Have to get through Catch-22 first, though. What a slog it is so far, but I’m hoping it’ll pick up as I get further in. Not denying the funny, I’m just bogged down by all the characters right now. Poor Major Major Major Major…
Anyway, yeah, Jezebel reports that parents are up in arms over Suzanne Collins and her dystopian future trilogy where kids are forced to compete in bizarre games in order to get fed. I haven’t read these books but judging by how many the library has bought, I’m thinking I’ll have to see if I can snag myself a copy and see what the hell all this fuss is all about. I’m so out of touch.
The Hunger Games appeared by itself in the number five spot on the 2010 list, but now the entire trilogy has earned a number three ranking. Apparently it’s grown more unpopular with grownups since the movie came along and boosted the popularity of the trilogy with kids. Figures. Here are the main charges leveled against the books: “anti-ethnic; anti-family; insensitivity; offensive language; occult/satanic; violence.”
Sure, the books deal with some very adult themes, but maybe it’s not the books we should really be worried about. According to Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, many of the complaints that came in to the ALA about the The Hunger Games books were actually related to the movie version:
There was complaining about the choice of actors for the film. You had people saying someone was dark-skinned in the book, but not in the film, or dark-skinned in the film and not in the book. In general, a lot more people were aware of the books and that led to more kinds of complaints.
That’s amusing. Take that kind of crap up with the casting people, people. At least efforts were made to keep it properly diverse. No more films with guys like Mickey Rooney playing Japanese…
The author of the piece notes that Suzanne really ought to be proud of her top ten standing and I agree. She’s in among the greats, namely Harper Lee and Aldous Huxley. Our group already read To Kill a Mockingbird and Brave New World.
One Minion's Opinion 