The Hunger Games...for real

So I apparently picked a terrible topic a few weeks ago and it has completely stalled updates to the site.  I take all the blame.  Because Angela is wonderful and she didn't want to disappoint me by not posting, but she didn't post because the topic I picked was terrible (there Angela, you are absolved of all blame for being lazy :p).

I originally wanted to talk about the generation gap because I've been taking classes in middle level education and have been having some interesting experiences.  One of which being that I had to read a book that most middle schoolers are reading and then discuss it.  So I chose "The Hunger Games" because everyone is raving about it and even my niece is enjoying reading it.  To be honest, I have no idea why everyone likes this book.

I went into reading it expecting something really good.  Don't get me wrong, the writing is very engaging.  But somewhere around chapter three, I just couldn't stomach the book any further.  The idea of adults laughing and joking about children being made to murder each other for their entertainment is apparently far too disturbing a concept for me to get over (even though there wasn't a lot of gorey detail in the book).  I also don't understand the message that kids are supposed to take away from this.  The world is so cruel and unfair that clearly the upper class is entertained by the suffering of the lower class?  That adults are so far removed from the lives of their children that it's up to them to raise themselves?  That love is nothing more than a tool for some people to use at their convenience?  There was little about the book I liked and I especially hated the ending which clearly railroaded the reader into reading the second book just so that you got a sense of completion to the story.

I wonder if I simply don't understand the concept of the book because it wasn't meant for me and for my generation, but I thought the author was a product of my generation.  Perhaps I'm wrong about this, I'll have to look more closely into it for my review of the book.  Whatever the case, I clearly missed the point and I clearly don't understand why this is having such an influence on my niece and nephew's generation.  I wonder if I really am more out of touch than I originally thought.  I'm starting to feel like the "uncool adult" I've always wanted to avoid becoming.