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Catching Fire

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Catching Fire
AuthorSuzanne Collins
Cover artistTim O'Brien
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction/
Young adult
PublisherScholastic
Publication date
September 1, 2009
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages391
ISBN978-0-439-02349-8
OCLC288932790
[Fic] 22
LC ClassPZ7.C6837 Cat 2009
Preceded byThe Hunger Games 
Followed byMockingjay 

Catching Fire is the second book in The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger Games, it continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the fictional, futuristic nation of Panem. Following the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the oppressive Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of the Hunger Games. The book was released September 1, 2009,[1] and was later released in eBook and audiobook format. Some information says that the film will come out in November 2013.

Major themes include survival, government control, rebellion and interdependence vs. independence. Catching Fire has received mostly positive reviews. Reviewers praised the prose, the ending, and how Katniss became more sophisticated. The third and final novel in the series, Mockingjay, was released August 24, 2010.[2][3]

Synopsis

Setting

Catching Fire takes place in a fictional country called Panem, which is located in what was once the United States and Canada. The Capitol, the chief city and seat of government, is located somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.[4] District 12, Katniss' home, is located in the coal-rich Appalachian region.[4] There are a total of 12 Districts, but there once was a 13th, which was destroyed in a rebellion against the Capitol. The Hunger Games take place annually in an arena specially built for the event in an unidentified location.

Plot

After winning the 74th Hunger Games in the previous novel, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark return home to District 12, the poorest sector in the country of Panem. On the day that Katniss and Peeta are to start a "Victory Tour" of the country, she is visited by President Snow. President Snow explains that he is angry with her for breaking the rules at the end of the last Hunger Games, which permitted them both to win. President Snow tells Katniss that when she defied the Capitol, she inspired rebellion in the districts. In order for Katniss' loved ones to avoid retaliation by Snow, she must convince Snow himself that she and Peeta are in love.

The first stop on the Victory Tour is District 11, the home of Katniss' friend and ally in the Hunger Games, Rue, before she died. During the ceremony, Katniss and Peeta deliver quick speeches to the people of District 11, thanking them for their tributes. When the speeches conclude, an old man whistles a tune that Katniss used in the arena to tell Rue that she was safe. The song acts as a signal and everyone salutes Katniss using the same gesture that she used to say farewell to Rue. Katniss and Peeta then proceed to travel to all of the twelve districts and the Capitol. During an interview, Peeta proposes to Katniss publicly, hoping to settle the dispute between Katniss and President Snow. Despite this, Katniss learns that their attempts of subduing rebellion in the districts and convincing Snow of their relationship have failed. Shortly after returning to District 12, Katniss encounters two runaways from District 8. They explain a theory that District 13 was not wiped out by the Capitol and that its residents have gone underground. President Snow announces that, for the 75th Hunger Games, a "Quarter Quell" that allows the Gamemakers to add a twist, 24 victors from previous years will be forced to compete once again. Katniss resolves to save Peeta, who will almost certainly be the male tribute. Haymitch reveals that he had already agreed to help Peeta accomplish the same for Katniss, but still agrees to help Katniss.

After arriving at the Capitol, Katniss and Peeta look for potential allies among the other tributes. Katniss meets Finnick Odair, a 24-year-old man who successfully survived the Games at the age of 14, and Mags, Finnick's 80-year-old mentor, both from District 4. She also meets Beetee and Wiress, an older couple from District 3 who are said to be "exceptionally smart" and adept at working with electronics. Beetee and Wiress tell Katniss that the Capitol leaves the control panels for their force fields vulnerable in plain sight.

The Games take place on a beach and jungle terrain, with a dome shaped force field enclosing the tributes. The arena is set up to resemble an analog clock with one lethal event occurring every hour on a twelve hour cycle. When the Games start, Katniss and Peeta form an impromptu alliance with Finnick and Mags. They try to find the arenas parameters, but Peeta runs into the force field at the edge, stopping his heart. Finnick is able to perform CPR to revive him, although Peeta is weakened from the incident. At noon, lightning strikes a tree nearby, and the next hour the Gamemakers release a poisonous fog in the group's location. The fog causes muscle spasms and prevents them from running while carrying Mags and Peeta. Mags sacrifices herself so the other three can escape. After Mags' death, lightning strikes again at midnight and the group is attacked by monkey muttations, but all three survive, thanks to the female tribute from District 6 sacrificing herself to save Peeta. Katniss, Peeta and Finnick join forces with Johanna Mason, a sarcastic and often cruel victor from District 7, an injured Beetee, and Wiress, who is in shock and repeatedly mumbles "tick tock". From Wiress' words, Katniss realizes that the arena is arranged like a clock, with the Gamemakers' disasters occurring on a timed chart, signaled by the lightning.

While gathered at the central cornucopia the careers attack the group, killing Wiress, and a battle ensues until the Gamemakers cut it short by shifting the terrain. Beetee devises a plan to harness the arena's lightning to supposedly electrocute the rest of the career tributes. At night the group splits to prepare for the plan, but is attacked separately by the remaining tributes. Katniss is knocked out and has her tracer removed by Johanna. Johanna then leads the two remaining careers away from Katniss. An injured Katniss directs the lightning at the force field's control panel with an arrow tied to the wire, destroying the arena forcefield and resulting in her temporary paralysis. When she wakes up, she is being transported to District 13: a place that is widely thought to no longer exist. She is joined by Finnick, Beetee, and Haymitch, but learns that Peeta and Johanna have been captured by the Capitol. Katniss is informed that from the beginning, there had been a plan among most of the tributes, Haymitch, and head Gamemaker Plutarch to break her and Peeta out of the arena. The book ends when Katniss' best friend, Gale, comes to visit her and informs her that, though he got her family out in time, District 12 has been bombed and destroyed.

Publication history

Catching Fire had a preliminary hardcover release date of September 8, 2009 which was moved up to September 1, 2009 in response to requests by retailers to move the release to before Labor Day and the start of school for many readers.[5] It was also published as an audiobook on on the same day.[6] Advance reading copies were available at BookExpo America in New York City,[7] and were sent out to some booksellers, and offered as prizes in Scholastic's "How Would You Survive" writing contest in May 2009. An eBook version was also published on June 3, 2010.[6] Catching Fire had an initial print of 350,000 copies.[5] The book has over 750,000 copies in print.[8]

Themes

One of the main themes in the book is survival.[9]

Another main theme is interdependence versus independence. As one reviewer noted, "In The Hunger Games book 2, Katniss and Peeta are definitely interdependent. They are both helping each other to survive. As a matter of fact, they want the other one to survive more than they do themselves." The reviewer goes on to comment how this actually increases the chances of each character dying.[10]

Government control is another important theme throughout the book and the series. After overpowering the first rebellion, the Capitol sets up rules in order to restrict and control the citizens' lives. Examples include how, "the 75th annual Hunger Games have 'new' rules that cause Katniss and Peeta to be in danger once again. More 'Peacekeepers' are placed in districts to squash any hope that the citizens started to have after the last Hunger Games."[10] Other themes in the book include morality, obedience, sacrifice, redemption, love, and law.[9]

Critical reception

Catching Fire received mainly positive reviews from critics. Publishers Weekly wrote, "If this second installment spends too much time recapping events from book one, it doesn't disappoint when it segues into the pulse-pounding action readers have come to expect."[11] Booklist commented on how the "unadorned prose provides an open window to perfect pacing and electrifying world building".[9] A review from The New York Times also gave a positive review, writing, "Collins has done that rare thing. She has written a sequel that improves upon the first book. As a reader, I felt excited and even hopeful: could it be that this series and its characters were actually going somewhere?" and also praised how Katniss became more sophisticated in the book.[12] The Plain Dealer wrote, "The very last sentence of Catching Fire will leave readers gasping. Not to mention primed for part three."[13]

However, not all reviews were positive. The same review from The Plain Dealer became annoyed at how, "after 150 pages of romantic dithering, I was tapping my foot to move on."[13] A review from Entertainment Weekly called the book weaker than the first and wrote, "Katniss pretends to be in love with her sweet-natured Games teammate Peeta Mellark, but she secretly pines for brooding Gale, a childhood friend. Except — why? There's little distinction between the two thinly imagined guys, other than the fact that Peeta has a dopier name. Collins conjures none of the erotic energy that makes Twilight, for instance, so creepily alluring."[14]

In addition, Time magazine named Catching Fire the fourth top fiction book of 2009,[15] while People magazine rated it their eighth Best Book of 2009.[16] It also won Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year for 2009 award.[17]

Film adaptation

Lionsgate announced that a film adaption of Catching Fire will be released November 22, 2013,[18] as a sequel to the film adaption of The Hunger Games, which was released March 23, 2012.[19]

References

  1. ^ "The Hunger Games". Scholastic. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  2. ^ Staskiewicz, Keith (2010-02-11). "Final 'Hunger Games' novel has been given a title and a cover". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  3. ^ "Suzanne Collins's Third Book in the Hunger Games Trilogy to Be Published by Scholastic on August 24, 2010" (Press release). Scholastic. 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  4. ^ a b Collins, Suzanne (2008). The Hunger Games. Scholastic. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-439-02348-1.
  5. ^ a b "The On-Sale Calendar: September 2009 Children's Books". Publishers Weekly. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Amazon Catching Fire". Amazon. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  7. ^ Roback, Diane (2009-01-22). "'Hunger Games 2': A First Look". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
  8. ^ Roback, Diane (February 11, 2010). "'Mockingjay' to Conclude the Hunger Games Trilogy". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
  9. ^ a b c Chipman, Ian. "Booklist Catching Fire Review". Booklist. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  10. ^ a b Dill, Margo (July 15, 2010). "Novel Study Guides : Themes in Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins". Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Children's Book Reviews: 6/22/2009". Publishers Weekly. 2009-06-22. Retrieved 2009-06-29. [dead link‍]
  12. ^ Zevin, Gabrielle (October 9, 2009). "Constant Craving". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  13. ^ a b Welch, Rollie (September 6, 2009). "'Catching Fire' brings back Suzanne Collins' kindhearted killer: Young Readers". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  14. ^ Reese, Jennifer (August 28, 2009). "Catching Fire (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  15. ^ "The Top 10 Everything of 2009". Time. 2009-12-08. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
  16. ^ "People Magazine's Top Ten Books of 2009". BookGuide. January 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
  17. ^ Grossman, Lev (8 December 2009). "Scholastic Catching Fire page". Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  18. ^ Weinstein, Joshua L (August 8, 2011). "The Hunger Games Sequel Set for 2013 Release". The Wrap. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
  19. ^ Valby, Karen (January 25, 2011). "'The Hunger Games' gets release date". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
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