Wednesday, February 15, 2012

American Beauty

It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I realized there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in.
 
I believe this to be one of the most beautiful and incredible quotes in cinematic history.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

My response to Mockingjay back in 2010

4:47 PM 8/24/2010
So not too long ago I finished the third and LAST Hunger Games book, Mockingjay and the book was amazing and sad at the same time. Unfortunatly she did not end up with Gale, which is horrid, but I don't really think that Gale was the one for her. She changed alot in this book and even though I could see his love I know that it was something that was not truly for her. I desperatly hope that he will find love again in District 2. But the really horrible thing was how the book ended.. the last 20 pages or so were so mournfull and lonesome. I felt like Katniss didn't have anyone anymore. She just went back to her district, without her mom, gale, or .... prim. I have no idea how she dragged herself there at all I wouldn't of been able to go back to that place. Not with all the death and destruction that came along with it. Idk I just feel that Katniss lost herself and it's depressing. So I'm all sad then Suzanne Collins goes in and makes such a beautiful epilogue that it moved me to tears. I mean reciting Rue's Lullabye is just sooo heartbreaking in itself, and her children playing on the grounds of destruction; hoping for a new day to come where there will be utter peace. It's just sooo touching and sad. Bittersweet is the perfect word.
Amazon Review:
Personally this book was very bittersweet. It was filled with such charactor development that one couldn't help but get attached to all the charactors and with every death it seemed harder to read. The charactor depth of Katniss was the most shocking of every tragic thing that seemed to happen in Mockingjay. For the first time in the whole entire trilogy you saw how much of Katniss was already dead. That she had died in the first Hunger Games book. Once she came home from that there was no longer any peice of her left, she had already died. I realized that as soon as I started to read Mockingjay, Katniss was soo shattered and fragile. No matter what she seemed to overcome or battle she still came off as a shell of her former self. She was always wanting to find herself, which I don't think she ever did.
The epilogue and the last 20 or so pages that really made be quite sad and happy at the same time. The last 20 more or so pages left me feeling really drained. The first thing that made me really sad was Prim's death, right after recovering from Finnicks I wasn't prepared for another blow. But Suzanne delt us one anyway. I thouhgt her death wasn't needed neccersarily and I had felt that so much of Katniss's previous life had been destroyed that it seemed cruel to have her little sister taken away from her after that. After Prim's death Katniss kills Coin and I was completely fine with that but after her "trail" she was sent back to District 12. Which I think is terrible! She had lost EVERYTHING and then she was sentenced back to her death ridden town. Cruel. And then to top it all off she seemed to loose everything after that. Her mother couldn't come back to the District, Gale seemed to drop off the face of the planet without a proper exit (I was Team Gale btw) and she was left to live a "normal life" in District 12 with only a few other people. Now the epilogue I thought was actually beautiful, although I was upset that she didn't choose Gale I saw why she took Peeta and the fact that they had 2 beautiful children together made me really happy. But the most heartwrenching part of the epilogue was the part where she recited Rue's Lullabye. That's when the tears started for me :( It was just a very deep and touching part of the story. At that point in gave the reader hope that maybe her children would learn of the horrors that happened upon the grounds that they played. But then, again, it wasn't really practical that Katniss is living this kind of normal life. She will never truly recover from the games, neither will Peeta, and I think that is what is soo compelling with this story. I don't think that Suzanne Collins ever really wanted her to be perfectly normal again, she wanted her to be human and humble. And having that kind of bittersweet ending is truly moving.
Overall this book is definitly worth 5 stars. If I could give it more then I would. It was a story that delved into the brutality of war and the hardships of love. And in the end couldn't be described as anything less of extrodinary.