Susan Collins’s The Hunger Games book has become a real sensation: huge circulations all over the world, literary awards and phenomenal success, including her screen versions.
This work gave rise to a number of literary clones:
- "Divergent" - a trilogy and a collection of short stories by Veronica Roth, in which three full-length tapes were shot;
- "The Maze Runner" - a trilogy by James Dashner, the third film is expected to be released;
- “Delirium” - 3 books by Lauren Oliver, the rights to the film version of which were bought by Fox.
Biography
You might be interested to know that Susan Collins is included in the list of "100 Most Influential People of the World." Still, one cannot underestimate the effect that her novels have on teenagers.
But at the very beginning there was no hint of suchbrilliant writing career. Susan Collins was born in 1962 in the family of a military officer, and because of the service of her father, the whole family constantly moved from place to place. They managed to live in several eastern states of the USA and in Europe.
In 1980, the future writer received a diplomaTheater Department at the School of Art. Then she was expected to study at a university (Indiana), where she studied the basics of telecommunications. In 1989, Susan received another education, this time having mastered the profession of writer-playwright at New York University.
In 1991, she began her career astelevision screenwriter of children's programs and cartoons. Soon, on the advice of one of her colleagues, namely James Promois, Susan began writing these books.
Susan Collins: Books
In 2003, the writer's debut book"Gregor Aboveground." She marked the beginning of a series of 5 novels about the boy Gregor and the world of the underground. The writer said that during the creation of this work she was inspired by the adventures of the famous Alice. Even the first chapters of the novels are very similar: in Lewis Carroll, the girl falls into the rabbit hole, and Susan Collins, the boy enters an unusual underground country through a sewer. Calling her books, the author obviously took an example from JK Rowling, so subsequent editions had the headings: “Gregor and the prophecy of Thursus,” “Gregor and the curse of warm-blooded ones,” “Gregor and the secret sign.” The last novel of the Gregor and the Claw Code series was released in 2007, but fans still need to continue. Only the first three books have been released in Russia.
In 2008, the first part of the Hunger Games trilogy appeared, and its continuations were published at intervals of one year. In Russia, novels were published twice by the AST publishing house with different designs.
The Hunger Games Trilogy
Now we will try to figure out why.This trilogy of Susan Collins is popular. The “hunger games” were initially compared by many with Twilight, that is, with a typical teen romance with an obligatory love triangle. But how much is this true?
There are not so many similarities in books, and they are similar,only if you do not go into details. But if you disassemble each novel, it turns out that they are diametrically opposed. Bella (the heroine of the Twilight series) is a female image that fits the definition of “any.” That is the usual, cute, without any special distinctive character traits. Instead of Bella, teen girls see themselves, and the whole story, if you throw away all the vampire things, is built only on the all-consuming love of the two main characters.
In the Hunger Games, the author managed to createa really strong female image, and the love line does not dominate here. Amid brutal murders, riots, famine and the beginning of the uprising, Katniss hardly thinks about who she wants to be with, all her thoughts and feelings are occupied by other significant events.
Film
Roman Susan Collins was doomed to film adaptation. Directed by Gary Ross, he swallowed the first part of the trilogy in one evening and in a couple of days he agreed with the producers about the project and about his participation in it.
And all four feature films turned outmagnificent: Jennifer Lawrence and Vuddy Harrelson provided the proper level of “star” of the cast, the exciting plot completely copies the book, and all the events occurring on the screen literally hypnotize the audience.
Perhaps this is the rare case when a movieturned out better than a book. Yet in the novel, the reader sees everything that happens only through the eyes of Katniss, and in the film version there are scenes even without the participation of the main character. This allows the viewer to see and learn more.
The Phenomenon of the Hunger Games: Why Everyone Should See
Actually not so important, look youfilm version or read the novel by Susan Collins. They are interchangeable, but since today there are more and more lovers of cinema, we recommend to start with watching the movie. We list its advantages:
- Exciting plot. Post-apocalyptic America (Panem), where they annually hold a television show in which teens hunt each other. Of the 24 participants, only one will survive.
- Despite all the harshness, there are no truly terrible scenes of violence in the tape. Everything is shown taking into account the fact that the main audience will be teenagers.
- Excellent cast, including supporting characters.
- Entertainment: a good picture, special effects, costumes and thousands of little things that delight the eye.
- Satire in the dialogues.
No wonder there is talk of a return"The Hunger Games" in the form of a prequel with other characters. And while Susan Collins has not promised to further develop the series about Panem, there is a chance that she will change her mind.
