I'm a big fan of Ray Bradbury, and have been for decades although I've never joined this group. Someone talked me into reading the Hunger Games the other day, which I initially resisted because of perhaps a (probably unjustified) aversion to mass market fiction. But after reading it - and really enjoying the first book - I kept wondering what Ray Bradbury and Bradbury fans would think of it, because the parallels there - at least to me - are pretty incredible. I'm just wondering what other people here, who have read the Hunger Games, think about that.

Hi pmlavigne, and welcome!

I haven't read THE HUNGER GAMES (nor seen the movie), but because I was curious as to what all the recent fuss is about, I have read some plot summaries on the web. I haven't seen anything there that reminded me of Bradbury, except for the general SF/future world setting. The plot descriptions put me more in mind of DEATHRACE 2000, THE RUNNING MAN and possibly LOGAN'S RUN.

I understand (from Stephen King's review of the book) that it has a love-triangle at the heart of it. This is about as far away from Bradbury as you can get!

Of course, there might be stylistic similarities to Bradbury; these wouldn't come across in anything as crude as a plot summary.

What similarities do you see?

I'd not read the books either but did go see the movie. As with Philnic it reminded more like Logan's Run and The Running Man. I saw no Ray in the plot.

My thought is that the parallels become more obvious as you get into the second and third books, when the political/social message and the warnings of a nihilistic future become far more overt. (I haven't seen the movie, but if it's like a lot of movies based on books, it's probably not the most accurate presentation. And I know the movie is based only on the first book.)

Also, the basic plot sort of mirrors The Running Man and Logan's Run (two movies I've seen many times), but that's about as close as it gets. The HG books are far more complex than that. I think they get a bad rap because of how they're marketed.

Sorry for the multiple replies. Hit post too early on that last one. As for the love triangle, I think it's not what you think. The main character's choice in partners reflects a more complex decision as to whether she wants to be a hawk/activist or a dove/pacifist. The two men represent opposing ideologies more than anything. Now, do teenagers see it that way? Probably not. But as you get into the third book, it's a really obvious plot theme.

quote:

Originally posted by pmlavigne:
(I haven't seen the movie, but if it's like a lot of movies based on books, it's probably not the most accurate presentation. And I know the movie is based only on the first book.)

I haven't seen the movie or read any of the books, although I understand people are in line to read the books, and a near-extreme fundamentalist Christian family of which I know who are very strict about what their children see have a teenage daughter who plans to see the movie.

As far as its resemblance to the book, complaints I have seen say it follows the book almost too closely, practically scene-for-scene, like an attempt at an exact copy, while some things which work well in books don't in movies.

Thanks for the explanation, pmlavigne. It sounds as if we are just in the general territory of "dystopia", which of course can include FAHRENHEIT 451, LOGAN'S RUN and THE RUNNING MAN. The resemblances to Bradbury therefore don't sound specifically like influences so much as similarities that go with the genre.

I am just a few chapters into HG. Phil and jkt have it accurately. Stylistically, as far as I can see so far, there are no similarities, either in writing nor plot development. The dystopian world does have the "scroungers" found in "To the Chicago Abyss," but the manner of mass control is quite different.

So, the parallels are, as indicated by others, a part of the genre more than an influence by any one author. Mythology is identified as a key inspiration in the following interview, along with war, and reality tv.

However, you might be assisted by a scan through the specific details the author offers. *You will smile at the "last question" posed to Miss Collins!!

http://www.scholastic.com/theh...ames/media/qanda.pdf

And now you can buy the "Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook." Squirrel Stew anybody?

What immediately comes to mind when I saw the trailer for the film was the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.

I haven't seen it and I haven't read the book, but it has the air of an amalgam of The Lottery and the Connell short story The Most Dangerous Game

I still haven't seen the film or read the books... but see that (according to the Guardian) there are influences and references in THE HUNGER GAMES that go way beyond RB, or dystopian fiction:

http://www.theatlantic.com/ent...ivor/255043/#slide17