The Hunger Games

Article written by Neesha Thunga K

B.A. in English Literature, and M.A. in English Language and Literature.

The Hunger Games is the first in a series written by Suzanne Collins. Published in 2008, this novel is a young adult dystopian novel that received critical acclaim. Not only has it been adapted for film, but it has also been released as an audiobook and an ebook. The Hunger Games has won the California Young Reader Medal and was named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Publisher’s Weekly in 2008.

Key Facts about The Hunger Games

• Title: The Hunger Games
• Published: September 14, 2008
• Genre: Young Adult, Dystopian fiction, Science fiction
• Point-of-View: First-person limited
• Setting: The post-apocalyptic nation of Panem in North America
• Climax: Katniss and Peeta are forced to kill each other in the Hunger Games before a rule change is announced
• Antagonist: President Coriolanus Snow

Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games

Suzanne Collins derived inspiration for The Hunger Games when she was channel surfing on television. She has stated that a reality show on one channel and the invasion of Iraq on another channel began to blur together “in this very unsettling way.” This is how she came up with the idea for the book.

Collins also drew inspiration from the Greek myth of Theseus, which was the foundation for the story. Katniss was envisioned as a futuristic Theseus in the wound of Panem. The Roman gladiatorial games were the inspiration behind the Hunger Games.

Collins also drew from her own life for elements of the story. For instance, the sense of loss that she felt when her father was drafted for the Vietnam war was echoed in the protagonist, Katniss, who lost her father when she was 11 years old.

Collins has also stated how she found it extremely difficult to write the dark parts of the story, such as the death of the young characters, while she found it enjoyable to write about the happier past of Katniss.

Books Related to The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is the first in a trilogy set in the Hunger Games universe. It has been followed by two sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, published in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The sequels have been well received by both critics and readers, with Catching Fire becoming a New York Times bestseller, and Mockingjay topping every single one of the bestseller lists in the US after its publication.

Catching Fire continues the story of the young protagonist, Katniss Everdeen in the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. After the events of the first novel, a rebellion has begun against the oppressive Capitol, and Katniss and Peeta are forced to take part in a special edition of the Hunger Games once again. Mockingjay, on the other hand, captures the rebellion that brews against the Capitol, with Katniss as the leader of the rebellion.

The Hunger Games also has a prequel called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which was published on May 19, 2019. The prequel follows the story of young Coriolanus Snow in the initial stages of the Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is extremely similar in plot to Koushun Takami’s novel Battle Royale, published in 1999 – to the point where people have accused Collins’ work as a ripoff. However, Suzanne Collins had apparently never heard of this book until she got wind of these accusations, and decided not to read Battle Royale at the behest of her publisher.

Stephen King has compared The Hunger Games to his own novels, The Long Walk and The Running Man, while others have compared the novel to a 1953 short story written by Robert Sheckley called “The Seventh Victim.”

Fans of The Hunger Games will also be intrigued by other young adult dystopian novels such as The Divergent series by Veronica Roth, The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and Delirium by Lauren Oliver.

The Lasting Impact of The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was extremely well received by critics, authors as well as readers. Published with an initial print of 200,000 copies, the novel had sold almost 800,000 copies in just five months of its release. It became a worldwide sensation, and the rights to the novel were soon sold in 38 territories. The Hunger Games made the New York Times bestseller list within two months of release, where it continuously featured for more than 100 consecutive weeks. The novel also made the bestseller list of USA Today for 135 consecutive weeks and sold more than 17 million copies by March 2012.

A film adaptation of the same name was released in March 2012, serving to increase the popularity of the novel manifold. The Hunger Games also made Suzanne Collins the first young adult author to sell more than 1 million ebooks on Amazon Kindle, thus, making her the sixth author to take her place in the “Kindle Million Club.” By the time the film adaptation of the novel had been released, Suzanne Collins was named by Amazon as the bestselling Kindle ebook author of all time.

John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, praised the novel’s plot and pace in a review for the New York Times. He applauded the world-building in the novel as well as the complexities of the heroine. However, he also mentioned that while the book is rich in allegory, it does not realize its true allegorical potential. Time magazine also praised the “hypnotic quality of the violence” in the book, and stated that it was “chilling, bloody and horrifying.” Similarly, Rick Riordan, Stephenie Meyer, and Stephen King have all left positive reviews for the book, praising the plot, the action, and the characters.

The Hunger Games has received several accolades and honors. Not only was it named “Notable Children’s Book of 2008” by The New York Times, but it was also named one of the “Best Books of the Year” by Publisher’s Weekly. The novel received the Golden Duck Award in the Young Adult Fiction category in 2009. The Hunger Games was the 2008 Cybil winner for the genre of fantasy and science fiction along with Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, as well as the Booklist Editor’s Choice in the same year.

The novel went on to win the California Young Reader Medal in 2011 and was named as the 33rd best book for children by Scholastic’s Parent and Child magazine, winning an award for “Most Exciting Ending” at the same time.

The novel was converted into an audiobook narrated by Carolyn McCormick in December 2008. It has been adapted for film by Lions Gate Entertainment, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth in the roles of Katniss, Peeta, and Gale respectively. The film was hugely successful and the opening weekend alone raked in a record $152.5 million in North America.

The symbol of the Mockingjay, a fictitious Bird in The Hunger Games universe, (born by crossbreeding mockingbirds and jabber jays), has also left a lasting impact on popular culture. The cover of the novel designed by Tim O’Brien features a golden Mockingjay. This bird resembles the pin that is given to Katniss by the daughter of the District 12 Mayor. The pin is described as a golden bird attached to a ring only by the tips of its wings. The Mockingjay has entered the territory of fan merchandise, along with several other memorabilia from the novel.

Most significantly, The Hunger Games has shaped the world of Young Adult Fiction, leading to a tsunami of Young Adult novels in the contemporary period. Its popularity has been compared to the immense fame and influence held by the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series, and several YA writers across the world have acknowledged the impact that The Hunger Games has had on their own writing.

The Hunger Games continues to be well-loved across the world and has remained one of the top 5 best-selling Amazon Kindle books of all time.