[00:00:00] Speaker A: Without members, a book club is just a book. Join the community by following us on Facebook or sign up for exclusive content through our website, www.bookinterrupted.com.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Slash Unpublished parental guidance is recommended because this episode has mature topics and strong language, here are some moments you can look forward to during this episode of book interrupted and I kept stopping it.
[00:00:27] Speaker C: And pausing be like in the book they said blah blah blah blah blah.
[00:00:29] Speaker D: But he'd be like, oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine. I'm not joking.
[00:00:35] Speaker E: Oh yeah, Hamid should be a good one. That's so Disney.
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Would you do it if you were starving?
[00:00:42] Speaker D: Would you?
[00:00:42] Speaker F: For sure. I heard it's like chickens.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: This particular hunter games, I think I would been one of the characters just crying.
[00:00:51] Speaker D: I just want to see front row.
[00:00:53] Speaker F: Every year at the is that too much to ask?
[00:00:55] Speaker D: Children being forced to kill each other.
[00:00:57] Speaker F: So they don't die. I'll destroy people's lives with you. That's a power couple. Me in a red suit. Like I just.
[00:01:03] Speaker E: Yeah, just a tall couple.
[00:01:07] Speaker D: My body.
My body is information is trying to.
[00:01:25] Speaker E: Learn something without being disrupted.
[00:01:30] Speaker D: Mind, body and soul inspiration is with us and we're going to talk it out on book interrupted.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Welcome to book interrupted. A book club for busy people to connect and one that celebrates life's interruptions.
During this book cycle, we're reading Ashley's book pick the ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. This book was made into a movie in 2023 and stars Tom Blythe and Rachel Zegler. It's the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games in the Capitol. 18 year old Corlenius Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the games. The once mighty House of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that he will be able to outcharm, outwit and outmaneuver his fellow students. To mentor the winning tribute. The ods are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from district twelve, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined. Let's listen in to this episode's group discussion.
[00:02:41] Speaker E: Welcome to the Hunger Games, folks, where all the names are stupid.
[00:02:46] Speaker F: Yeah, that's so true. Because sometimes when I'm sitting there and reading or listening to the names, I'm like, who came up with this for me?
[00:02:55] Speaker E: I'm like, you're trying too hard. You're trying way too hard. This is stupid.
[00:02:59] Speaker D: But that's the thing with the capital. That totally happens where people name their kids.
There's all these people whose kids are named something Apple.
Right. I don't know. I think it does happen today. And so we just progress. If everybody was like, I need a unique name for my kid. If everybody wants the unique.
Yeah. Then everyone's got something like that. Something like, I can't even remember one of them.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: One of them was like, Lisa Strada.
[00:03:27] Speaker F: Hilarious. Heavensby.
[00:03:29] Speaker D: Hilarious. Hilarious. I wish my name was hilarious.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Hilarious.
[00:03:34] Speaker D: You are hilarious. Yeah, that's a good name. What if he was, like, super serious and he's like, but his name's hilarious. And be like, stop laughing. Then he'd be ironic.
[00:03:46] Speaker E: His name would be hilarious. Ironic.
[00:03:49] Speaker D: Ironicus.
[00:03:51] Speaker F: Yeah, that's a good one. Ironicus.
[00:03:56] Speaker C: Well, and sometimes you don't know how to pronounce them. So, like, in my head, I kept Corionus. I was like, Coriolanus.
[00:04:03] Speaker D: Coroll.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: I was like, every time I'd read it, I would skim through and be like, how do I really say this name?
[00:04:09] Speaker F: I don't know.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know if I said it right either.
[00:04:12] Speaker C: And his friend. No. What's the guy now? I don't even remember because I read this a bit.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: Sajanus.
[00:04:18] Speaker C: Yes. That one is it?
[00:04:21] Speaker F: Yes. Yeah, I couldn't get Sujanus the first few times either, until I listened to it through an audiobook. And I was like, that still doesn't check out for me.
[00:04:31] Speaker D: That's a tough audiobook to narrate.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: It's Lucy Gray, right?
[00:04:35] Speaker D: Yeah, she's normal. Okay. She got.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: And I was like, I think it's Lucy Gray.
[00:04:39] Speaker D: But it seems like in my mind.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: I'm like, that name is really simple compared.
[00:04:44] Speaker D: So maybe I'm wrong, and I just invented that to make it.
They said in the book that people from the Covey, they get their name. One name from a ballad and one name as a color. So that's why everybody from the covey is got normal sounding good names.
[00:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I know that we've already started talking, but maybe.
[00:05:05] Speaker D: Ashley, do you want to introduce the book officially?
[00:05:07] Speaker F: Yeah, sure.
[00:05:08] Speaker D: Absolutely.
Yes.
[00:05:09] Speaker F: Okay, so this is me officially introducing the book. So we are talking about the Hunker games, a ballad of songbird and Snakes, which came out a few years ago. It's by Suzanne Collins, and the movie was adapted in 2023. So we're still kind of in the height of all of the Hunger game craze again, which I'm very excited for.
[00:05:32] Speaker D: Wonderful.
[00:05:33] Speaker E: So when was the book actually released? Because I thought it was newer.
[00:05:37] Speaker D: It is.
[00:05:37] Speaker E: Was it part of the, I want to say trilogy? But obviously not because that would make it a quadrillogy.
[00:05:42] Speaker D: Right?
[00:05:42] Speaker E: That's the technical term for four books.
[00:05:45] Speaker F: Let me pull it up. But I'm pretty sure it came out copyright 2020.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: I was going to say 2020. Yeah. So that's right, 2020.
[00:05:54] Speaker F: But I was surprised at how quickly it became a movie because the Hunger Games had taken so long from its release to actually becoming a movie for it to happen. So I was a little shocked when they had already announced the movie and stuff for it.
[00:06:09] Speaker D: I wouldn't be surprised if while she was writing the book, or they might have been like, can you write another one? I wonder if they were talking about it earlier on for the book even came out. I read this book back when we did the Hunger Games, and I read it.
[00:06:21] Speaker F: Did you really?
[00:06:22] Speaker D: Yeah, I read it in French, and then I listened to it in English. Okay. I didn't enjoy the audiobook, but then I was like, I need a refresher. But I was reading our next book, and I didn't know if I'd had the time. So I got the audiobook again and listened to it on double tap, and then near the end, I was like, I got to finish this before tomorrow. And I was listening to it two and a half time, which you can't do with a normal book, but because I'd already kind of read it twice, so I through this, the audiobook is like 16 hours long, but if you listen to it on double time or double two and a half. So I was listening to it in the car. My kids like, this is too fast.
Down a little bit.
[00:07:02] Speaker F: But also, I have a time limit on this.
[00:07:06] Speaker D: I got to listen to it. And while I'm going places in the car, just do a lot of driving around. You know how books you skim?
[00:07:13] Speaker B: It's like you were doing a skim.
[00:07:15] Speaker D: With an audiobook, which is crazy for me, doing that.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: Let me skim it.
Gibberish.
[00:07:23] Speaker F: Just read the first and the last sentence of each page. You basically get the gist.
[00:07:27] Speaker D: I tried to do it at triple time, and I have to admit that is too fast. I was like.
Because by the time you put the sentence together, they're way past it. And you're like, oh, yeah, right, totally.
[00:07:41] Speaker F: They're a whole different chapter.
[00:07:42] Speaker D: That's right. So two and a half was as fast as I could go. I wouldn't be able to do that on a new book. But for some reason, how did everyone.
[00:07:50] Speaker F: Read it did everyone read a book or an audiobook?
[00:07:53] Speaker D: Both.
[00:07:55] Speaker F: I read both.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: I read it on Apple books.
[00:07:58] Speaker F: Okay. Yep.
[00:07:58] Speaker C: I read the book.
[00:07:59] Speaker E: I bought the book.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: I have never listened to an audiobook ever in my life, ever.
[00:08:06] Speaker D: Keep thinking.
[00:08:07] Speaker C: But I don't know. It just seems to me it's too disjointed. Like, unless I'm going to sit down and listen to it, I feel like if I did little bits here and there, I would be confused, maybe. I don't know.
[00:08:18] Speaker E: I definitely was not pro audiobook until this season when there were so many books. I was like, I have to figure out how I'm going to read all these books. And then I was like, wait a minute. I'm driving for 3 hours a day. So I was like, I'm going to use some audiobooks. And now I've read 17 books in 5 seconds. It's awesome. Yeah.
[00:08:39] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:08:40] Speaker E: Yes, it really is.
[00:08:42] Speaker F: I like audiobooks for when you want to be reading something or listening to a story, but you can't physically be reading a book. Like you're saying driving. I would love to be reading a book while simultaneously driving. So that's what the audiobook is for.
[00:08:57] Speaker D: I've seen people do that.
[00:08:59] Speaker F: Yeah, right.
[00:09:00] Speaker D: And they're like, driving and you're like.
[00:09:02] Speaker E: But I do have a tip. Give it a couple of books. Because the first audiobook I listened to was eat, pray, love. Because that's why it started, too, because I didn't want to reread it. But it had been so long that I was like, oh, maybe I'll try this. I didn't like the author's voice. Like, the way she read it was a little bit robotic for me or whatever. But then I read this other book that we're not reading as part of book interrupted, and it was way better. Like, the voice that they chose suited how I wanted to hear it, I guess. So be careful because I don't know why I assumed everything would be pleasant to my ear, but you may find that it's not. But not all audiobooks are the same. They're not all good. And sometimes the author reads them. You can get Matthew McConaughey's version of his book. So how great would that be to listen to know, tell you about green lights or whatever the heck it's called?
[00:09:53] Speaker D: You think? But the one that eat, pray, love did was the author and you did not like.
[00:09:58] Speaker F: Correct.
[00:09:58] Speaker D: But you know what I mean. Like it go either way.
[00:10:00] Speaker A: I haven't heard a lot of Elizabeth Gilbert, though.
[00:10:02] Speaker D: But McConaughey has an excellent draw.
[00:10:06] Speaker B: Viola Davis does her memoir, and it's amazing. And she won an Emmy for it.
[00:10:11] Speaker E: Yeah, that's cool.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah, it's really good. Yeah. So there's different. Sometimes you have audiobooks where they have two different narrators, like one for a boy and one for a girl or something.
[00:10:21] Speaker D: And that's super enjoyable, which I think they should do.
[00:10:24] Speaker F: Yeah, totally. I agree.
[00:10:26] Speaker E: I'm doing the Henry et Alax one right now, and I'm doing it on audiobook, and I have lots of things to say about that because there's lots of different voices represented.
[00:10:36] Speaker D: But I'm not going to say it right now.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: No.
[00:10:38] Speaker C: Can you preview the voice? Is there a way to be like, am I going to like this voice or not?
[00:10:42] Speaker D: Before you buy it, I get mine through my library. You might be able to find on your library. Like, my library uses hoopla and it's got a lot of audio and digital.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: No, that's better.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: You can preview it, do a little listen to see what it's like.
[00:10:56] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:10:56] Speaker F: To see this book would have been a really good book to have a male and a female because I listened to the audiobook and I fucking hated it.
[00:11:05] Speaker D: Yeah. The way he did the female voices sounded a little patronizing, actually, and so.
[00:11:11] Speaker F: Annoying to the way they were singing the female version. Just get a girl in there.
[00:11:18] Speaker D: He'd, like, talk the song, and I get it. It's tough, but he'd be like, oh, my darling oh, my darling oh, my darling Clementine. I'm not joking.
We all know the song. Try to be like, oh, my darling.
But I guess if you're going to talk some of the songs, then you might as well talk them all. You know what I also got from my library hoopla app was the soundtrack, which I also have been cramming.
[00:11:46] Speaker F: Oh, my gosh. Do you guys love the soundtrack? Have you guys the soundtrack for it?
[00:11:50] Speaker D: Anyone else?
[00:11:51] Speaker C: No.
[00:11:53] Speaker F: All the Hunger games.
[00:11:55] Speaker D: It would be nice to have the soundtrack while you're reading the book, especially with the audiobook, because you can skip the songs.
[00:12:03] Speaker F: Well, you can even go and listen to the actual Zoe.
I don't remember the main actress's name. I think it's Zoe Riggler, but I could be wrong on that. She went and recorded a bunch of the songs. So if you're listening to the audiobook and you're like, wow, this guy's so bad, you could stop and go and listen to how it's supposed to sound and then go back to the audiobook.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: I guess, and that is the girl who sang it in the movie.
[00:12:31] Speaker F: Yeah.
And she supposedly sang live the whole time. She said she wanted it to sound as authentic as possible. So sweet. Yeah.
A little fun fact, guys.
[00:12:44] Speaker B: Wow. Okay, so let's go into that. What do we think about the adaptation from the book to the movie?
[00:12:51] Speaker F: I'll start. I loved it.
Yes, I loved it. I loved the three parts. I already own it, so I've seen it a dozen times now. It's on in the background constantly. And I don't know. And it might just be right now because I'm so excited about having a new Hunger games, but I think it's my favorite movie out of all. I guess there's five of them now, so. Yeah, that's my opinion.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: I feel the opposite.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Sorry.
[00:13:19] Speaker D: Okay. No, that's okay.
[00:13:20] Speaker F: I want to hear it.
[00:13:21] Speaker C: No, I liked the movie. I thought it was well done. But because I just finished reading the book and then I watched the movie right afterwards, there's so many things missing and they changed. So many things. I kept having. I was with my partner and I kept stopping it and pausing. Be like in the book they said, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then we would watch a little bit. Be like in the book they missed this and this and this and this and this. When it got to the end, he's like, it doesn't feel like there was enough build up for the climax to happen, but yeah, I just felt like you couldn't have fit everything in. So maybe if they'd done two movies, the one that was like the Hunger McGame side and the other one in just twelve, that to me would have.
[00:13:57] Speaker D: Been better and surprising. They didn't do that.
[00:14:00] Speaker F: I heard there's a five hour director's cut somewhere. Yeah. And I'm like, I'll watch it.
[00:14:08] Speaker D: Just let me know.
[00:14:09] Speaker F: I have 5 hours to spare.
Yeah, I think that would be awesome. But I totally agree with that. I think there was so much left out because they were trying to fit it in like a movie theater time frame.
[00:14:22] Speaker B: Yeah, they squished it. Like it did feel rushed. And in the Hunniger games, the way the people died were different and stuff too. And they made it look like the drones were weapons. I didn't feel like that was the way it was in the book. I feel like the water one was weapons. They made it look like the drones were part of them.
Anyway, inside the games, that whole set, I think was super rushed through because they just wanted to get through it. And I feel like the end, when he was in twelve was also rushed.
[00:14:52] Speaker D: Through all the Hunger games movies. Feel like that, though, too, right? When I watch them, I'm just kind.
[00:14:57] Speaker E: Of like, they change a lot of.
[00:14:58] Speaker D: Stuff because they can't pack it all in. I guess they couldn't slow.
[00:15:02] Speaker B: I thought they did a good job adapting all the Hunger games, adapting that book into a movie, considering they could never possibly do it all. And there were some things they added to the movie that I thought was good that added to the book that wasn't in the book.
[00:15:16] Speaker F: Oh, like what?
[00:15:17] Speaker B: So, you know, when the cousin was basically telling him, don't be like his dad, he's like, oh, I look like my dad? And she's like, no, basically, your dad's evil and you're not. You're a good person. And then how at the end, he was like, well, you're evil. You're just like your dad now. I thought that was good because they had to somehow show how he became who he was because it just mattered that he won and that he became like his father. And he did the legacy of the snows. I thought because they had to squish it all in, it was like an easy way to say, now you've become your dad.
[00:15:49] Speaker D: Right? Whereas in the book, it was like.
[00:15:51] Speaker B: It slowly showed him as a good person becoming this evil per person because of all these circumstances in the book. But they had to kind of shorten it, being like, here are the moments that you made the wrong decision, and now you're there, right?
[00:16:04] Speaker D: As far as in the book, it was like him throwing away his mom's spoiler alert, by the way. His mom's powder being like, it got wet. He throws this thing that's so precious to him in the trash. And then he got rid of most of the pictures. He's like, I don't need these pictures. And he just kept his dad's compass, right? He's like, this is what I need. Because now I'm my dad. Yeah.
[00:16:23] Speaker E: You know how I'm never like the movie? The movie is always way worse than the book. So for this one, I thought it was really interesting because I really liked the book in the beginning and through the Hunger Games. And then at the end, I was like, I hate this book. Just end. You're way too long and stupid. I hate you. And then when I watched the movie, I had the exact opposite experience where I was like, this movie seems fake and stupid. Like, what's with these characters? Whatever. And then the Hunger Games was okay. And then at the end, I was like, oh, I like that movie. That was a pretty good movie. And I think it's because they cut out so much stuff. I was like, this is how it should be. Much more efficient. So it was weird because literally opposite, you know what I mean? Like, from beginning to end, my enjoyment was opposite for book and movie.
[00:17:10] Speaker F: I don't remember if we discussed it in the original Hunger games or not. But did you enjoy the adaptation from that book to the movie?
[00:17:20] Speaker E: Yeah, I didn't mind those adaptations. Because you do want to see the Hunger Games. I guess reading about it is fun, but that's what makes me want to watch a movie, is when there's something in the book that you wish you could see.
I know that I didn't like the third one because, and I said this in the Hunger Games episode, I think I don't like the political unrest and all the talking about whatever. So the third Hunger Games book was like that, so I didn't like it. And then the movie obviously was the same, so I don't enjoy that. And then I think that's also why I didn't like the end of the book. I just want the Hunger Games only. I just want all of the time in the, like that movie and you want.
I just want, like, the whole concept is, wow, all these people have to go into this crazy space, and then it's last man standing. That's enough. I don't need 50,000 substories outside of it taking away from the whole thing that attracted me to it in the first place.
[00:18:15] Speaker D: Just want to see some children get killed and killing each other.
I just want to see front row.
[00:18:25] Speaker F: Every year at the.
[00:18:26] Speaker D: Is that too much to ask? Children being forced to kill each other.
[00:18:29] Speaker F: So they don't die?
[00:18:30] Speaker E: I came here for dead kids.
[00:18:34] Speaker D: Glory weapons only. Want weird mutants coming after these children. Don't want to see these crazy mutants.
[00:18:41] Speaker E: No. But I also felt like the book and the movie, that both of them are like three separate things. Just pick a direction and invest there. Those were my things that made me not be like, this is the best thing ever.
[00:18:54] Speaker C: Yeah. I found the end was slower than the beginning, too. I agree that once they got to district twelve, I was like, I read the first half so fast, and then the last third was so slow. Larry's like, you're still reading this book.
[00:19:06] Speaker D: And yet it wraps up once. It's like, you think you're going to be in district twelve forever all of a sudden. Yeah, I don't want to. Should I spoil it?
[00:19:13] Speaker E: I mean, you could just say spoiler one episode warning.
[00:19:17] Speaker D: Do it. Basically, all of a sudden, he's looking for her with a gun in his hand, and she knows that he's going to do that because he obviously killed his best friend. She's probably been suspicious the whole time. And you wonder how much of their relationship was she aware? Because she's good at manipulating people's emotions as part of what she does as an entertainer, right. That's how she makes her way in the world. She probably always suspected him because let's face it, right?
[00:19:44] Speaker E: I mean, she's her coach in the Hunger Games.
[00:19:47] Speaker D: Yeah. It can't be, like, great. Supposed to be a place of prestige where you're torturing people. How much was that her caring for him? And how much was it, her stringing him along? Right. Always pretending, or did she really care about him? It's hard to know. Was she a songbird or a snake?
[00:20:02] Speaker E: They're both the songbird.
[00:20:04] Speaker F: Yeah, totally.
[00:20:05] Speaker D: Both of them.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: I was going to say, I think they're mere images of each other.
[00:20:09] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: I think that he went the evil way and she went the not evil way. But they were both kind of manipulative, showing a different face that wasn't their own to the outside world. That's why they kind of connected, because they were the same but different. You know what I mean? They were the same, but he wanted to win. She also wanted to win, but in.
[00:20:30] Speaker F: The end, they wanted different things. Like their end goal was different.
[00:20:34] Speaker C: Yeah, right.
[00:20:35] Speaker B: He wanted power and whatever, and she wanted something else, but they both did the same things.
[00:20:41] Speaker F: And the cousin Tigris, she even says it was after the reaping. And Coriolinus is thinking about how he's going to get people to look at her in whatever, right? Through the Hunger Games. He says she's basically district, like ill. And Tigris is like, don't overlook that. You guys might have a lot more in common than you think. And I think from there on out, it's basically just like, parallels. Like, they're both hungry, right? He's starving in the Capitol, she's starving in district twelve. They're both kind of like zoo animals. There's so many parallels that shows they're.
[00:21:14] Speaker B: Both performing all the time. He's performing to pretend he's still in this prominent family, and she's on stage pretending constantly that she's fine and not scared.
[00:21:25] Speaker D: I like how he thinks everything is self defense. I love his inner voice, where he just can justify anything he's like, but I had to do that. Because otherwise they might find out that I am poor or whatever.
Otherwise, he just justified everything. Well, this was kind of like self defense, too. What other option did I have but to kill people? Or whatever he was doing? I love how everything was an act. And he just. Inside, he's like, anyone else would do this, too. He just. No idea that a lot of people would not. The people who would not. Like his friend, the Janus. The Janus, he wouldn't. And he just could not understand him. He's like, what's wrong with you? Right?
Well.
[00:22:10] Speaker C: And when he died in the movie, there was no build up for that. It was all within the movie. You're like, what? Whereas. Where did that come from?
[00:22:18] Speaker D: Whereas in the book, it feels like.
[00:22:20] Speaker C: There'S a development, but in the movie, it's just there and gone. And then that storyline's over and they move on.
[00:22:26] Speaker E: I thought they did that okay with the ending, though, because the ending was abrupt. But in the movie, you could see it transpiring. Like, oh, the. Like. Now they understand. And you could see the moment where maybe Lucy Gray was aware all along, but, like, the moment where they both knew each other knew or whatever. So the ending was fine. But yeah, they did push things in. And having to sneak through the fence. I don't know. It's weird what things they decide. Make the movie, too.
[00:22:52] Speaker F: I will say. Why so many of a full song? You have a movie that's almost 3 hours long, and you're going to put, like, four or five full songs in there.
[00:23:02] Speaker D: Oh, yeah, that's true. The songs were really long in the movie.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: I'm like, can we just cut? She's singing.
[00:23:06] Speaker D: And.
[00:23:09] Speaker F: We could have had, like, a 2030 2nd snippet. And we could have moved on. So much more could have been added if we had cut out those songs.
[00:23:17] Speaker E: I felt like that in the book, too. I don't want to read all of the lyrics. I know that they had meaning and whatever, but I don't know. That tool was overused. So it made me be like, I don't even care about the meaning because I'm just trying to finish this terrible ending of a book.
[00:23:31] Speaker C: Oh, I didn't read the song lyrics.
[00:23:33] Speaker D: I don't think.
[00:23:34] Speaker C: I kind of just skimmed them. Moved on.
[00:23:36] Speaker F: Yeah, I wish.
[00:23:37] Speaker D: I think it was, like, meant to show how her way of manipulating people and stuff was a little bit different than his two ray. He didn't really stand any of the metaphors. He's like, I don't get this. It's so funny because he kind of acted like he was smart, but also he was a bit of a blunt instrument. Like, he was smart in a certain way. And she was in a more subtle way where she was, like, using some of these lyrics, I think, to manipulate him and other people as well. Right. Because he'd be like, is she singing about me? She's singing about that other guy. Did she put the guns in that house?
[00:24:05] Speaker E: No, that guy did. That third guy.
[00:24:08] Speaker D: Maybe, though. Or maybe she knew about it and this was her test. Right? His character development the whole time is him going through all these different tests. The crazy doctor knew that he was his father's son, probably. And so she from the very beginning was like, I'm going to develop this guy into being, taking over my world of crazy because the dean wasn't going to do it. She's like, who's going to take over the Hunger games? That I want to live forever. I want that to be around. So I need this guy to get crazy. So you wonder if Lucy Gray, I know she seemed innocent and stuff, but I think that's part of it is not just that she necessarily went the good way, but they were both very similar and she just did it a different way. He wants power and she wanted freedom, and they were just going for different things. I guess she also kind of wanted power. But did she know the guns were there? I feel like it was a test. She knew ahead. She had that ribbon on her head before they went so that he could see her so she manipulate him later. She had a plan. She didn't go into that house not knowing they weren't there. I think. I think she knew those guns were there as a test to see what he would do because she took that ribbon.
[00:25:09] Speaker F: Right?
[00:25:09] Speaker D: She's like, now I'm going to go get some stuff. And then tied it to a thing already for him to get bit by a snake. I'm just saying.
[00:25:14] Speaker F: I like that theory. Yeah.
[00:25:17] Speaker D: It's songbirds and snakes. They're both snakes and they're both songbirds.
[00:25:22] Speaker F: And she uses snakes a lot, too.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: Because they both sang, too.
[00:25:25] Speaker D: Right?
[00:25:25] Speaker B: He sang, too. He sang the national anthem and stuff.
[00:25:28] Speaker E: But those few which they chose not to put in the movie, I feel like that was something. Yeah. Wasn't in the movie.
[00:25:35] Speaker F: Yeah. I do wish in the movie that they did somehow, like with his inner monologue because the things he was thinking through certain situations as a, quote, normal person watching that movie, I'm like, oh, my God, my best friend is dying. That's so sad. But then you read the book and it's like he's only upset because he thinks he's next because he's in association with him, that he's going to get hung, too. But in the movie, you're like, oh, my God. Wow. He's so sad about his friend. He regrets it. But in the book, you're very aware that, no, he doesn't. He's more regretful being.
Yes.
[00:26:18] Speaker E: Like, that's what's being shown all of the time. That's what his weakness is. He can't understand other people because he doesn't take the time. He's just too busy focused on himself, experience.
[00:26:29] Speaker B: I think, though, the beginning of the book, his inner monologue made me have more sympathy for him. And then I think it flip flopped for me. Whereas in the book, I had less sympathy for him at the end of the book. So I'm like, oh, no, his inner monologue is not great. But the beginning, I felt sorry for him. But then the movie, I felt more sorry for him and had sympathy for him in the movie at the end than I did at the beginning because I couldn't hear all the monologue in the beginning of him feeling like he doesn't want people to know and he's so afraid and he was afraid of war and not able to provide for his family and all these things. Yeah, you felt for him. So I think it did a flip flop for me in the movie versus the book with the inner monologue thing.
[00:27:09] Speaker E: Wasn't he super cute, though? Didn't you love when he shaved his head?
[00:27:14] Speaker F: I love the long hair, the shave. That was good.
[00:27:16] Speaker E: I started it because I was all like, these guys are weird and awkward and this movie is slow and his hair was all curly and whatever. But then as it went on, I was like, oh, my God, I'm in love with Corey, ladies.
[00:27:28] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:27:28] Speaker F: And seeing him, I'm like, well, I get it. It's sure. That's manipulate me, that's fine. I'm on this earth for such a small period of time, and it's same as him. All right.
[00:27:42] Speaker E: He was really handsome.
[00:27:44] Speaker F: I do think was such a smart move, too, on whoever casted him. And I don't know if it was intentional or not, but pretty privileged, right? And I wonder if part of that was the point is to show that so many people are like, oh, my. Like, I don't care if Snow's evil, right? And that's probably part of what realistically got him to where he was, is he was good looking and charming.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: He also looked really way more buff at the end of the didn't. I thought he was kind of skinny in the beginning, and then at the end of the movie, when he's not wearing his uniform, he looked really super buff.
[00:28:20] Speaker E: Muscular because he went to the boot camp or whatever. He was starving.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: And then he went to boot camp.
[00:28:28] Speaker D: Regular food, not just more than Luna beans and cabbage soup. Yeah, that's so funny.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: I thought he was cuter when he.
[00:28:37] Speaker C: Was skinnier with the long hair.
[00:28:39] Speaker D: When he was all bopped, I was like, oh, what happened? Oh, I'm off putting.
[00:28:44] Speaker E: Stop feeding that boy.
[00:28:47] Speaker D: The Hunger game doesn't look hungry enough.
[00:28:51] Speaker C: So I have a question for everybody. If you were in the Hunger Games, what would be your strategy?
[00:28:56] Speaker E: I think I would hide. I would definitely be, like, hiding and watching and waiting and seeing, and I would not be a confronter or some version of an attacker, face to face, one on one, because I feel like that's really risky.
[00:29:09] Speaker D: This Hunger games is difficult, though, because they couldn't get you the food. Like in the other books. They had this big forest or whatever, so you could go and they could find you. But this one you could hide, or you can come out in the open and get your food or your water. Water was a thing. Yeah, that's tough. I'd want to hide too.
[00:29:27] Speaker F: I thought that girl on the pole.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: Was pretty smart until those people teamed up and climbed up.
[00:29:32] Speaker F: Yeah, I think I would hide. I really liked where Lucy Gray hid in the duct area. It also didn't have the camera, I think. Imagine she went in there without anyone chasing her into there. That would be such a good place to hide. People would probably forget about you, but I do. And not to be full of myself.
[00:29:52] Speaker E: Okay, choreolanus.
[00:29:54] Speaker D: Yeah. I was like, not to be choreo here.
[00:29:57] Speaker F: I would slay the Hunger games in the sense that I think I would get so many sponsors.
I think I would just really be working it. I'd be like, welcome to my crib in district twelve. Follow me along. Get ready with me for the Hunger game.
[00:30:12] Speaker E: You'd social media it?
[00:30:13] Speaker F: Oh, so much. I'd be like, come along with three TikToks.
[00:30:18] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:30:18] Speaker F: And I'd be like, oh, this is me and my mentor doing TikTok dances and whatever. Oh, yeah. So I delusionally would totally believe that I would get so much sponsors that that would push me through to the end.
[00:30:32] Speaker D: It's a definite advantage, for sure.
[00:30:35] Speaker B: This particular hunter games, I think I would have been one of the characters just crying. I don't think I would have been, you know, the ones that are just like, I know I'm going to die. There's nothing I can do about it. You know how there are some of those characters that they're like, I have a dud.
[00:30:48] Speaker D: She won't do anything and she's just crying all the time.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: In the other ones, I would have a strategy, but in this one, I feel like there wasn't enough. There's no water. I'm starving. These rats are all over. I'm in a zoo.
[00:31:01] Speaker D: They didn't feed you ahead of time.
[00:31:03] Speaker F: You're still in the same clothes.
[00:31:05] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:31:06] Speaker A: That's a major difference.
[00:31:07] Speaker E: Right?
[00:31:07] Speaker A: They're treated, like, abused.
[00:31:09] Speaker D: Like, neglected.
[00:31:11] Speaker F: Yes.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: And people are being strung up as a parade. And I have to sit there and watch them being tortured, all of that.
[00:31:18] Speaker D: I'd be like, I don't want to be here. When is it going to happen? Kill me. Kill me. And I could be done with this.
[00:31:24] Speaker B: I would be one of those crying ones.
[00:31:26] Speaker E: So would your strategy be to go right out there and get yourself killed then?
[00:31:29] Speaker D: Maybe, yeah.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: Or maybe just ask someone.
[00:31:31] Speaker D: Be like, listen, can you just let me go? Make it painless.
[00:31:35] Speaker B: Take me out. As painless as possible.
[00:31:38] Speaker D: Take me out. Yikes.
[00:31:40] Speaker B: Or, like, Lucy, can you give me.
[00:31:41] Speaker F: Some of that poison?
[00:31:42] Speaker D: And then I'll just be done.
[00:31:44] Speaker C: I would fight. No, I wouldn't actually fight fight. I would run, but I try to grab something.
[00:31:48] Speaker D: I would fight back if somebody was definitely back. Me.
[00:31:51] Speaker E: Yeah, definitely.
[00:31:52] Speaker D: Thought I would hide first. I like the pair that collected the drones and then got them to attack somebody.
[00:31:57] Speaker F: Yes. Oh, totally.
[00:31:59] Speaker E: They didn't really have that in the movie.
[00:32:02] Speaker F: They only had the mentors kind of like, using it as. Yeah, right.
[00:32:07] Speaker B: I didn't like that part of the movie.
[00:32:08] Speaker C: I think the point of this Hunger game is the original thought was they were just supposed to die really quick. So it wasn't supposed to be a long, drawn out affair that as the seasons go on and they make it a whole spectacle, this one was supposed to be, everybody gets in the middle and then they kill each other and it's done. But because of the bombs, then they had more places to hide. And so probably the doctor was like, ooh, this is great. This will prolong it. We could do all this stuff.
[00:32:33] Speaker A: I did think that was cool, though.
[00:32:35] Speaker D: It's like the making of the Hunger Games and the making of President Snow and the making, in a way, of Katniss Everdeen. Because we're thinking that the young girl in the covey is her great grandmother or something, right?
[00:32:49] Speaker F: Yeah. Maude Ivory.
[00:32:51] Speaker D: Maude Ivory, who never forgets a song and learns it the first time. And then she's singing the hanging tree song and then Katniss's dad used to sing that to her. And so you get the idea that Maude Ivory is Katniss's grandmother. And so in a way, having that wildness about them and going to the lake and being able to collect Katniss and stuff to eat. The book is also the making of all those three of those things. In a way.
[00:33:15] Speaker E: I like how they showed how the Hunger Games became from what it was or whatever. It was just a trauma reminder. It was just like, bring your people and this is what will happen because we won. You know what I mean? It was very, just brutal.
[00:33:29] Speaker F: It wasn't a long thing like the Hunger Games. Six years later, it was all year, right? Like they had the tour before to go pick up everyone from the districts and then they were in the Capitol for a week training. Then the Hunger Games was like, however long. And then they had the tour afterwards. And then it all starts again with the reaping. Whereas in this one it's just like, okay, here's the reaping. The Hunger game is supposed to be over in 24 hours and we'll see you guys in a year kind of thing. So I agree. It was so cool. I don't know if I want to say cool, but cool to see the bare minimum kind of. Of what they started and how crazily it became a huge sport.
[00:34:15] Speaker C: Basically, you think they're going to do another. She's going to do another book and maybe movie after this one, but before the next Hunger Games. More of how Corey Lannis develops and the Hunger Games develop.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: It's a long president.
[00:34:31] Speaker F: Yeah, I've heard a lot of each quarter quell. So the two other quarter quells could be written in books also. Hamidge's games.
[00:34:38] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, Hamidge would be a good one. That's so Disney because they crack the code, right? They're like, oh, some of these side characters are really popular. Let's make a whole thing about them.
[00:34:50] Speaker F: Right? So I would love it so much because I'm just such a huge Hunger games lover. So that sounds absolutely divine to me. I'll watch them all. It could be every year, 76 of them. I'll watch all 76.
[00:35:06] Speaker E: I would love that if they did that, actually.
[00:35:08] Speaker F: Imagine the first Hunger Games was probably just, I don't even know, people just.
[00:35:14] Speaker E: Starved and it was kind of boring. Or whatever, because it was just people being neglected to death. It's like when people get stranded on a ship that's sinking or crash in the Arctic. Do you know what I mean? It's like those kind of circumstances where it's like, are you going to survive or not?
[00:35:31] Speaker F: Yeah, I agree with what you said. Sorry? Earlier, a few minutes ago, you said this one was so much more brutal. I didn't think I realized how brutal it was reading it. But then when I watched it, I was silent for so much of it because I was like, I would hope, but I mean, just, I feel like I wasn't even breathing. Just some of the deaths. I was like, oh, my God, at the beginning.
[00:35:58] Speaker E: The beginning.
[00:36:00] Speaker F: Or even just when he goes cannibalism at the very beginning to go in and he's starving to set the tone of the movie that is so grim. So grim, right? And I was like, damn, I couldn't imagine being in a world where we have to do that.
[00:36:18] Speaker C: Would you do it if you were starving?
[00:36:20] Speaker D: Would you?
[00:36:21] Speaker F: For sure. I heard it's like chickens.
As long as I don't got to prepare it, I'll eat it. I don't care. You tell me it's chicken, I'll eat it.
But I wouldn't want to be the one to go out and hack it off.
[00:36:37] Speaker D: Would you guys do it if I was starving? Probably. I don't know, maybe.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: I think that desperation would make you come straight.
[00:36:45] Speaker D: I think you don't know what you're going to do until you're faced with it. Yeah. It's like the moral of all of those movies.
[00:36:51] Speaker F: Oh, fair.
[00:36:51] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:36:52] Speaker F: And that's what they said. Hunger is a weapon, right? And it's so true. You either do what you have to do or you're going to die.
[00:37:00] Speaker D: I think it's funny how coriolaneous he couldn't get over the fact that his neighbor had eaten this lady's leg and probably cooked it up and that his friend lived there and so she probably ate this person. He's like, oh, I can't believe somebody would sink that low. And yet he is like the worst person.
[00:37:17] Speaker F: He's got like no moral compass. He thinks is bad, is like, are you listening to your really?
[00:37:24] Speaker D: Yeah, but I can kill everybody because it protects me. Did you see him killing the dean? He kills the dean at the end of it, yes. He just killed everybody. The doctor made it, but she's going to go eventually. Once he knows how to get to the archives.
[00:37:39] Speaker F: Right.
[00:37:39] Speaker D: And delete that video of him killing the tribute, did she know that would mean that he wouldn't kill her. She knows who he is. So she's like, oh, I erased everything except for the archive that I keep. So he knows there's an archive with this video of him. So he knows she's a threat. Once he gets that video, she is a goner.
[00:37:57] Speaker B: She is a goner. You're right.
[00:37:59] Speaker D: She's probably protecting herself because she thinks, like, him, she targeted them, being like, you are my legacy. Coriolanus Snow. Yeah. So did you guys know that there's.
[00:38:10] Speaker E: A Shakespeare character called Coriolanus Snow? No, I don't know about Snow.
[00:38:16] Speaker D: What play?
[00:38:17] Speaker E: I think the play is called Coriolanus.
[00:38:19] Speaker F: Really?
[00:38:20] Speaker E: Yeah.
I stumbled upon it because I was going to go hard on. Why would you put Anus in the name? So that every time we read it would be like, coral anus. Corio anus.
I just was so mad at the names, all of them, and saying it, too, to read it, saying it, it actually flows out pretty easily. Corio anus. It's not a big deal, but every time I read it, it was laborous.
[00:38:46] Speaker F: Laborious.
[00:38:46] Speaker E: I don't know, I hated reading all of these long, stupid, idiot names that are like.
Anyway, and then I don't know how I stumbled upon it because I thought it was one of the fully made up names, but it is a Shakespeare character. There's some theme, like, it probably was chosen on purpose.
[00:39:04] Speaker D: Okay, so this is what Wikipedia says. It says Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 16 five and 16 eight. The play is based on the life of the legendary roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. I can't say names, so just bear with me here, ladies. It's a name given to a roman general after his military feats against the Volskians.
[00:39:30] Speaker E: He gets, like, kicked out, and then he does what he has to do to come back and he's an egomaniac. Like, the themes are how ego takes you down or loyalty, like, questioning and things like that.
[00:39:42] Speaker F: Oh, well, that feels so relevant. Yeah.
[00:39:45] Speaker B: So it makes sense that it's his.
Even in my book report, I don't even call it him. I call him Cornelius because that's real name in my mind.
[00:39:55] Speaker D: So I'm like, Cornelius, whatever his name is.
[00:39:57] Speaker F: Cornelius.
[00:39:58] Speaker D: Oh, really?
[00:39:59] Speaker E: That's even stupider.
[00:40:00] Speaker D: His dad call him the same thing.
[00:40:02] Speaker E: We'll just move the letters around.
[00:40:03] Speaker F: Yeah, isn't it? And his name is.
[00:40:05] Speaker B: What is his name?
[00:40:05] Speaker F: Coriolanus.
[00:40:06] Speaker D: Coriolanus.
[00:40:07] Speaker B: Coriolanus.
[00:40:11] Speaker C: Did they call him Coriolanus in the other hunger games or just the snow bit?
[00:40:16] Speaker D: I don't know.
[00:40:16] Speaker E: I couldn't remember.
[00:40:17] Speaker F: It was just President Snow. Yeah, President Coriolanus Snow.
[00:40:22] Speaker D: No, his father's name is.
The x is what gave him away on the handkerchief. That's the only X name I know. Which is, like, funny that Xanthos is the only x name that he knows.
[00:40:37] Speaker E: In a world of crazy names. Exactly.
[00:40:39] Speaker F: Totally.
[00:40:40] Speaker D: You'd think there'd be more X names in that world, but everybody's got. Hilarious.
[00:40:47] Speaker E: Let's have a little highlight reel of some of the names, actually. Maybe mayor, if you're on your computer, are we all look up the characters, the character names. Yeah, let's hear them. Let's try to name some first, though, like Lisa. Strada, Tigris.
[00:41:00] Speaker F: We already pud parenting. Yeah, pud parenting, I think.
[00:41:03] Speaker D: Yes, parenting names. Oh, there's just so many. Yeah.
[00:41:08] Speaker E: Greed them.
[00:41:09] Speaker D: Flavius Porsche. Right?
[00:41:12] Speaker B: Porsche.
[00:41:12] Speaker D: Lavinia. Antonius. There's a lot of es pollocks. Glimmer. Oh, this is from, like, the first ones, but still.
[00:41:24] Speaker B: Oh, you have it. Perfect.
[00:41:25] Speaker E: Good job.
[00:41:26] Speaker D: Better at this.
[00:41:27] Speaker C: Persephone. Festus. Ephenia.
[00:41:32] Speaker E: I don't have time to sound that.
[00:41:33] Speaker C: Out while I'm reading Vipsania.
[00:41:37] Speaker D: Right. I just skip over names that don't come to me. Right. Exactly. That's what I did. Yeah.
[00:41:43] Speaker C: Domisha.
[00:41:44] Speaker F: Treach. I remember treach was a name.
[00:41:47] Speaker C: Arachni.
[00:41:48] Speaker D: Arachni is a funny one.
[00:41:50] Speaker F: I did like Arachnia.
[00:41:51] Speaker D: Well, I liked.
[00:41:52] Speaker E: There were three of them that I was like, okay, that's a cool name.
[00:41:55] Speaker D: Yeah.
Certainly someone out there is naming their kids after names from the Hunger games.
[00:42:00] Speaker E: It's Ashley, her fur baby.
[00:42:03] Speaker F: That my baby, choreo is the most handsome little man. That's not my fault.
[00:42:12] Speaker D: That's why there's baby names from the Hunger games. I'm just like, oh, man, I don't even want to look. But of course.
[00:42:18] Speaker C: Baby names from the Hunger games.
[00:42:21] Speaker D: It reminds me.
[00:42:21] Speaker E: Remember in Twilight when they named their stupid baby.
[00:42:27] Speaker D: Renes? Who renes? Me.
[00:42:29] Speaker F: Yeah, and they're dumb CGI, and it was awful.
[00:42:32] Speaker D: Are we talking about Twilight again?
Let's not get started.
[00:42:36] Speaker E: We should change the name of the podcast to Twilight. Interrupted. Because whenever we're not talking about Twilight, it's weird.
[00:42:45] Speaker D: Sarah, you're still obsessed.
[00:42:47] Speaker B: I've read everything now.
[00:42:49] Speaker D: She came out with something.
[00:42:53] Speaker F: Oh, see, that's how I feel about the Hunger games. You know what? Say less do a whole world.
[00:42:58] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: And you know what? I also have some of the songs from the movies I have on my playlist and stuff.
[00:43:03] Speaker D: Oh, nice. Kind of assessed.
[00:43:05] Speaker F: Yeah. Oh, same with the Hunger games. I think all of the soundtracks are so good. I have in my shuffle, all the.
Oh, one thing I did want to say earlier is, in the original Hunger games, we find out that snow's way of killing people, his preferred way, is, like, poison. That's why he's always wearing roses, is to block out the smell of blood from the poison. In this one, we really see him. We see him watch this dead rat die, and we see him kind of develop his signature kill move through it. Signature move? Yeah, his mo. So I think that's kind of neat. I do like some of the things that they brought in from the original Hunger games. Sometimes I was like, I think they're trying a little too hard to relate it, but stuff like that, it's kind of subtle. He'd really just be killing anyone with poison.
[00:43:57] Speaker D: Yeah, he loves poison.
[00:43:58] Speaker B: I have a quick question. What you guys think? Do you think the cousin Tigris is the same Tigris that helps Katniss and the group?
[00:44:05] Speaker C: Yes, it is.
[00:44:06] Speaker B: It's the same.
[00:44:07] Speaker F: Oh, yeah.
[00:44:09] Speaker D: Because she used to be in the games. But obviously, he kind of was like, no, you got to go away. But he didn't kill her. She knows a lot of stuff.
[00:44:16] Speaker F: He said he thought she was too ugly for the games anymore. She wasn't allowed to be a mentor or she wasn't a mentor. She was part of, like, the glam squad.
[00:44:28] Speaker D: But he probably wanted to remove her because she was a weakness for him. Because anybody else who knows so much about him, he would have killed long ago. Remember, he was like, I'll never fall in love again. But he probably actually loves Tigris. And so rather than have this weakness around him, he was like, you're too ugly. You must leave. Right. Because why else would he let her live in.
[00:44:50] Speaker F: Well, just even loving someone, period. He's probably like, oh, that can't happen. I can't let people know that I love someone else.
[00:44:58] Speaker D: Yeah. The other thing about the poison is in this book, he learns that killing people with force is a liability. Right? He shot somebody or two. I don't know.
[00:45:08] Speaker B: Two people. Yeah.
[00:45:09] Speaker F: He beat someone.
[00:45:11] Speaker D: Beat somebody, and then there's too much evidence left behind. Whereas poisoning. No, poisoning. He was getting away with that.
[00:45:19] Speaker F: Oh, totally.
[00:45:20] Speaker B: We should go around and say if we recommend the book or the movie or neither or both.
[00:45:28] Speaker F: So I would recommend the book if you read it. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook personally. And then I would totally recommend the movie. If you want to see it, let me know.
I'll go see it. I'll set it up on the projector. It was my Christmas present to myself, so. Absolutely.
[00:45:49] Speaker E: That's great.
[00:45:50] Speaker F: What about you guys?
[00:45:51] Speaker E: I can go next.
[00:45:52] Speaker B: You go next.
[00:45:53] Speaker E: I don't know why I chose to go next because I don't really know yet.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: You go now, America, she's going to.
[00:46:00] Speaker D: Think same as Ashley. I'd recommend the book. It was good. I enjoyed it. I had not the audiobook. Same. I didn't watch the movie yet.
I maybe watch one movie a month. And who has the time? I don't know. I don't. So I will spend my time elsewhere. So I don't know yet, but I will try to watch it.
[00:46:23] Speaker F: Okay, let me know.
[00:46:24] Speaker D: I'll let you know later.
[00:46:26] Speaker F: Do a Zoom watch too.
Say less.
[00:46:31] Speaker D: There you go. Ashley just hooked you up. Excellent.
[00:46:36] Speaker C: I would recommend the book except for the last bit. No, I actually liked it. And I would recommend the movie, but I wouldn't recommend watching the movie right after you finish the book because then you've just noticed all of the things. So I would say either take a break or maybe watch the movie first, read the book later, because then you'll be like, oh, there's a lot of backstory in there.
[00:46:57] Speaker E: Maybe you can appreciate it.
[00:46:59] Speaker B: Maybe.
[00:47:00] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:47:01] Speaker C: I like them both. I agree with Ashley. I like the world that the authors created. And I think it's really interesting that she's now done that and then gone back and was able to create more of the backstory for these characters. So it's just fun. It's easy and it's sad, but it's just easy fiction. Fun that these kids get killed.
[00:47:23] Speaker E: It's just fiction. It's okay for us to do this.
[00:47:27] Speaker D: We're not monsters. We're not snakes.
[00:47:31] Speaker F: I wouldn't go and watch it in real life, I swear.
[00:47:38] Speaker B: I recommend both. I like them both. And I think they did a good job doing the movie considering it's such a long book and there's so much just internal dialogue that you can't really put in a movie, so you have to kind of show things. Yeah, I really liked it.
[00:47:50] Speaker D: And I would recommend both of them.
[00:47:51] Speaker E: So mine's like, Lindsay's in that except for different. I don't like the end of the book, right. So I'm like, I recommend the book except for the end, but I do think you should watch the movie right after you read the book. Because that's why I think I was able to enjoy the movie. That's why I was like, I'm not sure if I recommend this or not because my recommendation is actually really specific. Read the book, then watch the movie and then call me because I'd love to talk about what you thought.
[00:48:18] Speaker D: Right.
[00:48:18] Speaker E: It's like a total book clubby type recommendation. I can't decide if I like them or not. Had I never read them or watched them, I probably would be totally okay. I don't feel like you're missing out if you don't have these things. But that's why I'm like, if you are going to have them, have them all. And then let's talk about it. Because there is some interesting stuff, as we all know, because we just discussed.
[00:48:39] Speaker F: It for the last hour and I could. For a lot longer.
[00:48:44] Speaker D: Yeah.
I just thought of something. A lot of people have book clubs and stuff. Do you ever hear if somebody have a movie club, be fun to have a group that you watch a movie together and then everyone talks about the movie. Be like, let's not talk about this one. Right. I think a lot of people would have more time for that. Be like, great, I'll watch the movie the day before. Not you.
[00:49:03] Speaker C: You're like, who has time to watch movies?
[00:49:05] Speaker D: Because it takes just two days to watch. But that should be season five.
[00:49:09] Speaker F: No books.
[00:49:10] Speaker D: Yeah. No book interrupted is completely interrupted by movies only.
It's just like, by the time the kids go to bed, by the time I have to go to bed, we watch a movie, then I don't get enough sleep. So we have to split it in two. And then if it's like a really long movie, then you're like watching the same movie for like a week.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: Spoiler alert for next episode.
[00:49:30] Speaker D: And then you don't want to watch tv every day. Like, I just don't want to. Right. I don't know. It's tough to watch. At least this season will be interesting.
[00:49:38] Speaker B: I wonder if it's common that because so far the movies have been longer movies for the books that we've read. And the one coming up, I've watched the movie as well.
[00:49:50] Speaker E: Epray love wasn't a long movie.
[00:49:52] Speaker F: Or was it felt long?
[00:49:54] Speaker D: It was 2 hours.
[00:49:55] Speaker B: It wasn't like an hour and a half.
[00:49:57] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:49:57] Speaker D: I didn't enjoy it. Right. Yeah.
[00:49:59] Speaker B: So I'm just saying I wonder if that's the theme a book turned into a movie ends up being a longer movie because they're trying to fit in more stuff.
[00:50:06] Speaker D: And then people still say the book was better because it had more details. And they're like, we tried. We made it really long. Yeah.
People are complaining we made it 10 hours.
[00:50:18] Speaker E: It doesn't apply to everything, though, because Shawshank, I don't think, is a particular.
[00:50:22] Speaker A: Oh, I think Shawshank actually is a two hour movie.
[00:50:24] Speaker D: It's a short story, and it's a short story, and it's a short story that's a Good. And they do it and they do everything.
[00:50:31] Speaker E: So that's what we need. That's the formula.
[00:50:34] Speaker A: Short story to movie seems to be on a map.
[00:50:37] Speaker E: Like, one inch is a mile. It's like short story to movie.
Otherwise you have to have, like, three movies to tell a book, limited.
[00:50:45] Speaker F: And then you might as well have a limited series.
[00:50:47] Speaker E: Yeah, I love limited series. That's the way of the future. I'll take six episodes.
[00:50:52] Speaker F: Dude, if the Hunger Games wanted to be a series, and I was just thinking about this.
[00:50:56] Speaker D: Oh, that could be the seven.
[00:50:57] Speaker E: The way we watch all 75.
[00:50:59] Speaker D: Yes. You can have every 76 seasons.
[00:51:04] Speaker F: I'm not even going to be here running show.
[00:51:07] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:51:09] Speaker F: I would watch every year.
It would consume my life. So I'm almost happy. That's not a thing.
[00:51:15] Speaker D: But if they wanted to.
[00:51:20] Speaker F: I'll adapt. It's fine.
[00:51:21] Speaker D: I'll binge watching and watching 70 Hunger games in, like, 70 days. It would change you, right? Change who you are.
[00:51:29] Speaker F: You would be such a violent person. I think you'd be coriotous. Yeah.
[00:51:33] Speaker D: The way you would think is Coriolatus.
[00:51:36] Speaker F: You'd be like, children dying. That's normal. Like, I don't know what your issue is.
[00:51:40] Speaker D: Yeah. Everything is a weapon. You're like, can I use that as a weapon? Can I hide over there? Where's the closest water source?
[00:51:48] Speaker G: Anyone?
[00:51:51] Speaker D: Oh, my God. That's awesome. All right.
[00:51:53] Speaker E: Holy moly.
[00:51:54] Speaker B: Well, do you want to wrap that up? Any last words? Otherwise, we'll move to the.
[00:51:59] Speaker F: Yeah. Snow lands on top.
[00:52:00] Speaker E: Yes, good one.
[00:52:01] Speaker D: Snow lands on top. I like when the dean was like, snow is falling. It's like, no, he's going to kill you, buddy.
[00:52:08] Speaker F: Oh, I know. I love just the play on words with his last name. I love it throughout the movie. It might be because he's hot, and I just. Him saying Snow always lands on top, or whatever. Oof.
[00:52:21] Speaker D: You're like, on top of me.
[00:52:29] Speaker F: He's so handsome. Oh, my God. It's, like, beyond handsome. Yeah. He also models for Hermes. Like, obviously. He's so picture perfect. So yeah. Anyways, huge fan over here. Recommend.
[00:52:43] Speaker D: Too bad he's a huge monster. Corey Lanis.
[00:52:46] Speaker E: Not the guy.
[00:52:47] Speaker F: All men.
[00:52:47] Speaker D: No, I know. I don't know about this guy. He could be, but probably.
[00:52:51] Speaker E: We don't know.
[00:52:53] Speaker D: Hopefully not. If he's listening, let us know. Why don't you write in and let us know how you are as a person. Are you a monster?
Are you a monster?
He would never say it. He'd be like, no, I had to do all those things.
[00:53:07] Speaker F: And I'd be like, that's right, you did. You don't got to explain to me.
[00:53:13] Speaker C: You could just land on top and we're good.
[00:53:18] Speaker F: I'll destroy people's lives with you. That's a power couple in a red suit.
[00:53:25] Speaker E: That's a power couple.
[00:53:27] Speaker D: It is. Are you kidding?
[00:53:29] Speaker F: Yeah. I'll change my last name to snow right away.
[00:53:34] Speaker E: Are you on the next episode?
[00:53:35] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:53:36] Speaker E: I know what your name is going to be.
[00:53:38] Speaker D: Oh, do you.
[00:53:41] Speaker F: Love it?
[00:53:42] Speaker D: All right, well, thanks for reading my book.
[00:53:45] Speaker E: Thanks for recommending.
[00:53:46] Speaker D: Great pick. Thank you.
[00:53:49] Speaker B: This interruption is brought to you by unpublished. Do you want to know more about the members in book interrupted? Go behind the scenes, visit our
[email protected]. Book interrupted.
All right, so here's my interruption. Book interrupted was banned. So our eat, pray, love episode, I used our joke that it was our lawsuit episode and I'm guessing that the AI from Spotify didn't understand it was a joke and they banned that episode and I had to fill out forms indicating why it shouldn't be banned. I have no intention on suing a restaurant 20 years after I choked in it and the person that we claimed was deceased was in fact passed away.
[00:54:45] Speaker C: It was just a joke.
[00:54:46] Speaker B: And yeah, so after our banned book season, book interrupted was banned, but only temporarily. I think we were banned for about two weeks. And then Spotify rectified the situation and we're back on there. So if you'd like to listen to eat, pray love on Spotify, it is now available book interrupted.
It's book report time. We're going to find out from each member their final thoughts and do they recommend the book. Let's listen.
[00:55:15] Speaker G: Hi, book lovers, and welcome back. This is Ashley and it's my personal journal for the Hunger Games ballad of songbirds. And know going into this, I knew I was going to like it. That's why I chose the book. I really do enjoy the Hunger Games series and I was so excited for the addition of this book to the series. And just to be transparent though, the very first time I read this book, I did not like it. I thought it relied too heavily on the singing. And I know that it's a ballad of songbirds and snakes, but I felt I was reading a song almost every other page. That's what it felt like anyways. I didn't super like that. And I did feel like Suzanne Collins was trying to connect Snow's early on life too hard to Katniss later on. But then I saw the movie when it came out. Absolutely loved the cast, I love Tom Blythe and he really made Snow kind of come to life to me and rereading it. Loved it, loved it so, so much. And that's kind of what I did with the original Hunger Games is I didn't read them until after I saw the movie, at least the first one. And I was really not interested in the Hunger Games until I saw the movie and then rereading it. I really enjoyed the original books and so I'm not really surprised that that happened this time. I tend to like things better the second time watching or reading anyways. But yeah, I would really recommend this book. I think it's better if you read the original trilogy personally, but I could see it as a standalone book. I just think there's so many important Easter eggs that would be maybe not caught. But yeah, Suzanne Collins killed it on this one as she does with majority of her books. I would absolutely recommend this book. I would recommend watching the movie as well. And if you or anyone you know want to watch the movie, let me know because I'm an absolute fan of it. I will watch it every day if I have to. I hope everyone listening also enjoys the book as much as I do, and if not, I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts on why they do or do not like the book. Thank you.
[00:57:36] Speaker D: It's a prequel to the Hunger Games trilogy. I read this book back when we did the Hunger Games in season three. I ended up reading the entire series and it was the first time I had done so. So I wanted to cram so I could talk about it with the ladies today. And I listened to the audiobook on double time. So I've consumed this book very recently, kind of all at once in a big like super speed blast of audiobook, which is an interesting way to review a book. I kind of liked it. If I could get a hard copy, I would have. However, now that it's a movie, all the copies in the library are taken out and on hold. So I couldn't get it that way. I like that. It's called the ballad of song. Birds and snakes. Like, there's more than one bird and there's more than one snake. You're meant to think, I believe, or maybe just your bias is meant to believe that. Cornelius Snow, is that his name? Corleanus. Corleanus Snow. Corio. Let's call him Corio. Corios Snow is the snake and he's the bad guy because we know that. I mean, in the Hunger Games, he kind of does become the bad guy, although I think you're supposed to question that a little bit at the end, too, because he doesn't really believe he's the bad guy anyway. And then I think you're also supposed to believe that Lucy Gray is the songbird. Unthreatening songbirds, aren't they? But she does seem to attack people with snakes quite a bit. So there we go. We've got some imagery from the book. They're both a songbird, saying things that are pleasing or singing and pleasing others with their words or song. And they're both snakes, perhaps deceiving and hiding in the underbrush, doing things that other people don't expect and looking out for themselves, so willing to kill to defend themselves. Even at the end, Lucy Gray still has this image that she is an innocent and that she is something that needs to be. You know, she's no slouch. She knows how to take care of herself and how to manipulate others, just like choreo does Corleanus.
Now that I say that word, after talking to Kim, I can't stop thinking anus every time I say it.
Anyway, I been listening to the soundtrack and I liked it quite a bit. And this was just another fun book that I recommend. After listening to it again. I wonder if I got anything else out of it after listening to it again. Not really. I mean, some books, when you get to the end, you go, oh, and you need to go back and listen to it again to see what's going on. Maybe a little bit more of the dean's information came through than it did the first time, but that's about it. I have not watched the movie, but only because of time. But I do plan on watching it. And since I don't really have a ton of time right now to watch a lot of movies, I kind of didn't want to buy it to watch, seeing as it's brand new. And I know that it will probably be available on some streaming service fairly soon for free, or at least for my monthly fee. Yeah. I say go see it. I wish I had watched the movie first. I felt the same way about the other Hunger Games books because I watched the movies first and enjoyed them, and then I read the books. I think this was going to be the same where I'm going to wish they'd done things differently. But who knows? Time will tell.
[01:00:54] Speaker B: This is my final book report. I want to say final book report, but now we're just doing one book, one episode. So this is my book report or personal journal for the ballot of Songbergs and Snakes, Ashley's book pick. I love the Hunger Games series. And we read the first one last season for banned books. And this was the prequel to that book, which is very interesting because it's basically telling you how President Snow became so evil. And it's president Snow, Cornelius Snow, as a teenager, and I really liked hearing his voice. He's the narrative of the, you know, if I hadn't read the other Hunger games, I would have had real sympathy for him. He's trying to pretend that they're not broke and that he's still from an affluent family and he's super smart, but he kind of has to go through life very carefully and kind of tricking people. And he finally found someone that he loved and kind of let his guard down with, which was Lucy Gray. And it's Lucy Gray, right? I think so. Anyway, I just feel so sad about the end, but it makes sense because his little mantras, like, Snow's on top or something like that. Snow always falls on top. Something along those lines. He's basically taught just to win. Now, there's something that was different in the book than the movie, and they made his cousin kind of imply that his dad was, like, evil. Like he wasn't a great person and that Cornelius isn't that guy kind of like a warning not to be like his dad, like, he's better than his dad. And then by the end, she basically comments that he's become his dad, which means basically he became, you know, if you're a sociopath, all you care about is winning, right? So he's kind of taught just to care about winning. So I thought that was really sad. If it wasn't a prequel and I didn't know he was going to become evil, I would have been cheering that he ran off with Lucy Gray and they lived happily ever after, but obviously that's not what was going to happen. You have empathy for his journey, but you can see how certain decisions that he made along the way turned him into the person he was and also the environmental factors, like maybe if that Dean wasn't after him and maybe if the game maker didn't see that potential evilness in him and all these other things. So that was really interesting. Anyway, so I thought it was a great read. I'm looking forward to talking to everyone about it, especially Ashley, because she so.
[01:03:32] Speaker D: Loves the Hunger Games. So it's so fun to talk to her.
[01:03:35] Speaker B: And I thought the movie did a pretty good job, just like the other Hunger games. I think they did a decent job putting the novel into a movie. I didn't feel like it was vastly different. I kind of liked some of the things they did, like pointing out don't turn into your father kind of thing. I liked hearing his voice, so I knew when I watched the movie the kind of the things he was thinking and feeling. I think the movie, you feel less sympathy for him than you do when you read the book. So that's the only criticism I have. But obviously they can't do, like when they do over talking, I can't remember what's called, but they have him talk over his character, who's not talking so you could hear his voice. They would have to do that a lot to make this one work because he doesn't reveal so much about himself regularly.
So I would recommend the book. And I would recommend the movie too. It's decent. You're not going to be like, oh, I hate watching movies. I read books, so this one's a good one. All right, bye for now.
[01:04:35] Speaker A: I am trying to start my personal journal for Hunger Games. There we go. The video is now started as well. Here we go. We are together. I'm not finished this book yet because I'm actually reading it rather than listening to it because I heard from Meredith and actually Ashley now that there's some disappointment to be found in the audiobook. So fine, whatever. And I like to have this book in my physical possession too. Anyways, I didn't think I was going to like it and I friggin love it. I'm about halfway through, so we'll see if I enjoy the conclusion or whatever. But so far so good. Really happy, super excited to watch the movie. But I'm a fool because I've felt this way before. With the exception of Shawshank redemption, have never ever liked the movie that's been based on a book. So we'll see. But I just wanted to do this personal journal now because I'm fresh in the book. And I don't want to forget like I do because I'll be done that book. And then by the time we record this, actually, it wouldn't be too long. Anyway, neither here nor there. Bookies. I just want you to know that I'm enjoying this book. It's extra exciting because I thought I wasn't going to like it. So I kind of started at like a deficit and now I'm achieving a liking, which makes the space between deficit and liking extra. Do you see what I'm saying with that math there? That was a very visual idea for me, so I don't know if it'll come across to the listener. Anyway, that's what it is. Ballad of songbirds and snakes good job. Although I think we were kind of talking about this at the end of eat, pray, love.
[01:06:19] Speaker E: And maybe I'm going to make it.
[01:06:20] Speaker A: My mission to mention eat, pray, love in all of my personal journals because so far I have and I know that I will. Anyway, the book itself is good and interesting. I lost my train of thought. Oh, I know what I was going to say. I said this at the end of that episode is the songs. That's what the feedback was from Meredith, is that the songs aren't sang in the audiobook, they're just read. And I can't even believe who dropped that ball. That's so crazy to me. Get an artist and have them sing the songs. Like get a number one single attached to your book and your movie. And Ashley has seen the movie four times at this point, which is it could be changed by the time we actually air this, but it doesn't sound like they've made a song. I haven't heard any songs on the. So, like, what is going on? Why would they not seize the opportunity to have a full song for this book? I don't even understand that. That's crazy to me. That's where I'll end. But I do like the book, even though I don't like the decisions around how to promote.
[01:07:23] Speaker D: Right. I'm back. Back again.
[01:07:26] Speaker B: Check it, wreck it, let's begin.
[01:07:28] Speaker C: Actually, I don't really think those are the words to the song, but welcome back.
[01:07:33] Speaker D: I'm back.
[01:07:33] Speaker C: Lindsay is back at book, interrupted. I'm sure you all missed me so much over the last year. I know I really did miss you. And I'm so excited to see all the gals later on and catch up and see them and hear what they think of the books. But let's dive into the what are we reading? The Hunger Games the prequel. Because I wasn't here last season, you all should know that I loved the Hunger Games. I read them all super fast when they came out how many years ago? And so I was really excited to read this. And I liked it. I did really like it. I read the first maybe two thirds so fast, and then I got to the last third. Okay, wait, hold on. This is spoiler alert. So if you do not want to hear anything about the end of the book, then please plug your ears, la la la, so that you don't hear. Okay, you have time.
[01:08:27] Speaker D: Okay.
[01:08:28] Speaker C: At the end, when they go to district twelve, I found that one to be a little bit slower, a little bit harder to read. It took me a while to read, but I still really liked it. And I like the build up of maybe I shouldn't give away too much, but the climax at the end. So I read it. It was great. Not as good as Hunger Games, but still pretty good. And you kept waiting to see whether Corelinas like how he turned bad. That was the whole thing. It was like, what's going to happen? So they turned bad. So then I watched the movie right afterwards, and it was really hard because the movie was different than the book. And I kept having to stop the movie to tell my partner, well, in the book they did this, and in the book, this was there. And in the book, I think both of us found, well, it was hard for me to distinguish between the two, but I think both of us found that in the book, it was such a build up that it made sense at the end, that climax. But during the movie, it kind of just came about and you're like, what's happening? So I think that unfortunately, maybe the movie could have been two movies. I think the Hunger Games bit and then the district twelve bit. And I think that would have been better because they would have been able to flesh out the characters a bit more. But I think the acting was great.
Anyways, that's it.
[01:09:45] Speaker B: I'm so happy to be back, and.
[01:09:48] Speaker C: We'Ll see you all soon.
[01:09:49] Speaker D: Bye.
[01:09:51] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us on this episode of book Interrupted. If you'd like to see the video highlights from this episode, please go to our YouTube channel book interrupted. You can also find our videos on www.bookinterrupted.com.
[01:10:06] Speaker D: Are you interested in joining the conversation and having your comment played on the podcast? Simply find a quiet place and record a voice memo, then send it to
[email protected]. Or you could do it the old fashioned way and leave us a voicemail at 416-900-8603 we look forward to hearing from you soon.
[01:10:28] Speaker B: Hey, so if you'd like to read along with us, our next book pick is Kim's book Killers of the Flower Moon by David Gran. We'll see you next month on book interrupted. Book interrupted.
[01:10:40] Speaker A: Never forget, every child matters.
