cathing fire

I've been pounding through the first book of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy--Inferno--which is a newer translation, complete with end notes for every canto; pretty dense. So I took a break in the middle of it to read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Its been a while since I read the first book but I didn't discover the books until after the movie was announced. A bunch of books were sold after that, and after the buzz blew over, my library had a load of copies in the book sale. I should have picked up one of each at that point because when I was looking for copies after I read the first one, there was a waiting list and then I forgot about it until the next movie was announced. I'll have to keep my eye out for the third one.

This second installment is definitely the middle book; it extends the storyline, deepens the backstories, fills in some of the questions from the first book, and then leaves you hanging for the third book. That's not a bad thing, but I guess it would be nice for this story to stand on its own the way the first one did. This one does come to a close, sort of, but its a cliffhanger.

This is prime young adult science fiction, its got angst, action, teen love, dystopian future, class warfare, and like a lot of recent YA SciFi, death. At least the constant threat of it for the main characters, and lots of blood and death of those around them to remind them of how bad it is. Collins certainly understands the genre, and just like the librarian who originally recommended this to me said, its a fast read. I burned through this is 3 or 4 days. that's quick for me

Dante is good, and I'm even reading a little of the old Italian version. But man, are the end notes dry. Fascinating and informative, sure, but... [yawn.]

This one is not as up close and personal with the death of children. It seems like that may have been a little harsh for some folks in the first book. Collins has found an interesting way to calm that down, and to also pull back from it so its not so immediate to the reader. I'll keep my eyes out for the third book at the library. Maybe I'll get it before the third movie comes out.