Hunger Games Book and Movie: An unexpected surprise

My husband introduced me to Hunger Games, he bought it and read it first.  After finishing it easily, he told me that he found it interesting. He seldom reads YA books. He loves his gun magazines and legal thrillers so this was a first. Maybe he thought it was a zombie book or something, he digs those kinds of books. But really, Hunger Games? The title alone made me cringe and imagined weird creatures with hungerfests. Then I got curious when I heard Stephanie Meyer loved it. But still, the title?

Then I took a peek and the plot instantly captured me, digging deep into my consciousness. The reaping. The tributes. It was something new and brought me to a new set of characters with colored hair and lived in the weird world of the Capitol where killing innocent children was a spectator event. 

I liked Suzanne Collins' style of writing. It was fast-paced and fairly an easy read. You can blaze your way through the paragraphs without stumbling on too much rambling armed only with your imagination.

I have read the entire Hunger Games trilogy and my favorite one was the first. Maybe because everything was still new and I was excited and apprehensive how it would all end. I liked Gale more than Peeta but I think Peeta complemented Katniss more.

So despite my misgivings that the film may not live up to the book, I watched it. And it didn’t disappoint me. Even it was a little disconcerting to have some wobbly scenes on the first part. I got used to it. And my favorite parts were the parade of Katniss and Peeta in flaming costume while they rode on their chariot and when Katniss angrily grabbed Peeta after he played up his crush on her on the Capitol’s TV show. “You made me look weak” she hissed.

But the most touching part was Rue’s death. The way they focused on the blurring sky like it was how Rue saw it as she was starting to fade was heartfelt. I felt my hands dab on my eyes. The action sequences were also not as graphic as I expected which was good.

The disturbing part of Hunger games for me was the Cornucopia. Not only because of the killings but because it it felt like a reflection of life sometimes. Like we are all actors in a great playing field called life. Like there’s someone in charge, someone who gives out intense problems for us to hurdle and in a moment of fancy sends out surprising solutions like the small silver parachutes that floats from above. Like there’s a gamemaster who wants to lead us where he want us to be, surprising us with balls of fire to get us there. I know it’s kinda profound but doesn't it feel like that sometimes?

And what Peeta said impressed me, he mentioned that he does not want the game to change him, that he will die as himself not as what they want him to be. Maybe it’s also another way of saying that our problems or situations should not define us and we can rise above it if we want to.

Going back to the movie, Lenny Kravitz as Cinna was surprising. He had none of the outrageous hair Effie had but still the gold eyeliner made a statement. It was the first time I've seen him without his shades on and he looks younger than I expected. I love his understated acting. And Woody Harrelson, wow, exactly who I imagine Haymitch Abernathy to be.

And of course, Jennifer Lawrence was brilliant. She really embodied Katniss Everdeen. She exuded the strength and vulnerability of her character while Josh Hutcherson was great as Peeta, he portrayed him with quiet sensitivity and affection that complemented the character of Katniss.

Having said that, I’d like to thank my husband for pestering me to read Hunger Games. He knows that I’m a sucker for strong female characters, think Alias and Nikita. Now it’s Katniss. Reading and watching her journey had been quite a ride and I’m still catching my breath.

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff: Raw, Heartbreaking, Memorable

One of the most memorable books I have read is Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. I read it last year but I still remember it because it was raw and heartfelt. It is about the travails of a father who has a son who is struggling from drug addiction.

As a parent, I felt his heartbreak seeing his son waste himself, to see him almost skin and bones, far from the athlete he once was. I also felt his fear having to call hospitals, police station hoping that his son, Nic is not there while sadly expecting the worst. And how his stomach tightens when the phone rings because it might be tragic news about Nic.

More than that, I am amazed by the amount of research he has gone through to understand about addiction, to know more about the “evil” that possessed his son. Moreso for his patience, for giving his son so many chances to get well, bringing him to rehab so many times and enduring to see him relapse and going back to his addiction but still forgiving him again and again, hoping he will change.

But what strikes me about this book is the courage of the author, David Sheff to emotionally expose himself. He didn’t hold back, he generously lets you in. Immersing yourself in his story, you feel his worry and anguish, you witness the harrowing days and nights when his son was missing and how painful it was to him. It brought me to tears many times. It made me look at addiction in a new light, increasing my empathy for parents going through this. It indeed is a hard life because addiction is a disease they have to battle with for the rest of their lives.

I prefer reading nonfiction such this nowadays. I love reading true stories of individuals going through different ordeals and triumphing over them. Maybe because after my son was diagnosed with autism, I wanted to read about people who are struggling with their own challenges and winning over them. I want to read how it changed them for the better and how their sadness were turned to help others. Reading Beautiful Boy made me realize on thing, all parents are the same. We all have our own struggles, our own pain and we all want the best for our children.  

We want them to grow up well and be happy and it doesn’t matter if our kids our regular kids or special children because when challenges like addiction or autism happens, we are all heartbroken. And as parents, you are part of a special group of people who understands this great love for one's child and the special bond we have with them.

So I laud David Sheff. I laud his courage for bringing his story about his son’s addiction out in the open. It must have been hard to go back to the drug-laced days of his son. But I know it helped many people open their eyes to addiction. For me, it made me realize that sometimes one session of rehab is not enough  because there’s a part in the brain that gets warped once you get addicted. I don't have the right to judge an addict hastily. It is an ongoing process, to fight the urge to use drugs again.

And for families battling with addiction, I hope this book helps them. I hope it serves as an ally because it understands what they’re going through. Let it be a beacon in their journey as they fight against this menace. And I hope David’s son, Nic gets better, I really do and if he did, I hope he lives a more peaceful life.

Here are some excerpts in David Sheff’s Beautiful Boy that moved me, I hope it does move you too:

“Slowly,  I realize that Nic is gone, and he has robbed the house of cash, food, and a case of wine. He was selective. He took only very good wine. I am in a panic…”

“My son, the svelte and muscular swimmer, water –polo player, and surfer with an ebullient smile, is bruised, sallow, skin and bone and his eyes are vacant black holes. When I reach him he goes limp in my arms. I half carry him, his feet shuffling beneath him.”

“My panic mounts. Every time the phone rings, my stomach constricts. Where can he be? I cannot imagine, or more accurately, I choose not to. I push away the grisliest thoughts. Finally I call the police and hospital emergency rooms, asking if he is in jail or if there has been an accident. Each time I call, I brace myself for the unthinkable.”

 “Sometimes the pain in the room is nearly unbearable. Without respite, we hear, see and most of all feel with heart-tearing jabs the bleakness of the lives of people whose loved ones have become addicted to meth, though the “drug of choice” hardly matters… The people in the circle are different, yet we are all the same. We all have gaping wounds.”

“Every addict’s story has similar themes too- remorse, out of control fury, directed most often at themselves- and a sense of helplessness. “Do you think I want to be this way? A man screams into the face of his shaking wife. “Do you” Do you? I HATE MYSELF.” Both of them cry and cry and cry.”

“I don’t hear from Nic, and each hour and each day and each week is quiet torture like physical pain. Much of the time I feel as if I am on fire. It may be true that suffering builds character, but it also damages people. ..I try to “detach”- to let go and let God. How does any parent let go? I can’t. I don’t know how.”

“I see Nic on the plane. I see him as he is- frail, opaque, ill- my beloved son, my beautiful boy.”

“I have been terrorized by the fear that he would die. If he did, it would leave a permanent crack in my soul. I would never fully recover. But I also know that if he were to die, or for that matter, if he stays high, I would live on- with that crack. I would grieve, I would grieve forever.”

“Some of the times when Nic wasn’t all right it got so bad that I wanted to wipe out and delete and expunge every trace of him from my brain so that I would not have to worry about him anymore and I would not have to be disappointed by him and hurt by him and I would not have to blame myself and blame him and I would no longer have the relentless and haunting slide show of images of my lovely son, drugged, in the most sordid, horrible scenes imaginable.”

Dare to Dair: Dan and Blair endgame for Gossip Girl

I should have been writing about my review on the Iron Lady by Meryl Streep or a piece on Logos Hope, the floating bookfair docked in the pier of Manila. But these past few days I have been looking over videos of Dan and Blair of Gossip Girl in YouTube for hours and guiltily neglecting my writing. Yes, I’m obsessed and what’s their term “shipping” them, meaning rooting for these TV characters to end up together. Dan and Blair should be endgame in Gossip Girl, that’s the DAIR battlecry haha J

The last time I was obsessed with TV couplings was during Dawson’s Creek time when I was way younger :) I loved Joey and Pacey and agonized over their fate. That time, there were no “wars” over the internet over fictional characters, just plain hope that the writers would see through the millions yearning for them to be together. Come to think of it, maybe they received thousands of letters because they eventually relented. Thus, resulting to a Joey and Pacey endgame, Yey!

It's odd and ridiculous even that a thirtysomething woman like me, okay two years to forty (ugh! I'm so embarrassed) one who loves to read selected YA novels, watches the Twilight films, Vampire Diaries, am now totally enamored by these two characters in Gossip Girl, Dan Humphrey and Blair Waldorf. I’m not the usual teenage fan of Gossip Girl, of course I'm ancient but I was initially fascinated by the fiery and complicated relationship of Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf. But it all changed recently when I watched Dan slip through this show’s romantic radar. A dark horse for Blair’s attention. But actually he has always been there, he’s the good guy who was left unnoticed. And now, his time has come and he has swept Blair off her feet, including me and thousands if not, millions more.

They always talk about how great Penn Badgley and Leighton Meester's chemistry is. I agree. They have it (so why aren't they dating? just joking, but they look like they've been in love forever). Here, they play characters who have opposite personalities that get attracted to one another, the fashion and drama queen of the Upper East Side meets the laidback and unassuming Lonely Brooklyn boy. He was Blair's dependable friend until he got the courage to show his love through a kiss on Valentine's Day. I still remember Blair in a posh red gown asking Dan what will make him happy and he slowly comes near and kisses her. Wow, what a kiss :)

You see every woman wants a Dan Humphrey, one who will stand by her no matter what, a friend to talk to in one's darkest and confusing hours. Like a particular scene between Blair and Dan when she asked him, “What if I lose everything?” to which he replied, “You’ll still have me” J So that’s why I dare to DAIR J

And as someone who has encountered a lot of toads along the romantic highway and found and happily married "the one" and now blessed with a kid with him, I'm happy to reminisce the beginning of true love once again, to remember the hours spent talking to this special person and feeling at home and comfortable with him, even if it's only a glimpse on television. So let DAIR be the endgame please, Gossip Girl writers  :)