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I meant to finish reading the trilogy in a short time, then forget about it and prepare for the three exams. But the truth is, I have not been able to stop thinking about it, not a single day, and it's been more than ten days now. I couldn't help but spending as much as I could afford to buy a few tokens, though it was never part of the plan to spend any money on this.
I look back on last month with content. It was the first birthday month I ever went through together with Jim, and it was so full and colorful. Reading the three books had a lot to do with that. I was so completely absorbed into the world that I did't care about anything else at all. Sometimes it got rather tough because I would become very crabby and ill-tempered when I was so eager to finish the book and my constant consult to the dictionary made me so slow. Yet I was still thankful that the language was much simpler than One Day, and most sentences was pretty easy to understand. However, those books somehow had a magical, magnetic, supernatural power and I was hopelessly drawn to them like a moth to a flame. I couldn't eat or sleep well, and my body even gave me a few signs of warning. Those unforgettable days, reading the books, I was satisfactory and miserable at the same time.
I love Peeta. He has probably become one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. I've always been a total sucker for blond hair and blue eyes, I love a baker, never being any good with words myself, I love a smooth-talking guy. And there's so much more. His crazy-long eyelashes, his strong arms, his warmth, his gentleness, his kindness, his braveness, the goodness of his heart, his soothing "dandelion" nature, his undying, all-consuming love for Katniss, his undoubted willingness of ultimate sacrifice for her... I just love everything about "the boy with the bread". He has just about everything I want in a guy I wanna spend the rest of my life with.
On the contrary, I've never liked Gale. In fact, I think I even hated him from time to time. A strange way to feel about the leading lady's best friend. Guess he's just not my type, that's all.
Although romance was not what the author was focusing on in the series, it was the one angle that I took the most interest in, because I loved Peeta so much. But I never dreamed that Katniss could ever end up with him. Even though she did show some loving feelings towards him, I always deemed that she loved Gale much, much more. And after Gale was whipped, she imagined herself to be in his place and came to the conclusion that he was hers and she was his, I thought to myself, well, that's it. Peeta has to die. There's no other possible ending for him. So when I was reaching the end of the second book, when Peeta showed Katniss the pictures inside his locket, I could nearly hear the sound of my heart breaking. I had to literally clench my chest to steady it. I would have to say it was the most gut-wrenching moment for me in the trilogy. Most bitter-sweet moment. My favorite moment.
I've always hated any kind of spoilers. But after Peeta turned out to be hijacked and I can't think of any bright future for him, I just couldn't bear it any more. I had to fund out what happened to him in the end. So I quickly flipped though hundreds of pages and reached the epilogue. Then I read about the two children and the sentence "but Peeta wanted them so badly", I almost couldn't believe my own eyes. After that, I let myself stop hurrying and indulge in wonderment and happiness for a long while.
Readers' opinions differ on the ending. Whether it was a happy one or not. I think it was okay. I no longer obsess over perfect endings like I used to--and I attribute that to growing up--so I think that though Peeta has changed a great deal, he still remains the boy with the bread and the dandelion in the spring, full of hope and life; though he is no longer as perfect as he was, everything I love about him is still there. And I believe he and Katniss can and will make each other happy. There will also be hard times, of course, but isn't bitterness an essential part of every life?
I didn't want to become so addicted to The Hunger Games. I only began reading it because of Taylor. I only intended to read the first one to get ready for watching the upcoming movie. But once I started this journey, there was no turning back. I just traveled faster and faster, further and further into this wondrous imaginary land. I just fell in love with the books without even the slightest bit of effort.
That's why after an extremely bad day yesterday, I allowed myself to be immersed in that fantasy again, until 5 o'clock in the morning. Although I must get up at 7:20. I told myself that I've earned it. That I deserved a few hours of bliss after the hell I'd been through. |
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