The Occupied Library

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.

Henry Ward Beecher 

I'm going to go ahead and make the assumption that everyone has, at least in some capacity, heard about the Occupy Movement. If you aren't up to speed on what Occupy is, a quick Google search should solve that problem. As per usual, I have remained happily neutral/non-partisan in any discussions regarding the movement, simply because I do not believe I am well-informed enough to 'take a side', as it were. Nevertheless, I need to draw the line somewhere, and that somewhere is when libraries are destroyed.

Recently, the Occupy Wall Street library in Zuccotti Park was essentially eliminated by New York city police, which reeks of the uber-censorship in Rad Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. (An aside: Read that book if you haven't already. It's one of my top ten.) I find it hard to believe that assembling a library could be, in any way, harmful to the greater good (or, well, anyone). Ultimately, the removal of Occupy libraries--small as they may be--is problematically linked to the removal of free speech and the promotion of censorship. From GOOD magazine: "Few things symbolize the repression of free speech like the destruction of books".

To some, the People's Library is a non-issue in light of the rest of the Occupy drama. Regardless (and along with the American Library Association), I "deplore the destruction of libraries, library collections and property, and the disruption of the educational purpose by that act." I believe that every human being has the right to literacy and education, and thus the right to have easy access to books. All of this removing Occupy libraries nonsense needs to stop.

--- chRistie

I am hungry.

I'm always fairly anxious about jumping on the bandwagon for, well, anything. It's part and parcel of my growing up as an only child, I suppose; I have an innate desire to figure things out on my own, to come to conclusions independently. That being said, it took me until sometime last fall to read Suzanne Collins' now immensely-successful The Hunger Games. Despite the near-panic attacks of my lovely bookstore co-workers upon the release of Mockingjay (the final book in Collins' trilogy for those unfamiliar), I managed to resist reading this teen trilogy for another year or so.

Flash forward (or, I suppose, travel back?) to fall 2010 and my newly-acquired personal mission to read and thus discover teen books of substance and quality. Lord knows which friend/co-worker/stranger recommended The Hunger Games to me, but I felt that the book warranted at least an attempt (unlike some other wildly popular teen novels that I refuse to borrow/own/associate with).

I intentionally rode the bus in the morning so I had more time to read. I read in between sending emails and processing invoices while I was at work. I ignored other generally-consumed forms of media, and I devoured The Hunger Games in a large, choking bite. And, upon realizing that everyone was right and Collins' had produced a teen novel of epic proportions, I raced through the second and third books of the trilogy at a desperate, panicked pace.

An aside: Were I to rate the books of the trilogy, I think I enjoyed Catching Fire the most, and Mockingjay the least (mostly because the latter felt somewhat rushed and arbitrary compared to it's predecessors).

As I have mentioned before (so now in typical, broken-record style), I truly believe that teenagers need to read challenging books that deal with complicated ethical issues. The Hunger Games is the perfect solution to the problem of finding solid young adult literature, and it carries at a fast enough pace (with plenty of violence, and a sprinkling of romance) to keep generally-disinterested teens turning the pages. Anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction (a la Orwell, Bradbury, Huxley, et al), and anyone who is mildly interested in seeing the film adaptation, should certainly read The Hunger Games. Speaking of which...

 

For those who still need more convincing, perhaps you should read the review that Stephen King wrote? Those more keen on contemporary fantasy will also appreciate Lev Grossman's review of the first two novels. If you're hunting for a more critical (and slightly snobbier) perspective, check out Laura Miller's thoughts (about The Hunger Games, and dystopian YA in general). And lastly, if you still want the snobbery but aren't willing to concede that Collins' trilogy could be bad, give John Green's review a read.

All in all, you should read The Hunger Games.
If you do, I won't need to tell you to read the rest of the trilogy.

--- chRistie