【寒假最强书单】《饥饿游戏》：生死边缘的爱恨抉择
经常有人问：怎样才能成为一枚有追求、有文化、有知识、有B格的四有骚年？世纪君答：诸君，去读书吧！是的，假日属于书，那些跃动着的文字，让你如沐春风。这个假日，世纪君就奉上一份“寒假最强书单”。为何“最强”？因为世纪君：综合了英国教育部考试委员会、作家JK Rowling、Philip Pullman以及英国《卫报》、美国《纽约时报》等多家国际媒体开出的青少年书单；参考了香港教育图书公司、《澳门日报》、台湾国立图书馆所列的青少年必读书目；邀请了曾在北外任教、与世纪君共事多年的英国文学博士Paul Brennan先生，一起精选出这十本书。每日一读，如抱暖阳。
今天，让我们翻开《饥饿游戏》，看处于生死边缘的年轻斗士面对人性和生命如何抉择。
因詹妮弗•劳伦斯（Jennifer Lawrence）主演的同名电影大热，畅销小说《饥饿游戏》从此进入中国读者的视野。美国作家苏珊•柯林斯（Suzanne Collins）在2008至2010年间创作的这三部系列小说，不仅构思精妙、情节悬疑，而且极富现实社会的象征意义。
未来的世界，在北美的一个国家Panem，独裁政权Capitol统治十二个贫穷的行政区。每年，十二个区都被迫向Capitol送去少男少女各一名作为“贡品”，参加电视直播的“饥饿游戏”。这项“游戏”野蛮而残暴：所有的贡品被迫互相残杀，最后的幸存者就是终极获胜者。对于Capitol的统治阶层，这是年度盛会；对于十二区人民，则是羞辱和折磨。Capitol意图通过这一残酷的生死游戏，威胁并告诫国民顺从其高压统治。
The Hunger Games books (2008-2010) by US author Suzanne Collins are set in a North American future which is very similar to the real North American present in some ways. In this world, the US is no more. In the new nation, “Panem”, a Capitol rules over 12 other districts. Life in the districts is hungry and always a struggle, completely different to the wealth enjoyed by the people of the Capitol.
The Capitol holds an annual (一年一度的) “Hunger Games”. The games are a combination of ancient Roman gladiatorial (角斗的) contests and modern reality TV shows. The players are young people from the districts. As in the ancient games, these modern gladiators fight battles to the death with each other. And as in our own reality TV shows, the whole “entertainment” is filmed live for a TV audience.
Although the Hunger Games are entertainment for the Capitol, they are punishment for the districts for a rebellion (叛乱) that failed. But over the course of the books we see how that rebellion is inspired again by a heroic new player, who turns the tables on the tyrants (暴君) in power.
柯林斯的三部曲始终维持一致的基本架构：从类似古罗马格斗竞技的“饥饿游戏”，引发反叛，继而战争，但每一部都有意想不到的结局。第一部小说从第七十四届“饥饿游戏”开始。 抽签日那天，16岁倔强女孩凯特尼斯（Katniss Everdeen）的人生从此彻底改变。虽然被迫投入饥饿游戏，她却拒绝向游戏规则屈服。然而，游戏真假莫辨，凯特尼斯会面临怎样的困难抉择？而她的抗争又会给自己甚至十二区人民带来什么？
She is a teenager called Katniss Everdeen, from District 12. She is an alert (警觉的), brave and intelligent young person. She becomes a contestant in the 74th Hunger Games, as does Peeta Mellark, a boy from the same place who has a crush on Katniss.
The first book follows these two as they fight their way through the early rounds, rounds which involve young people having to fight each other to the death. Katniss and Peeta both do well, proving themselves to be better fighters than the others. A rule change in the competition then allows contestants to team up, and from then on Katniss and Peeta fight together. As they beat all comers, they believe that they have survived the challenge of the Hunger Games. But another rule change forces them to fight against each other. Katniss and Peeta manage to foil (挫败) this by planning a suicide pact (自杀协议), giving the authorities no choice but to allow them to live.
But Katniss and Peeta prove to be more than a hit with TV viewers. They bring back the spirit of rebellion in the Districts. The other books in the series tell the tale of this revolution against the Capitol and the increasingly important roles the central characters of Katniss and Peeta play in it.
不管是电影还是书籍，都有意无意地影射着现实世界的各种社会问题。比如等级观念、贫富差距等现象：属于统治阶级的富人生活奢靡，而被统治阶级的穷人则挣扎在生死边缘。而从“赞助商赞助”到观众的热烈追捧再到那种“娱乐至死”的精神，“饥饿游戏”本身又何尝不是对当今娱乐真人秀节目一种讽刺和反思？
The Hunger Games books get their power from speaking indirectly about our own world. The novels speak to young American readers because of a growing sense of inequality in US society and the fear among the young that their futures will be a struggle. But the stories may well be relevant for a wider audience than just North America.
一起来欣赏《饥饿游戏3:嘲笑鸟（上）》的精彩特辑吧！
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