Mockingjay

Disclaimer: I am a reader, not a writer. I'm not an accomplished reviewer. Just a lover of books. ** SPOILER ALERT **Don't read unless you've read the book.

Well, one of my most anticipated books arrived this week and though I attempted a "snacking" approach, I finally gave in and gobbled. That was yesterday and the book is still calling to me to come and revisit certain parts. But that starts a crying jag so I've had to stop.

On both GoodReads and Amazon, this book is getting some negative reviews. I imagine Collins knew that would be the case as does any author who risks going against the trends. It would have been better according to many if she had made it more of a romance. I agree that Ms. Collins took Mockingjay in a direction I didn't see coming. But I love a book that is unpredictable. This story was never about the typical YA love triangle that has become so popular these days and so trite. This story is about the realities of war, the costs, the soldiers used up and discarded and left to recover from the ravages and damages of their wounds and choices. This was about the gray area of the agendas of power hungry leaders and who they are willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals.

This book wasn't about Katniss, the superhero either. She's ultimately broken as anyone would be after living through her hellish young life. I came to love some of the other minor characters...but unfortunately most don't live to see the destruction of the Capitol. We finally get to know Prim who Katniss has fought so hard to protect, only to lose her in the end by "unfriendly" fire. We don't even get a chance to grief or mourn their sacrifices. I feel cheated but then I imagine most of our memorials to the fallen are an attempt to say thank you...to say you are appreciated, you are missed and to say goodbye when those privileges were denied in the heat of battle.

I do have one minor complaint: I missed the old Peeta and I most definitely wanted more of him as he recovers. I want to know what happened to the pearl Katniss carefully carries with her and where Peeta was during the siege that resulted in his horrible burns. Although Collins was much too stingy with her words in the end, they were well-chosen and ultimately satisfying. I am so grateful for the Epilogue.

At the end of "Lord of the Rings", after the destruction of the Ring and restoration of the Shire, Frodo still suffers from the pains inflicted during his quest. At one point Frodo tells Sam, "I am wounded, wounded; it will never really heal". I thought alot about Frodo and Sam as well as Ender Wiggin while reading MJ. Neither Ender nor Frodo were ever able to return to a normal life. Katniss, though a victor, is still a casualty, but one who finds healing, love, and hope with another of the Games's victims.

Years ago, an older man, a transient, wandered into our neighborhood lost and disoriented. My daughter ran in from playing to tell me of her concern for him and I went out to investigate. He was hanging on the stop sign, his clothes ragged and dirty. His face had that permanent ruddy complexion of an alcoholic. Two of my neighbors came out and said not to bother...they would call the police. I ignored them and asked the man if he needed help. With slurred speech he explained he had taken the bus to our town to visit his sister and got off at the wrong stop. If he could just get back to the bus stop, he knew he could find her. I offered my arm and together we ambled back in the direction of the bus bench. I asked him where he was from and he started telling me about the war he fought in. His eyes teared up. I listened while he told me of his service and the buddies he lost. We almost made it to the bus stop when he simply collapsed. I couldn't lift him and about this time, the police pulled up and I told them what I knew and returned home to my concerned kids.

I followed up on him and what he told me was true. He did have a sister in town. I also realized something else. When I asked where he was from, he had also told me the truth. He was from the War. He had never left it. He tried to escape with alcohol but the battle always pulled him back to the frontlines. I wondered what he was like before the war entombed him.

After reading Mockingjay I've thought alot about this man, who's not unlike Haymitch. I know it's just a book but the story was more "real" than "not real".

And sad. Terribly sad.

It will linger with me for along time.

SAD Book Fanart -Gale from Hunger Games

Here is my Sketch A Day: Gale from Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. Pencil on Vellum

Fan Art Process - Part 1

I have been asked a few times how I go about drawing fan art. I guess the initial start of the process is finding a book I connect to. . . how much I want to envision the character(s). Let's take one of my favorite finds last year: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Could not put it down and am anticipating the next in the series, Catching Fire, due out in the fall. The main character is a 16 year old girl named Katniss Everdeene. Say I want to flesh her out of my head on to paper. First I start with the author's physical description which surprisingly, wasn't a great deal. On Wiki is gives this info: Katniss has straight black hair, which she normally pulls back into a long braid, olive skin, and gray eyes. She is slender and athletic, especially skilled in wilderness survival. Archer.
I also go through the book and highlight any scenes that disclose to me particular characteristics of her personality...kindness, anger, selfishness, determination, tenderness....etc. Then I go hunting. First, I try to remember any actors that have an interesting face. For instance, one of my very first Twilight fan art of Edward and Bella had me going back to an actor I remembered from a Mel Gibson film called Gallipoli. His name is Mark Lee and played the unforgettable character, Archy Hamilton. Though he was blond, he had the chiseled features that I envisioned for Edward. Plus he had portrayed the goodness that I felt was part of Edward's personality.

For Katniss, I remembered an actress....didn't know who she was at the time, who played Becky Thatcher in a 1995 film of Tom and Huck. She was tomboyish and yet you could tell she was going to grow into a lovely young woman. I discovered it was Rachael Leigh Cook. Had to do some digging, but found a photo of her around 16.
Her hair isn't in a braid, but it's dark. I can work with it. The ragged t-shirt is a good start for her clothes, although the Nirvana underneath will have to go as will the eyeliner. But she has potential. I wish the lighting of the photo was better, but I can work with it. If there's no one I can recall, I will go through faces on Flickr, modeling agencies, etc., hoping someone will jump out at me. If it's black and white and good lighting, all the better. So, this is how I start. Next will be the beginnings of the sketch and the use of other references.

Good News/Bad news

GOOD NEWS: Suzanne Collin's sequel to Hunger Games is due out September 2009.


BAD NEWS: The sequel to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss has been postponed. It will not make it's April 2009 publication date.

MORE GOOD NEWS: My entry made it into the International Church Art Exhibit being held at the Conference Center, March 20th thru Oct. 11th.