[00:00:00] Speaker A: Did you know book Interrupted has swag? Check out our swag shop on Bookinterrupted.com. There's hats, t shirts, tanks and a whole bunch more. Go to www.bookinterrupted.com.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: 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.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: We are talking about the book The Hunger Games.
[00:00:30] Speaker C: Hamich is encouraging the fake relationship.
[00:00:33] Speaker D: He sexualizes her and Leah's with Jennifer.
[00:00:36] Speaker E: Lawrence, so hence she thinks she's so amazing.
[00:00:39] Speaker D: I would kiss somebody to survive though, so I could do that. I got that.
[00:00:43] Speaker F: These rich countries that get to be gluttonous with food and resources and power and electricity and it just feels so.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Wrong to read a book after you've seen the movies.
[00:00:53] Speaker G: I think I would die still. But my body information is the goal without the my body is information is trying to learn something without being disrupted.
Mind, body and soul inspiration is with us and we're going to talk it out on Book Interrupted.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Welcome to Book Interrupted, a book club for busy people to connect and one that celebrates life's interruptions. During this banned book cycle, we're reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book has been banned for antifamily, insensitivity, offensive language, violence, religious viewpoint, occult, and sexuality. If you'd like to follow along, this book cycle is from April 1 to June 1.
[00:02:01] Speaker C: The Hunger Games is a 2008 Dystopian novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the perspective of 16 year old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the future postapocalyptic nation of Pan M, a North American country consisting of the wealthy capital and 13 districts in varying states of poverty. Every year, children from the first twelve districts are selected via lottery to participate in a compulsory televised battle royale death match called The Hunger Games, the book received critical acclaim from the major reviewers and authors. It was praised for its plot and character development. In writing The Hunger Games, Collins drew upon Greek mythology, Roman gladiatorial games, and contemporary reality television for thematic content.
The novel won many awards, including the California Young Reader Medal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year in 2008. In 2016, the Hunger Games took the number five spot on the American Library Association Most Challenged Books list. The reason for this stated it was banned due to insensitivity, offensive language, violence, antifamily, antiethic and occult Satanic. In 2014, the novel was also banned for reasons of inserted religious perspective. In a 2021 article in The City Voice, author Maya Overman observes Suzanne Collins encourages readers to question authority and fight back when there is something wrong. Perhaps such a popular book is such a popular book, and one banned because people in power don't like that power being questioned. And later Overman concludes, The Hunger Games teaches the importance of questioning leaders and fighting back when they do questionable things. And that is the true reason for why it is such a commonly banned book.
[00:03:59] Speaker B: All right, so it's personal journal time. Let's see what the members of Book Interrupted thought outside the group.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: Hi, everybody. This is my personal journal for Hunger Games volume one. So I'm happy to be back with the gang, the band's back together again and doing a book with you guys, though, I think I actually voted for Hunger Games now. I don't know why I'm reading it. It's so wrong to watch a movie. Having watched the three movies, I don't know, years ago and then read it now is like, totally messing with my brain. It doesn't belong in that order. Granted, most books you read and they're fabulous, and then you go and watch the movie and you're upset because they completely botched it. This is like the same in a bad way. It's not great. I don't love it and it's absolutely not. I don't know, it's just like the book is different from the movie and the book's better. But the book isn't jiving with me. But I'm on chapter eight and I really am looking forward to reading with you guys, maybe not necessarily the book. So I'll see you guys soon. And happy book interrupted. Bye.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: This is my personal journal number one for Hunger Games. Now, this is going to be difficult because I already read the whole book and I'm tempted to pretend like I didn't and act like how I felt because I felt two different ways, one way in the beginning and one way near the end. So I don't really know how to go about it. I'll just tell you about it in two halves of a story, and I guess I'll just stop recording in between and you'll hear it on one episode and then another. So I'm also a little bit annoyed with myself because the new format allows for me to hear the episode before. Like, I can listen to all of episode one and then I can make my second personal journal after. My whole point is I usually I'm really messing this up. Bear with me, listeners. Bear with me, bookies.
Normally I listen to an episode and I have a whole bunch of thoughts and things to say, but I have no format to say them because we've already concluded the whole thing and then it's just being published. That's just the timing of how it was working when we were recording more frequently and releasing more episodes. So now that we're not recording as frequently, I have an opportunity to hear an episode before I've finished doing all my stuff. So I could technically comment on the episode, which is what I've been waiting to do all season, last season, which I didn't know would be a nice side effect from this season structure. But now that I'm here and I have this actual opportunity after realizing it.
[00:07:09] Speaker G: I can't remember what I was going to fucking say. So how about that.
[00:07:13] Speaker C: Anyway, I will do what I didn't do this time next time, and write it down because I like the idea that my personal journal will be responsive to the last episode.
[00:07:29] Speaker D: Even though these.
[00:07:29] Speaker C: Ones will not be because like I said, my brain does not remember. Anyway, back to Hunger Games. So I will tell you this. This is the first book that I've ever endeavored to read twice. Actually, you know what's funny? I just finished my personal journal, final personal journal for When dad killed mom, and in that I reference Holes by Louise.
And I just realized what right now while I'm talking, that I've actually read that book more than once. So I'm dishonest. Well, I wouldn't call it dishonest. I'm inaccurate. And again, memory. Okay, stick with me people. So this is maybe the second book.
[00:08:11] Speaker D: That I've ever had to read twice.
[00:08:14] Speaker C: This is personal journal one. So I'll tell you, this is how I felt at the beginning. I did not want to do it, and as I began, I felt whiny, like, I don't want to read this book. Again, it was very difficult for me in the very beginning before they go into The Hunger Games, at the very beginning when it's like describing Katniss and I don't know, District Twelve and her sister and her mother hunting and all that setup. I really didn't enjoy rereading that. And I felt like that lack of enjoyment was indicative of what my whole experience of rereading The Hunger Games was going to be. And I felt all like, see, this is why I don't reread books except for Holes. Anyway, so you'll just have to tune into my final book report to find out if I was right. Although I believe I did a little bit of a spoiler at the beginning of this episode, saying that I didn't feel like that when I felt like this, like there was two different experiences. So you can probably put two and two together and figure out what I am going to say, but I'm going to make you wait till then nonetheless.
[00:09:23] Speaker D: Bye.
This is actually the first time that I've read The Hunger Games. I watched the movie years ago. I have to say it's a fun read. I said this on the group discussion, but it's kind of like reading an action movie. So you get to the end of a chapter and you just want to go right into the next chapter, which is kind of cool. People who aren't familiar with the Hunger Games in it. Every year there's The Hunger Games and there's twelve districts, and they pick a girl and a boy, not a man and a woman, a girl and a boy from each district to compete to the death. And I say girl and boy because they're between the ages of twelve and 18, and so they draw names to see who's going to go and in it, the main character the heroine of the story, her sister gets pulled, and she volunteers to go into The Games. For her, it's the only way that you can get out of going into The Games once your name is pulled. Interesting thing about this book is it also shows kind of how something like this, and fear, can change the relationships of the people in the district. So they're being very controlled by The Capitol. The Capitol has these Hunger Games every year to try to keep them controlled and keep them living in fear. Notably in the book, in Katniss Everdeen's district, this is the first time anybody's ever volunteered for another Tribute so essentially saved that person's life. And I think that does speak to how The Hunger Games and the controlling nature of the dystopian world in the book has changed the relationships of the people in the districts to the point where they just figure, well, maybe they might die anyway, so why would I volunteer? Or it's another way to make their lives not as good. Or try to control who they are by changing their idea of worth of their loved ones. Because some of their loved ones are starving and some of them are going to die in a coal mining accident. Some of them might go to The Hunger Games or whatever. And then, so, notably, the difference, the heroine, is that she volunteers to help her younger sister, who in the future still could be called into The Hunger Games again. So I haven't really teased it what I think about that. I just kind of thought about that right now. It does change the relationships. And there's other districts where people do regularly volunteer. But those people are being trained from a young age so that they can win The Games. So it's more of a strategic thing. And then I think about those Tributes, what their lives must be like if they're being trained from a young age to be a killer. So not only is it give them a better chance, I guess, to attain glory, because they win something for their district, but what does that tell them about how the people in their lives, the adults in their lives, view their worth? Their worth is all wrapped up in how strong they are or whether they can win rather than who they are.
But it reads as an action book. So you can think about all these deep things about the state of the world and how the people who have a lot rely on people who have very little working hard and producing. So the people who want to be wasteful can be wasteful. So there's going to be some discussions about that, I'm sure, when we talk about this book. So, so far, I really like it, actually. I have to admit. I've already finished the book. I was planning on reading half of it before we met today. Instead, I read the whole thing, and then the whole second book. So by the time you see me again, I will have read the third book as well, and then watched all the movies. So Hunger Games. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. I can see why it was so popular when it first came out.
[00:13:03] Speaker F: So I've already read this book. I read it when it really first came out. I read all three books before the movies came out. I'm pretty sure it was about 1011 years ago. Ten years ago. My first child was a baby. When I was reading it. I was on my first maternity leave, and I devoured it. I read all three books in, I think, a week. Lindsay actually lent it to me because she said it was so good that I should read it. And she's right. I devoured it. Every chapter leaves a cliffhanger. So you really want to read the next chapter? You don't want to put down the book. It's that engaging. I can see why it's banned, because it's really violent. It's about how The Capitol has different districts. Actually, it's not that far off from our actual world. It's basically like the districts are used to feed the greedy capital, so the districts or countries are used to just feed the greedy capital. That overindulges and is basically a gluttonous society.
So it's not that far fetched. But what they do in this book is they have twelve to 18 year olds who go into a game and basically have to kill each other, and only one can win. So that's the really super violent part. And they commercialize it like it's a show. So it's disturbing. But it's so excellent, this dystopia novel, the whole series. I want to read the next one again because I actually finished it again. I read this ten years ago, and then I started reading it for this, and I couldn't put down. So I literally just finished the whole thing once again in less than a week. It's that good. So I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else thought about this book and chatting with everyone. All right, bye for now.
[00:14:51] Speaker G: Hey, guys. This is Ashley, and this is my personal journal for The Hunger Games. I'm very, very excited to be doing this book. This is probably my favorite trilogy of ever, I think. Honestly. I believe this is my third time reading the first one. I rewatch The Hunger Games yearly, if not twice a year, so when I heard that we were doing The Hunger Games, I was so excited. I started reading this book almost a month ago because I was just so happy. I absolutely love just all the detail that goes into the book. One thing I don't particularly love about the books versus the movies, even though I know this isn't a podcast. Comparing the two is the books are so based on Katniss's perspective and how she is seeing things, which is really awesome because we do get a lot of background, but the movies show so much of what everyone else is also dealing with, which really helps bring the whole world together, in my opinion. It's not just a broody teen who's going through some really tough stuff. The whole world that they live in is really going through a lot. That's what I really like about the movies. Other than that, I'm very stoked to see what the other ladies think of the book, if they've read it before and whether or not they think they would do well in The Hunger Games. I don't think I would, but at the same time, I don't know. Maybe I could just, with some luck, get a few sponsors, hide out, perhaps. I don't know. I could. Maybe, probably not. But who knows? I also don't think I would be a career tribute. Those are from, I believe, the first two or three districts. I feel like I wouldn't be in the very portrait, but you know what? I don't know. I don't know. That's really hard. I should have taken a test to see. Anyways, I'm rambling on. I love this book. I love the series. Yes, I picture Katniss and PETA and Gail and Hamidge as who the actors are. I watched the first movie before I read any of the books, so when the first movie came out, I watched it immediately, went and bought the book. Read that in a day. Read the second book in a day. The third book not my favorite. It took me a few weeks to get through, but absolutely love the movies, and I don't know if a book that we read will top how excited I am about this one, so I hope you guys enjoy as well. Thank you.
[00:17:39] Speaker E: All right, so here I am. I'm about to surprise everybody and jump on the middle of their taping of The Hunger Games. Their first taping, and I'm pretty excited. I was looking for a mask because.
[00:17:52] Speaker D: I think I said before that I was going to put a mask on, but I can't find one because I'm at my parents, so I'll just surprise.
[00:18:00] Speaker E: Them with my beautiful face.
[00:18:03] Speaker G: Okay.
[00:18:04] Speaker D: I'm excited.
[00:18:05] Speaker A: Are you?
[00:18:06] Speaker G: I'm hoping they've already started and I'm.
[00:18:08] Speaker E: Like, actually interrupting in the middle. HOMEBOOK interrupted.
Recording in progress.
[00:18:15] Speaker F: Surprise.
[00:18:17] 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. Here's my lovely interruption. So my ten year old daughter has been sneaking me little love notes. So what she's been doing is I might open a book that I'm reading for the podcast, and instead of a bookmark, I have a little love note from her telling me she loves me. Or I go to my computer and she's put a postit note on my computer that says, I love you a lot, mama and hearts and things like that or the best mum ever I.
[00:19:03] Speaker D: Found in the kitchen the other day.
[00:19:04] Speaker F: When I went to cook dinner.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: So this is a lovely interruption, and I just want to give a shout out to my lovely, beautiful daughter. Thanks for the lovely interruption. It's nice to feel loved. Book Interrupted let's listen in to this episode's. Group discussion.
[00:19:23] Speaker A: Welcome everybody. We are talking about the book the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is Hunger Games. One. Not two, not three, just one.
[00:19:34] Speaker D: Here we go.
[00:19:35] Speaker F: Has anyone else read it before?
[00:19:37] Speaker D: I hadn't read it before. I was going to read half, and then I just read the whole thing. And then I read the second book. And then I watched both of those movies. And then I have the third book.
[00:19:46] Speaker G: On hold at the library.
[00:19:47] Speaker D: I've never read these. And somebody's like, oh, the Hunger Games. What do you think I'm like? It's like reading an action movie. That's what it is, right? It is an action it's talking about serious stuff, dystopia stuff. Some of it may be close to home in some ways. You're like, I could maybe see this happening. But at the same time, it points out the symbolism for you. You're not like looking for the symbolism and trying to tease out all the meanings of stuff. It's like reading an action movie. It'll tell you this is the symbolism in here, right? Which is nice. You could really move through it. And I'd seen the movies years ago, but I have no memory for movies, so it was nice. So I read the first two, and we watched the first two, and now I got to oh, my hold just came in the library, so I'll be reading the third.
[00:20:28] Speaker G: Oh, wow. Awesome. This is my third or fourth time rereading.
[00:20:34] Speaker F: You do like The Hunger Games.
[00:20:36] Speaker G: Listen, when I tell you I was the prime age when this came out as the movie Obsessed. I was absolutely obsessed with it. I've seen the movie probably 100 times. All of them. I watched them yearly once or twice.
Just obsessed.
[00:20:53] Speaker C: And actually, do you have your own reaping?
[00:20:55] Speaker D: Yearly reaping?
[00:20:59] Speaker C: Yeah, she literally has a yearly reaping. It's time.
[00:21:02] Speaker G: Oh, I do. Yes. And I get emotional every time, too. Every time. But I went to South Korea in 2018. 2019. And Catching Fire is my favorite book of all time.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Is that number two or three?
[00:21:17] Speaker D: Two.
[00:21:17] Speaker G: Number two, yeah, number two. So I got the book in Korean. Oh, cool. Yeah. So it's pretty cool. I don't know. You probably can't read it closer.
[00:21:29] Speaker C: Yeah, that's cool.
[00:21:30] Speaker D: Do you read Korean?
[00:21:32] Speaker G: No, not at all.
[00:21:34] Speaker D: It's just a souvenir I was just.
[00:21:36] Speaker G: Like, that's so cool. Just to have my favorite book in one of my favorite places that I oh, fun ever went.
[00:21:42] Speaker A: That's very cool. Just as like, a memorabilia now. Was it banned in South Korea?
[00:21:49] Speaker G: Yeah, I got it in Seoul I don't know if it was banned or not. If it sarah, do you know where they were banned?
[00:21:56] Speaker F: I think it was banned in the US.
[00:21:57] Speaker D: Banned in the US.
[00:21:59] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:21:59] Speaker A: Why?
[00:22:00] Speaker G: So much banned?
[00:22:01] Speaker D: So many things, really, which is very strange, considering their whole thing is that they wanted freedom. Freedom of yeah.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: I assumed it was banned in China.
[00:22:15] Speaker G: That's fair.
[00:22:16] Speaker D: They also ban a lot of things.
[00:22:18] Speaker G: Yeah, that would make sense to me because they're so strict on government and what.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I assumed. I just jumped to that conclusion.
[00:22:25] Speaker D: Yeah. They're like, we don't want a.
[00:22:31] Speaker F: It was also banned in Vietnam, Thailand and okay. But the US, too.
[00:22:38] Speaker G: Interesting.
Oh, China.
[00:22:41] Speaker F: Yep. China was also yep.
[00:22:44] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: Is Canada bad for banning books?
[00:22:48] Speaker F: No, we don't really ban books in Canada very often.
[00:22:51] Speaker D: It's not common. Yeah.
[00:22:52] Speaker G: Could we actually have freedom of speech?
[00:22:54] Speaker A: Okay, that's good to know.
[00:22:56] Speaker D: I wonder if it's going to become more like do you think that some of the American sentimentality kind of catches in Canada anyway, in a way, is catching fire? Is catching fire. And it is kind of catching fire now, isn't it? There's a lot of more maybe QAnon believe in Canadians, so you wonder if that kind of sentiment to ban lots of things maybe will become more prevalent here. I don't know. I hope not.
[00:23:25] Speaker G: I thought it was interesting, kind of on a similar page, there is when gay marriage became legal in all states, so many very conservative people were like, we're going to Canada.
Sorry you live in the 18 hundreds, but why would you come here? Yeah, just very interesting somehow the mentality in the States, for sure.
[00:23:51] Speaker F: Another little statistic about this book. 348 cases of banning this trilogy in 2010 alone. 348 cases.
[00:24:00] Speaker G: Oh, wow.
[00:24:01] Speaker F: In just 2010.
[00:24:02] Speaker D: But why are they banning?
[00:24:04] Speaker G: Yeah. Why?
[00:24:05] Speaker F: So antifamily insensitivity, offensive language. Occult or language how do you say it?
[00:24:12] Speaker D: Occult.
[00:24:13] Speaker G: Satan. Satanic.
[00:24:15] Speaker F: Satanic.
[00:24:16] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:24:16] Speaker F: Violent. A religious viewpoint. And sexuality. Although sexuality I don't know now.
[00:24:24] Speaker A: I haven't read these books before, and I'm only on chapter eight or something. But the movie was not am I not remembering the movie? It didn't seem super sexy at all. It didn't seem super religious at all.
[00:24:38] Speaker F: No, there's no sexy at all.
[00:24:40] Speaker D: The movie is very similar.
They're very similar to the book.
[00:24:44] Speaker F: I don't think sexuality the only thing.
[00:24:47] Speaker G: I can think of.
[00:24:49] Speaker F: Yeah. There is.
[00:24:50] Speaker D: Because remember, they're in the games, they kiss. No, it's going to have spoilers. Yeah. They're like cuddling and kissing and they're not married. I mean, some people might not find that good. They, like, kiss. Did they kiss, like, at the end? Yeah, they will kiss. Heck, no.
[00:25:07] Speaker F: That's what I mean.
[00:25:08] Speaker G: I think they kissed twice or three times.
[00:25:10] Speaker F: It's not like they're not making out.
[00:25:11] Speaker A: Going to need some heavy penning.
They got to stay warm.
[00:25:16] Speaker F: That's the thing.
[00:25:16] Speaker D: It's nothing more than really kissing but.
[00:25:18] Speaker F: I think sexuality I think I know this is graphic, but when I think sexuality, I think if it's going to be banned for it penetration.
[00:25:24] Speaker D: Penetration, yeah.
[00:25:26] Speaker F: Banned for it.
[00:25:27] Speaker D: There needs to be penetration if you're.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Going to ban it. There's got to be, you know, toughen up.
[00:25:33] Speaker D: I won't know to read it then.
[00:25:34] Speaker A: Would you say this is marketed towards a teen or a tween?
[00:25:38] Speaker D: I would say yeah.
[00:25:39] Speaker F: Young adults.
[00:25:40] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:25:40] Speaker C: I wonder if maybe it has something to do with the fact that, hey, Mitch is encouraging the fake relationship. So it's kind of like pressure for her to, like, he sexualizes her and kind of grooming.
Could be it's a stretch, but it could be, like, underage videos online. You know what I mean?
[00:26:02] Speaker D: Right. She's 16. She's not, like, 25 or whatever.
[00:26:06] Speaker C: Yeah.
Or she doesn't think she likes him in that way anyways. It's Hay Bitch that introduces kind of the idea and encourages her, and then she does it. Also, I'm just doing this for the TV. Like, there's that piece that's coerced.
[00:26:20] Speaker D: It's like a little bit coerced.
[00:26:21] Speaker G: Right? Yeah.
All the times I've read and watched it, I've never thought of that being an issue. At.
[00:26:36] Speaker D: Interrupt.
[00:26:37] Speaker E: Continue.
[00:26:38] Speaker G: Sorry to book interrupt.
[00:26:41] Speaker F: Lindsay is interrupting our Hunger Game.
[00:26:44] Speaker E: Oh, sorry.
[00:26:45] Speaker A: No, don't be sorry. This is exciting. Has anyone else not read the book before?
[00:26:50] Speaker D: I haven't read it before. It's my first. Yeah.
[00:26:52] Speaker A: Yeah, me neither. Me and Mare have not read it before.
[00:26:55] Speaker F: So the reason I read this book is because Lindsay gave me all three books to read because she's like, you got to read them, they're so great. And I devoured them, like, ten years ago in, like, a week. All three books. They were amazing. Yeah, you gave them to me. I just had Matty.
[00:27:12] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:27:12] Speaker F: I was on maternity leave, and I was telling you how I'm, like, devouring every book in my house. And you're like, oh, then you should read The Hunger Games. They're so good. And you dropped off all three for me.
[00:27:21] Speaker A: And I that's nice.
[00:27:23] Speaker F: Have a memory of Matty breastfeeding and sleeping and me just reading all three books like crazy. They're so good because every chapter is a cliffhanger, so you just need to read the next one. And I had nothing to do I was just with my newborn. I have nothing. But you know what I mean?
[00:27:39] Speaker A: I just hate reading it in this order. It just feels so wrong to read a book after you've seen the movies.
[00:27:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I prefer to read the book first.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: Like, I've never done it in this order before, and it's very confusing because I can't imagine the characters as anyone but totally.
[00:27:56] Speaker G: Totally.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: And what's his nuts?
[00:27:59] Speaker G: Josh Hutcherson and what's his nuts?
[00:28:02] Speaker A: You know what's his nuts?
[00:28:04] Speaker D: I couldn't remember the guy who plays PETA in the movie. And so in my head, he looks different.
[00:28:10] Speaker A: He looks different.
[00:28:11] Speaker D: And then when the movie happened and I was like, no, not my PETA. Yeah, not my PETA.
[00:28:16] Speaker G: Because they describe him looking different.
[00:28:18] Speaker A: Like, they describe him as big and kind of like corn.
[00:28:21] Speaker D: I feel like he was like a.
[00:28:23] Speaker A: Farmer kind of football player y farmer. And then PETA in the movie is like real dense.
[00:28:31] Speaker C: He's short.
[00:28:32] Speaker D: It feels like he is. He does feel yeah, yeah.
[00:28:35] Speaker G: He's a little guy.
[00:28:37] Speaker D: A little guy.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: And then Katniss'character, they describe her as so small and bird like. And Jennifer Lawrence has a very beautiful stature. Stature, esque, athletic, shapely.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: She's got it all.
[00:28:51] Speaker E: Really?
[00:28:52] Speaker D: She's got it all.
[00:28:54] Speaker G: She looks very womanly.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:28:59] Speaker E: Now Leah just says that because we all said that she looks like her.
[00:29:02] Speaker D: Remember?
Jennifer Lawrence is so awesome.
[00:29:08] Speaker C: Also my celebrity look.
[00:29:09] Speaker F: She's got body.
[00:29:11] Speaker D: And we remember I don't know if.
[00:29:18] Speaker E: You heard that, but that when we all had to compare. It was maybe on the blog or something.
[00:29:23] Speaker A: We all remember what this was for.
[00:29:25] Speaker E: We had to pick a celebrity or.
[00:29:27] Speaker D: Something that was to play us in.
[00:29:28] Speaker A: A yes, that's what it was.
[00:29:32] Speaker E: And Leah's was Jennifer Lawrence, so hence.
[00:29:34] Speaker D: She thinks she's so she's so good.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: Looking, so kind, so cool.
[00:29:41] Speaker G: I think Jennifer Lawrence killed it as Katniss. Yeah, every time.
Yes. Especially I know we're not talking about the second one, but in the second one, there's this one scene where PETA, they think something happened to him and she is shaking, like her whole body is shaking while she's trying to be close to him. Every time. It gets me every time.
It's so good.
[00:30:15] Speaker C: This is the first book that I've ever read. Twice as far as I can remember, anyway.
[00:30:20] Speaker G: Oh, wow. And do you like it the second time around? Just as much as the first time.
[00:30:25] Speaker C: I'm saving that for my personal journal.
[00:30:31] Speaker D: Just to figure it out.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: I just hate reading it in this order. It's so, like, not right.
[00:30:39] Speaker C: Book after movie.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Yeah, book after movie order is just all wrong.
My brain doesn't know what to do.
[00:30:46] Speaker C: As soon as I hear that a book has, like, a book informed a movie, I often like Where The Crawdads Sing, for example. I didn't know, and then I found out and so now I won't watch it, even though I really want to. But I bought the book.
[00:30:58] Speaker G: Good.
[00:30:59] Speaker D: I did that with Harry Potter. I watched all the Harry Potters and then you haven't read. And I was like, I don't know. So now I have.
[00:31:05] Speaker G: Yeah, well, so I was in grade ten, I think, or eleven when The Hunger Games, the movie came out. And I lived in such a bubble, like, just being so young. I literally thought this was real life. Okay. At that point in my life, I thought all movies were real.
[00:31:25] Speaker F: What, really?
[00:31:26] Speaker D: In grade eleven? Grade ten? Oh, yeah.
[00:31:28] Speaker G: No.
[00:31:29] Speaker D: Did you watch horror movies and shit?
[00:31:31] Speaker G: No, I'm serious. Yes. I'm serious. This bubble I lived in was crazy.
[00:31:35] Speaker D: I love that.
[00:31:36] Speaker G: And I went with my friend to the movie and I hadn't read the books and she kept saying PETA, but I thought she just had an accent. And I thought, yes. And I was like, this is so weird. Like they live in Canada or something. And I can't believe this is what's going to happen to us in the future. So I'm happy I grew up.
[00:31:58] Speaker D: No wonder why the book makes you so emotional. I love also that you think that.
[00:32:03] Speaker C: Movies are legitimate predictors of the future. You're like, I can't believe this is going to happen to us in the future.
[00:32:08] Speaker G: Oh, dude. Yes. I was like, I would never win. Like, I want to be Katniss, but I'd be first.
[00:32:14] Speaker A: I would make it 1 minute in there, I would be like, find those poison berries.
[00:32:19] Speaker D: Bye. I wouldn't even do it. Yeah, we should talk about that.
[00:32:23] Speaker C: How well do you think you would do in The Hunger Games?
[00:32:25] Speaker D: No, not at all. They'd be like, first run and get away from everybody. And I'd be like, run like I'm dead.
Try to run.
[00:32:35] Speaker G: First of all, you want me to be athletic, not happy.
[00:32:38] Speaker D: They're going to catch me for sure. I'll get a stitch immediately.
[00:32:43] Speaker F: Listen, you have to think about if you were 16. How do we think we'd all do when we were 16?
[00:32:51] Speaker D: I hated running at 16, too.
I hated running too.
[00:32:55] Speaker C: But I played basketball and volleyball. I feel like I would have a chance.
[00:32:59] Speaker D: Plus I did a lot of martial arts.
[00:33:00] Speaker C: If you're living in Pan M or whatever, you know it's coming. So I'd also be like training hard, right? I wouldn't be like sleeping in and watching TV.
[00:33:12] Speaker E: And you're smart, mayor. You can use your brains too. It's not just physical.
[00:33:18] Speaker D: I might know what plants to eat, maybe.
[00:33:21] Speaker G: I think I would die still. But I think by chance, if I won, I think they would keep me in for comedic relief. Honestly.
[00:33:31] Speaker D: Keep me in. I love it. Such a reality show like strategy.
[00:33:35] Speaker G: I think I'm charming enough to get sponsors. So I think I would play the game up really well before going into the arena. And then I'd be like, you got to get these parachutes. Come in. I'm talking every day. Let's go.
[00:33:50] Speaker C: Your sponsor would have to send you like armor and a cage and a.
[00:33:54] Speaker G: Force field.
[00:33:57] Speaker D: Then a hovercraft. You just fly around.
[00:33:59] Speaker G: You just be in a ball three meals a day.
[00:34:04] Speaker D: I don't think I'd get sponsors. I'd have trouble with sponsors. I don't think so. I would kiss somebody to survive, though. So I could do that. I got that.
[00:34:12] Speaker C: You'd get banned for sexuality then.
[00:34:15] Speaker D: There you go. You're going to give me soup for kissing somebody? I'll kiss everybody. Like, line up.
You're going to give me starving.
Put up a kissing booth. I love soup.
[00:34:29] Speaker G: I love soup. I love soup.
[00:34:37] Speaker C: I will wear an I Love soup shirt for sure.
[00:34:40] Speaker G: That is a great thing. I love soup.
[00:34:43] Speaker D: Will kiss for soup. FY.
[00:34:45] Speaker G: I will kiss for soup. Be what you wear going into the arena. Kisses for soup. Kisses soup.
[00:34:53] Speaker F: She's on there.
[00:34:54] Speaker D: And the countdown goes, and Mare rips open the shirt.
[00:34:56] Speaker G: I will kiss for suits, but I won't run right in front of the camera.
[00:35:03] Speaker C: You have to come to me.
[00:35:04] Speaker D: I wouldn't be able to climb, especially at 16. I couldn't do a chin up. I wouldn't be able to do a chin up to save my life. No, I could do that.
[00:35:13] Speaker F: I could climb and I could run and those things, but I don't know if I'd survive. I don't think I could kill anyone.
[00:35:19] Speaker D: You would be too trusting.
[00:35:21] Speaker C: The hand to hand combat would be your weakness.
[00:35:24] Speaker F: I did martial arts back then, though. But I couldn't hurt someone.
[00:35:27] Speaker D: Remember? What did you used to say?
[00:35:28] Speaker C: There was some controversial thing you said before, like you refuse to murder someone who murdered your family. Because murder's wrong.
[00:35:38] Speaker G: Two wrongs don't make a AW, Sarah, you're so cute.
That's really sweet.
[00:35:46] Speaker F: I think I'd be more like a PETA.
[00:35:48] Speaker D: Yeah, I could hide.
[00:35:50] Speaker F: I could be like, Rue. I could hide.
[00:35:53] Speaker G: Yeah.
A lot of people won their Games. I don't remember if it goes through more in The Hunger Games or the other books about previous years, but there's been quite a few instances where, with the Tributes where they will hide out and then people forget about them and then everyone dies and then they win. So, hey, you could win.
[00:36:15] Speaker D: That would get so boring to watch.
[00:36:17] Speaker A: If we live in this world where we're consuming this as our only, I assume only TV show, they get to watch. And it sounds like, pretty much forced to watch it. Like it's not optional. It gets pretty boring.
[00:36:31] Speaker F: Okay.
[00:36:31] Speaker A: The only thing I could equate it to is like today's Survivor.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: They say that they make stuff up to happen to the people. Like if everyone is just hiding and waiting make a fire. Yeah, totally.
[00:36:43] Speaker G: And push them when Katniss she's in the tree. And then nothing's really happening and everyone's starting to go different ways, so they create the fire and the fireball or whatever. So they bring them all together. Maybe not.
[00:36:58] Speaker C: That makes me mad, though. It makes me mad because I want to say, you can't win. Obviously you can, because someone does. But once you find a successful survival strategy, then they're like, too bad that's poisonous now, or, that burns you when you touch it.
[00:37:11] Speaker G: Makes it harder.
[00:37:12] Speaker A: Yeah, they don't really care about fairness, I guess.
[00:37:15] Speaker D: Yeah, fairness isn't the name of the game.
[00:37:17] Speaker C: It's low on the value list.
[00:37:19] Speaker D: Yeah, they really just want to kill kids. They're killing children. They're killing children. They don't give a fuck.
[00:37:25] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:37:25] Speaker F: They're killing kids.
[00:37:26] Speaker D: Really? Right and let's talk about the age range here, right?
[00:37:30] Speaker G: Yeah. It's twelve to 1812.
[00:37:32] Speaker A: Oh, twelve is so sad.
[00:37:34] Speaker D: If you're an 18 year old and you're a twelve year old, that is like a huge difference.
[00:37:39] Speaker G: And you see that well, I mean sorry, I'm talking about the movie. But in the descriptions of some of the other tributes, the careers, they're like all 18 and they're all big, right. And they've all been training since they were like, little kids. And then you look at Rue, she's this little twelve year old. She's so little and sweet and cute. And then you put her beside Cato and she looks like a little pebble, right?
[00:38:06] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:38:07] Speaker G: Very different. So I saw this on TikTok like a month ago and I wanted to bring it up here. And we earlier were talking about how there's a lot of parallels to current society right. Or even our history. So with the Met Gala that happened this year, I don't know if you guys follow that or not, there was some very crazy looks on the carpet. Doja Cat, it took her like 6 hours or something to get ready. She was painted head to toe in all red, and she has Swarovsky crystals all over her head to toe. Kylie Jenner wore, like, lion's mane and a head. There is some really crazy look. Yes. Thank.
[00:38:55] Speaker D: Crazy. Did someone find so for people?
[00:39:01] Speaker A: That was a pretty accurate description. She just looks uncomfortable.
[00:39:05] Speaker G: Oh, definitely. Right.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: Was red the theme?
[00:39:08] Speaker E: Because there's a lot of full red looks.
[00:39:10] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:39:11] Speaker D: What was the theme?
[00:39:11] Speaker G: I don't know what the theme was this year.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: I will look.
[00:39:14] Speaker F: Yeah, look it up.
[00:39:15] Speaker E: Does it normally have a theme?
[00:39:16] Speaker D: A line of beauty.
[00:39:18] Speaker A: What was it?
[00:39:19] Speaker D: That's 2023. Was that what we're talking about?
[00:39:22] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:39:22] Speaker F: 2023.
[00:39:23] Speaker A: A line of beauty.
[00:39:25] Speaker G: Whatever that means. Yeah.
[00:39:27] Speaker A: Met Gala, 2023. Carl Lagerfeld. A line of beauty. I don't know.
[00:39:32] Speaker C: Do you think that Kylie Jenner misunderstood and she was like a lion?
[00:39:36] Speaker G: She took it a little literal. Yeah.
[00:39:38] Speaker D: Is it a line of beauty?
[00:39:40] Speaker C: Lion of beauty, which is supposed to be that wrong.
[00:39:43] Speaker A: Is it lion or line?
A line like line, not a lion of beauty.
[00:39:49] Speaker G: Oh, interesting.
So with the Met Gala, there are these people, celebrities who spend crazy amounts of money, they have so much wealth, like it's unreal. Right. And we're also living in a recession. Everyday people are struggling to buy groceries, to live literally to get by. Prices are crazy for everything. Right. And then we have people like in the Capitol dressing like these crazy costumes, living extravagant life, and the rest of the world is left to kind of fend for themselves and we gawk over them. Right. So yeah. So there's been a lot of parallels kind of coming out where people are like, we're living The Hunger Games in such that we're in these districts already and we have the capital. Are the rich people they're the famous people.
[00:40:40] Speaker F: If you look at even countries, think about the Congo. The Congo is so rich in resources, and they're literally being exported massive amounts.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: It's modern day slavery.
[00:40:51] Speaker D: What's going on there?
[00:40:52] Speaker F: Everything for electronics, diamonds.
[00:40:55] Speaker A: And I say that knowing that my iPhone is a direct correlation to what's happening there. So I don't say that in like a I'm better than yeah, yeah.
[00:41:05] Speaker D: Right.
[00:41:05] Speaker F: But the people who live in the Congo should be wealthy, not impovered.
[00:41:12] Speaker G: Yes.
[00:41:12] Speaker F: And that's what they are. And everybody in the world uses phones.
[00:41:18] Speaker A: And computers and everywhere lithiumion batteries, really.
[00:41:23] Speaker F: And before that was diamonds and government.
[00:41:26] Speaker G: They take the resources from their people and use it for capitalism. They just use it for their gain. It's not going back to the people.
[00:41:36] Speaker F: Different companies and governments pay off a small amount of the actual government and different to make it work for them. And that's what it is. And it all goes to these rich countries that get to be gluttonous with food and resources and power and electricity and water.
Now?
[00:41:56] Speaker A: Is it named The Hunger Games again? I don't believe they touched on it in the movie. Do they call it the Hunger Games in the yeah. Or do they refer to it as The Games?
[00:42:10] Speaker G: No.
[00:42:10] Speaker D: It's The Hunger Games. And Ashley could probably correct me on this at some point, but if your tribute for your district wins, that district for the next year gets like more.
[00:42:21] Speaker A: Ah, so it's a directly to eating.
[00:42:25] Speaker D: If you win, you aren't as hungry. Everyone's hungry except for the capitol. Even like, Rue, who came from the agricultural district, she's like, no, we don't get to eat the food. The food gets sent out. Like they're also starving.
[00:42:38] Speaker G: Yeah. And so the capital is like I don't remember. I think it's on the right end of the country or whatever. The further you get I think they said the Rockies.
[00:42:49] Speaker D: Yeah. By the mountains.
[00:42:51] Speaker G: Okay, so then the west. So the further you get from the capital, the poorer you are. So that's why district one and two three, they have the career tributes because they're richer, they're closer to the capital, they get more resources. And that's why twelve is so poor. I'm pretty sure it's just the victor and their family that gets no until.
[00:43:13] Speaker D: The end of time. They get to live in the victor's village and they get money and food, but the whole district for the year.
[00:43:20] Speaker G: For the year, right.
I forgot about that.
[00:43:29] Speaker E: Isn't there a part it's been a while since I've read it. I started reading it in French, by the way. Lard got this for me. I'm practicing my French. So I was like, oh, I should.
[00:43:38] Speaker D: Read it in French.
Maybe I'll do that. You should. You should read it.
[00:43:43] Speaker G: I love that.
[00:43:44] Speaker E: I remember a part later on about.
[00:43:47] Speaker D: How they would throw up because you.
[00:43:48] Speaker E: Guys talked about that, so that they would eat so much.
[00:43:51] Speaker D: That's book two.
[00:43:52] Speaker E: Always that on two.
[00:43:53] Speaker D: Oh, sorry. Spoiler. That's okay.
[00:43:55] Speaker E: Spoiler.
[00:43:56] Speaker D: But that the point, is the waste. Yeah.
[00:43:58] Speaker E: That they would eat and eat and eat, and then it was either they took something or they threw up somehow.
[00:44:03] Speaker F: A drink to make them throw up.
[00:44:05] Speaker E: They drank something, and it makes them throw up so that they could eat more. And I was like, oh, how else.
[00:44:10] Speaker D: Would you taste all the food?
[00:44:15] Speaker G: Back to the resources. Celebrities can do that. And they're so skinny, too, and they eat whatever they want. Right. And then everyday people are struggling. What eggs went up to like, $12 a carton? Come on. Right?
[00:44:32] Speaker D: And then for the I can't wait till gardening season.
[00:44:36] Speaker F: I can't wait.
[00:44:37] Speaker D: I'm just going to build another garden and just get some shit. My planning for plants I can snip off that will keep growing so I don't have to arugula.
Oh, yeah.
[00:44:47] Speaker G: Arugula.
[00:44:48] Speaker D: I had it last year, too. You don't need a ton of it because it just goes nuts. Swiss chard grows crazy. Kids loved Swiss Chard.
[00:44:53] Speaker G: Zucchinis grow really fast, too. My friend has a garden huge.
[00:44:57] Speaker D: Yes, we do know that.
[00:44:58] Speaker G: I was shocked at how big they got.
[00:45:00] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:45:01] Speaker F: One year, my mom grew so much zucchini when we were kids that she put it in every like we had it every meal, constantly. And then we were like, we don't want any more zucchini.
We don't want it anymore. It was like three months of zucchini every meal.
[00:45:13] Speaker D: There was an uprising.
[00:45:14] Speaker F: And then she made a cake for us out of the blue, and we're like, Is there zucchini in this cake?
[00:45:20] Speaker D: You don't bake cake.
[00:45:22] Speaker F: And we're like, Is there zucchini?
[00:45:24] Speaker D: And she's maybe taste it.
[00:45:28] Speaker G: Yeah.
[00:45:29] Speaker D: Chocolate, I think. Loaf.
[00:45:32] Speaker F: A zucchini loaf hidden by chocolate.
[00:45:34] Speaker D: Oh, Lindsay, you're reading a French book, and I remember you telling me that you do that sometimes when you're, like, brushing up on your French and that you read Harry Potter in French. So I got Harry Potter on hold at the libraries, so I'm waiting for it to come in, and so I'm going to do that. But maybe I'll read The Hunger Games because I booked tickets, and we're going to visit Sarah in end of May. And then June, we're going for like, 19 days.
[00:46:00] Speaker G: That's so exciting.
[00:46:02] Speaker D: So excited. Yeah, so totally excited. And then I got some Learn French CDs from the library.
[00:46:09] Speaker E: I like the duolingo app.
[00:46:12] Speaker D: Is it good? It's really good. Yeah. I just don't think I would take the time to do it. I haven't listened to the whole playlist of When Dad Killed Mom just because I haven't had an opportunity to listen to the whole thing without getting interrupted.
[00:46:25] Speaker E: Yeah, but little classes are like a.
[00:46:27] Speaker D: Minute or are they done?
[00:46:29] Speaker E: Yeah, it's like a game, kind of.
[00:46:31] Speaker G: Which is why I like it. You'll get used to the sound that it makes every day. If you have the notifications on, you know when it's duo time.
[00:46:39] Speaker D: Duolingo? Do you want to sponsor us? We're not affiliated with Duolingo, but we could be.
[00:46:46] Speaker G: We would love that. Please or audible. Too audible. Great. We'll take anything.
[00:46:52] Speaker D: Are you going to come back for the next Hunger Games episode, Lindsay?
[00:46:55] Speaker E: We'll see. We'll see if I'm able to I.
[00:46:59] Speaker D: Have something to talk about on the next one. I have a subject in mind, but I don't want to say it because it's something that comes up later in the book, even though I've read the whole thing.
[00:47:07] Speaker E: Well, maybe I'll have to come. It depends on if I'm available. But I would love so nice to see all your faces, Miss Y'all, and to see Ashley's face, because I didn't.
[00:47:17] Speaker G: Know what you look it. So thanks for having me on.
[00:47:21] 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 WW bookinterrupted.com.
[00:47:37] Speaker E: A book club is just a book without members. Join the community by following us on Facebook, Instagram or sign up for exclusive content through our
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[00:48:16] Speaker B: Book interrupted.
[00:48:18] Speaker C: Never forget every Child matters.
