Third-degree Burns from Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

After The Hunger Games, I figured I wanted the trilogy to be adapted into a movie.

After Catching Fire, I changed my mind.

I couldn’t bear, ever, to watch the Hunger Games trilogy. Reading it was already so painful that making it more visually alive would kill me. Not to mention clammy hands, prickling feelings at the back of my neck, and the now-familiar loud heartbeats. So to say that I caught fire was an understatement in all its figurative form. For yet another round of Katniss adventures, I found myself holding my breath, smiling, tearing up, and clutching the hems of my shirt.

Because Catching Fire was a perfect sequel and a great, great cross from the start to the end of one epic tale. this is because of:

1. Katniss Everdeen

She goes first this time (because in my post about the Hunger Games, I considered her third). This smart, smart girl on fire. I liked her being back in the arena, no matter how barbaric it might seem. Because it was there that Katniss was more alive, with her senses and her heart at work most of the time. There was a layer added to her being, like she grew some more with her leaving the first Games.

2. Haymitch Abernathy

I also changed my mind regarding this man. I would never doubt placing my life on the hands of Haymitch for safekeeping. Regardless of what happened to Peeta in the end, Haymitch was very much over himself to keep his promises to keep both mentees alive. I also liked how Haymitch became more of a person than a drunkard as his mentees faced more danger. Needless to say, I would want more of him in Mockingjay, if only because he was the only one trustworthy enough to ensure Katniss and Peeta’s lives.

3. Peeta Mellark

He was somehow predictable in Catching Fire, protecting Katniss and sacrificing himself all the while enveloping the goals within complex pretensions. But I loved Peeta’s ability to bring out emotions from Katniss. And on those times that he took Katniss for a time-out from the Games, his displays of affection were so strong they got me smiling fondly while reading. Really, someone who loved that much wouldn’t be hard to resist.

4. Cinna

Maybe it was wrong to be so affectionate with Cinna. Because it was more than painful to see him hurt, the pang in my heart seemed more than real and physical. Cinna made me hate the entire system around which the story revolved. He was just there, a calm hovering figure who did everything the Capitol ever got happy with. Why, on something as possibly minor as a design, kill the guy?

5. Finnick Odair

Alright, maybe liking Finnick was not supposed to be a first reaction. But I did. I so did. For some reason, I have a habit of never readily accepting what a person shows. And that’s what kicked in when I first encountered Finnick’s character. He was so transparent-looking that maybe, just maybe, it was all a ruse to keep something precious locked within him.

6. Beetee and Wiress

I always respected intelligence when it presented itself pure and humbly. That’s why I liked Beetee and Wiress. Because of the un-flaunted brilliance they had. Because they made events more exciting with hidden explanations. And because they revealed Katniss as a thinking girl, probably equally perceptive as Haymitch was.

7. The assortment of heart-wrenching thoughts and words

I could only go from bad to worse with these. Each sentence articulated specifically what hurt, each scene worth running away from if only because you want to save yourself from breaking. Add this to the many reasons that I now superbly adore Suzanne Collins. She’s great at understanding emotions, obviously. That’s why her lines are very, very real. Here, I picked some lines from the book. See for yourself.

I keep hoping that as time passes we’ll regain the ease between us, but part of me know it’s futile. There’s no going back. (Katniss Everdeen)

My nightmares are usually about losing you. I’m okay once I realize you’re here. (Peeta Mellark)

At some point, you have to stop running and turn around and face whoever wants you dead. The hard thing is finding the courage to do it. (Katniss Everdeen)

You could live a hundred lifetimes and not deserve him, you know. (Haymitch Abernathy) [Particularly liked this, if I may say.]

Remember, girl on fire . . . I’m still betting on you. (Cinna)

Then again, we don’t get just these positive (if you ever consider them positive) sides of the book. There were points and characters I wished over and over that were just excluded or simply altered. These are:

1. Plutarch Heavensbee

There’s something weird with the guy, seriously. Even if I could forever marvel at his brilliant clock-arena, Plutarch still wasn’t Finnick or Haymitch material. He seemed sinister enough that although I learned in the end that he was working against the Capitol, he still gave out an ominous presence. Maybe I could have done with a little feature of him talking his heart out to Katniss. But then again, maybe Katniss did not trust him as much.

2. Gale Hawthorne

This time, I wished he didn’t love Katniss as much as he did. Well, they were best friends. And it was clear even from the first book that one of them thought of the other as more than a best friend. But for the life of me, I didn’t think Gale provided Katniss with the ease of lesser choices. It was bad enough that the girl had to save Peeta again and again from the snapping jaws of the Capitol. He didn’t need to complicate the situation more by being so in love and so unwilling to let go.

3. District 12’s bombing

Well. Only because I got as attached to the place that I didn’t think of it ever being eradicated from the story.

4. The Mockingjay metaphor

I understood it was the most important metaphor of the entire trilogy. But somehow, it’s presence only made things worse for Katniss. Or maybe it was because she wasn’t yet willing to accept personifying it. Honestly, I liked the fire metaphor more (and thank Cinna for more of it) than the Mockingjay.

Without so much as a preparation, I jumped from The Hunger Games to Catching Fire in a span of five minutes. And what did I get? Burns. Third-degree burns.

Because of which I couldn’t bear to start with Mockingjay soon enough. Or at least until I could get my breathing and heartbeat to a normal state. Because, well, there’s no going back now.

The end is waiting.