a spoon into my hand, I feel the pressure of friendship.

Even though I'm sure most of you have read it I'm not going to ruin it for others by sharing the context in which this occurred, but I will say that it would have most likely taken me several sentences to get that point across. I'm going to try to be more concise as I continue to re-write WARRIOR-MONKS.

In other news my new found friend and blogger buddy Jared Larson has a wonderful plan for an interview with one of my favorite people. He intends to do it soon but not until he has a certain amount of followers. I'm not giving anything else away but I will say please go visit this guy's blog and follow him! I want to read this interview!

Thank you. That is all.