Hungry for sanity

Certainly I'd heard of Hunger Games, the book by Suzanne Collins and the first of a trilogy that includes Catching Fire and Mockingjay. But my son, who turned 29 today, told me about it and said I'd enjoy it. "It's a fast read." Well, relatively. I'm a slow reader.
He was right; it does keep you reading. One of the skills a writer of narrative wants to use is pacing, and this book has that.
For any who aren't familiar with the Hunger Games phenomenon, the first book came out in 2008. Collins says she got the idea when channel surfing and flipped between a reality show and footage of the Iraq War. The book is narrated by Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old girl who lives in a post-apocalyptic world in the country of Panem, where North America is now. The country is ruled from a metropolis called the Capitol. Every year a boy and a girl aged 12-18 is chosen by lottery from each of 12 districts to take part in the Hunger Games, a televised competition in which the lone survivor of the 24 contestants wins.
Katniss, who is skilled as a hunter, takes her younger sister's place in the competition. She represents the moral voice of the novel. But the situation is so insane it's hard to imagine remaining moral at all.
The book is written as an engaging story, but it implies other messages, including a critique of violent entertainment. The tricky thing about that is it's using violent entertainment to speak against violent entertainment. Don't get me wrong; this can be done. But it is difficult. Some works have pulled it off well, such the movie Unforgiven.
I think Collins largely succeeds. And I may be even more convinced when I get around to reading the second and third volumes in the trilogy. Marty Troyer, whose blog is  blog.chron.com/thepeacepastor/, has written a longer and thoughtful analysis of Collins' critique of violence. 
As he points out, Collins is good at helping readers feel the effects of violence. It never seems gratuitous. And you can't help wondering, What would I do in such an insane situation?
We in this country are largely protected from such lethal situations, though soldiers and many in poor, crime-ridden areas face such dangers every day. For them, it's not a fictional fantasy but all too real.
With a movie version of Hunger Games coming out March 23, the popularity of the story will only increase. I hope it helps us think about the violence we've come to accept and the violent entertainment we consume so readily. I hope it makes us hungrier for a saner world where peace is sought and desired.