The Hunger Game - Tumblr Posts

Something to consider

I’m reading DFW (David Foster Wallace) for my creative nonfiction writing workshop this semester, (specifically “Host” from Consider the Lobster), and I’m struggling. 

Like, I’m three seconds away from hurling this book across the room, struggling. 

And I had a thought.

People have said that writing that is too complicated or dense to read, much less understand, is bad writing. 

But I can’t believe that about DFW. 

Looking beyond my fear of authority, (aka defying the people that say DFW is a good writer), I can’t honestly say that this writer--who was nominated for a Pulitzer, has won several other awards, and is essentially canonized as an edgy “wake-up” artist--is a bad writer. Too many people, people who’s writing I respect and appreciate and are distinguished in the literary community, think that DFW is good at writing. 

So no, I don’t think DFW is a bad writer, per say, but consider this: Writers or writing that is so dense that it requires outside assistance to read and understand, i.e. an English class and professor that will explain what writers like DFW are trying to do, is simply a different form of literature. 

Yes, I could theoretically understand DFW if I had a free Saturday plus the motivation to sit and read his 40-page short story about radio talk shows. Or if I was very well educated on the subject, perhaps I would understand it better. Perhaps if I was simply a better writer and a better reader, I could see the nuances in his writing. 

But the thing is, not everyone--in fact, most everyone--is not like that. Most people are not literary nuts, they don’t care about the nuances of radio talk shows, they don’t care about if literature is “good” or “bad.” They are simply trying to get through the day, drive home, try to enjoy themselves, and then wake up the next morning to do it all over again.  

I think that’s why YA novels--the trashy, throwaway, simple plot, typical ending Young Adult novels--are so valuable. 

DFW isn’t the kind of stuff for teenagers who are literally just trying to survive high school. They don’t have the education or life experience to read, process, or enjoy stuff like DFW was putting out. 

They don’t want to analyze literature, they want to escape. They want to imagine themselves in different lives, sneaking through caves with a thane at their side or fighting on the deck of a pirate ship or flying through the stars or breathing underwater or falling in love and being loved. They want to see and do and experience so much more than the life they are living now. 

So save your elevated literature and in-depth analysis for when I’m sixty and retired. As for now, I’m going to go read The Hunger Games and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Cirque Du Freak and The Fault in our Stars and Passenger, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it. 

tl;dr - There is a time and a place for canonized, literary literature. But there is also a place for stories that simply let you escape, and we shouldn’t underestimate the power of those stories. 

—Ni viviendo cien vidas llegarías a merecerte a ese chico. Lo sabes ¿no?

En llamas. Suzanne Collins

La noche que vuelvo a sentir el hambre que se apoderó de mí en la playa sé que esto habría pasado de todos modos, que lo que necesito para sobrevivir no es el fuego de Gale, alimentado con rabia y odio. De eso tengo yo de sombra. Lo que necesito es el diente de león en primavera, el brillante color amarill0 que significa  renacimiento y no destrucción. La promesa de que la vida puede continuar por dolorosas que sean nuestras pérdidas, que puede volver a ser buena. Y eso solo puede dármelo Peeta. Así que, después, cuando me susurra: -Me amas ¿Real o no real? Yo respondo: -Real.

Suzanne Collins. El Sinsajo.

¿Crees que Tiny se enamora cada día? Imposible. Cree que se enamora, pero en realidad no es así. Es decir, todo lo que sucede de golpe seguramente deja de suceder de golpe, ¿sabes?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

Somos seres inconstantes y estúpidos con mala memoria y un don para la auto destrucción.

El Sinsajo. Suzanne Collins

Ohhh... Katniss is not a real superhero???? No, she is not.

Did people really forgot that Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are 17 years old???

17.

17.

17.

What were some of you doing at 17? Smoked pod? Went to dances… Lived the drama of high school?

This characters are NOT a reminder of what teenagers living in normal circunstances are; but what teenagers and kids living under the arms of war ARE.

People with paranoia, sickness, fear. People trying to survive the ultimate price of the powerful against the innocent.

Admirable people. Broken people.

People who struggle with an interrupted childhood… so much, that is a sin to try and hope happiness from them; people who mature so fast… faster than any of us, lucky bastards, who have never been in the middle of a tiny little fight.

We shouldn’t expect for them to be heroes or heroines.

But they are, in their not perfect… “superpowery” way. They need to be value as the bravest people in this world because, excuse me, but I don’t think I could be that strong. I, myself, have fainted at the sight of a little piece of blood.

So, people expecting to see superheroes in this movie… why don’t you better go and watch something marvel?

This movies and characters are not just fiction for teenagers *As some of you call them*

They are a reflection of the reality we are living in.

Innocent people being killed or tortured. Normal human beings living under awful cincunstances. Inexperienced people who react and give everything they can to survive.

Think about the children. Think about the future of this world. Not your idea that all heroes should be Superman. 

“I’m having his baby! No I’m not, but you should see your faces!”