Catching Fire Chapter 17

In which gamemakers faint and drop things in reaction to the punk-ness!  Peeta was a punk, too, and now everyone is worried.  But they get perfect scores, as Haymitch says, "so the others will have no choice but to target you."  Eep!  Not a reward for awesomeness?  But Plutarch loves Katniss!  Right?

Katniss is now actively and publicly defying the Capitol, and plans to continue to do so up until her death.  "The Capitol will have killed me...but not my spirit.  What better way to give hope to the rebels?"  Anyone?  Any better ways leaping to mind?  Do you think she's going overboard by imagining her face painted on banners?

The victors go on stage, each giving speeches about the bond between the victors and the Capitol, so now, even the Capitol audience is calling out for change.  Katniss twirls and Cinna's the most wonderful rebel stylist in the world and I want to marry him forever.  Paul Bettany, maybe?

Some questions:
Katniss warms up to Peeta on the roof.  Do you think she would be so open with him if she thought there was a possibility of going home to Gale?

Remind me, how would Peeta know what Rue looked like all covered in flowers?  Didn't the film cut away at that point?  Was he using his imagee-nation?

How organized do you think these speeches were?  Is this something that everyone decided ahead of time, or was it spontaneous?

Catching Fire Chapter 16

Darius!  Katniss drops peas on the floor, and they share a hand squeeze.  Katniss dreams of mutilated tongues. 

Haymitch advised them to make friends, so she does, and so does Peeta.  In training, Katniss uses her new code to explain to Beetee and Wiress that 12 has not rebelled, and they are disappointed, telling Katniss they both found her district "interesting."  Wiress points out a literal chink in the gamemakers armor. Again, we have a high school cafeteria scene, but this time, Katniss and Peeta are among the cool kids.  And THEN Katniss shoots stuff.  They all ask her to prom.

Katniss says "I don't want to go to prom" and then holds her hand up in an eff you to the gamemakers as she walks away in her black nails, NIN tee, torn fishnets, and combat boots.

If you haven't read ahead, and I'm assuming everyone has, don't read answers to this question.  That said, SPOILER ALERT ALERT. Katniss thinks about how Mags volunteered to "save the girl."  How do you read Mag's actions? 

What do you think was the last straw for Katniss, the one that drove her to hang Seneca Crane?

Catching Fire Chapter 15

Holy Sloop John B!  We find out a LOT about other districts in this chapter.  Check out the updates over there --->

Our windows into the Capitol, the prep team, are soggy messes because they love them some victors.  Cinna and Portia "spent a lot of ours watching fires."  What do you suppose they discussed besides making costumes?  Finnick is gross, but kind of compelling in a naked Golden Boy sort of way, and intriguing when he reveals that he "trades in secrets."  He also knows more than Katniss, which is when he makes his exit.  Bloodbreath is fixated on Katniss. (aren't we all?)   Katniss misreads Johanna Mason's attempts at friendliness because she's naked and abrasive.  Why are naked abrasive girls always so misunderstood?  Maybe it's the spiky hair.

Peeta tells Katniss she's clueless and fun to make fun of pure, and the redheaded Avox is back, now with her counterpart, Darius!

So, what I want to know is this:  who controls the hiring and placing of Avoxes?  Is it the Capitol, sending a threat?  Or is it someone who wants Katniss and Peeta to use them to their rebellious advantage?  Does President Snow really have time for that shizz?

And B:  Why is Katniss so good at reading some people, like Gale and Haymitch, and so lousy at reading other people, like Johanna and Peets?

Sorry for the late post today!

Catching Fire Chapter 14

Two more weeks, everyone!  TWO WEEEEEEKS!  Eep!

In which Katniss decides that it's all about keeping Peeta alive this time.  Haymitch isn't drinking, the mood is dark.  They watch the reapings.  There are 59 living tributes out of 75.  I'm so good at math:  that means only 16 victors have died.  (I wonder what the Capitol does for them, if anything.)  More math fun!  If the first tribute was 12 when he or she won, he or she would be 87 now (and could be as old as 93).  Allowing that the first 16 tributes have died, except for the volunteer from 4, the oldest living tribute could be anywhere between 71 and 77.  Isn't that interesting? So, there are new tributes to keep track of.  I'll put them in orange, and bring all the districts back from the gray.  The blue ones are the known rebels.

Katniss and Peeta settle in to watch tapes (yes, we're back to tapes.  SC, won't you please uh-splain that in Mockingjay?) of prior games, including Haymitch's, which also features Maysilee, Madge's aunt and her mother's twin.  The original owner of the Mockingjay pin.  Haymitch finds the end of the arena, using the Capitol against itself while he holds his intestines in, and wins.

Why do you think the Capitol allowed an attendant who wasn't an Avox to wait on Peeta and Katniss?

Katniss says she finally knows who Haymitch is, and it gives her confidence.  What do you think she means by that?

Katniss is sure she's teaming up with Haymitch to keep Peeta alive.  Does this seem shortsighted, or prudent at this stage of her thinking?

Catching Fire Chapter 13

In which Katniss runs, curls up inside an empty Victor Village house which has a painting cloth (why'd they bother repainting in a Quell year?  Can anyone squat the empties?) and Haymitch gets her drunk (finally!  A drinking buddy for Yaymitch!) after telling her she's selfish.  He breaks my heart when he says "Oh, I think we can count on it being unbearable no matter where I am."  That's the nicest thing he's ever said.  Is Mickey Rourke too old to play him?

Katniss hurls and has a wowzer of a hangover, and breaks down in front of her family.  That's the nicest thing she's ever done, too.  What's up with these people when they think they're going to die again?  Sheesh.  She goes to Haymitch's where Peeta dumped all of his (super)illegal hooch.  Peeta's gone all drill sergeant, thankfully.  No drunkards on this team!

Effie is sending recordings (not tapes!) of the victors so they can all study. Katniss realizes "some of our opponents may be elderly, which is both sad and reassuring."  Katniss is so good about revealing herself completely in statments like this.  I mean, SC is.

Gale tries to make Katniss go all gooey over him (I volunteer!) and she doesn't, which totally means she does.  She plans to tell him later.  Good plan.  Effie wears a gold wig to the reaping because she's classy like that.  Haymitch and Katniss are picked, Peeta volunteers, and Thread ushers them out the back door of the Justice Building, and Gale never gets to hear how essential he is to Katniss.  I cry a little.

What questions do you feel like answering?  Go.

Catching Fire Chapter 12

In which Katniss sits around very queenly, stuffing herself with cheese buns and waiting for Haymitch to bring her news of people dying of starvation.  Venia, Octavia, and Flavius arrive for Katniss's bridal photo shoot, and Octavia reveals that District Four has been having "bad weather" and so she couldn't get shrimp.  Katniss, always one to pick up on subtle cues, figures this means they've rebelled.  She finds out that 3 and 8 have also rebelled.  This is all followed by an exhausting photo shoot.

Katniss goes in search of "a confidante" and seeks out Haymitch.  This is the chapter in which I start to believe that Haymitch may exaggerate his drunkenness for effect.  Because of their size, 12 needs to have a 100% compliance rate for rebellion, and Haymitch thinks the Captiol would need little provocation to kill off an entire district.  Could the Capitol be researching more energy efficient fuel than coal?

Katniss's photo shoot airs, and they announce the third Quarter Quell.  It's the "reading of the card."  Katniss's mother reveals that she had a friend who went to the games during the 50th anniversary (the second Quell).  Maysilee Donner:  her family owned the sweetshop, and Maysilee had a canary that her family gave to Katniss's mother (do we know her name?  This is driving me nuts) after the games.  (So, if Haymitch was 16 or 17, that makes him in his very early 40s now.  Huh.  I always imagined him older than that.  In this Quell, "as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol" they will pick tributes from the victors.  Katniss, Haymitch, Peeta, nooooooooooooooooo!

Howdja feel when you first read this?  I was pretty pissed.  Then I got over it.

Catching Fire Chapter 11

In which Katniss reveals she's getting better at lying and thinking on her feet!  But first, she has to get over the newly electrified fence.  Her family doesn't know where she is (good thing!), and she goes up a tree, leaps Rue style into the next one, and drops to the ground, injuring her foot and tailbone.

Somehow, she manages to play it cool with the peacekeepers, and Peeta and Haymitch have got her back, yo.  And Prim, too.  She's growing up wily.  Katniss pushes it with the peacekeepers, which makes me like her, that sassafrass.

Peeta paints pictures of plants in Katniss's family book and Katniss writes in it, which seems totally like married couple stuff.  Katniss watches TV, and confirms the mockingjay is the same in all the District 13 footage.

What does the Capitol show on the news?  Katniss sees a story about the Dark Days, and another about the mines of District 13:  there is a graphite shortage, but the mines are too toxic to approach.

Also, in this chapter, I started thinking about peacekeeper names, which made me wonder how they are recruited.  Does it make sense that Thread would be from District 8, like Twill?  And maybe Cray is from District 11, you know, crayfish?  Does the Capitol force people into that role?  Do they ask for volunteers?  And if either a or b, how many weak links in the peacekeeper system are there?  Hmmmmmm.