Catching Fire

Catching Fire

By far my personal favourite, Suzanne Collins’ sequel to the Hunger Games and the second book in the trilogy, Catching Fire provides as a follow up on the previous instalment, developing and improving on the popular dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel. It is impressive in its treatment of such important themes such as revolution, love and oppression.

Drawing influenes from ancient Rome, and presenting them in a futuristic setting, Collins’ imagination runs creatively wild in order to bring the fictional world to life.

Unfortunately, this instalment is criticised by many as being only a bridge between the first and third instalments, and does not stand up as an individual book in its own right. While I agree that it may be difficult to appreciate the book fully without reading the others, it in no way makes it a bad book, as the writing and execution, makes it a successful and well made piece of work.

The story once again follows the main protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, an unsociable and unhappy girl, who managed to survive the Hunger Games, while also saving Peeta Mellark, a confident and clever young man, who has been heartbroken, by Katniss.

The book feels like it is divided into two sections. The first can be described as thought provoking and political. It focuses on, and develops the ideas first hinted at in the previous book. Katniss is forced to pretend that she is madly in love with Peeta in order to convince the citizens of Panem (the fictional, dystopian nation set in the remains of North America), that when she threatened that Peeta and herself would commit suicide, unless they could both live, it was an act of desperation to be together, and not an act of defiance and rebellion, against the all-powerful and oppressive dictatorship known as the Captiol. Or does she? This book focuses on the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale. At a first glance, the concept seems unoriginal, but is pulled off very well as the characters all have their own values, which makes the idea not only understandable, but also very engaging, with the audience guessing who will end up with who. The story shows brutal imagery, with punishments becoming more common and public, demonstrating the ruthlessness of their society. 

The second half takes place in another annual Hunger Games, the 75^th anniversary of the Games, known as the third Quarter Quell. An action packed completion to fight to the death until a lone victor remains occurs, with the stakes much higher than before, as the contestants are all previous winners (“victors”) of the Games, in a cruel twist as an attempt to quash the approaching revolution and killing Katniss, 'the girl on fire', in the process, which ultimately fails.

The fact that the book appears divided is a big disadvantage, as it means that some sections seem more re-readable than others. It also makes the book seem longer than it is, though it is difficult to become bored, as the quality of writing is extremely powerful and impressive.

It is also difficult to classify the book in a particular genre, as the action and political themes run in parallel.

Forcing you to read on to discover the true ending, Catching Fire is an outstanding read for anyone who wishes to submerge themselves in a story full of empathetic characters, intelligent concepts and perfectly choreographed action.

Tristan