Liars and Saints

  It's hard to overstate the brilliance of "The Hunger Games." Start with the title--which is sinister and sadistic and able to do its job with just three words. Then the concept. We send children to war. We also entertain ourselves by watching "reality TV." Is it really difficult to imagine that the two perversions might blend together at some point in the near future? Collins's protagonist, Katniss, has a raw deal even before "the Games." She has lost her father, and in response, her mother has become a non-functioning alcoholic. To feed the family, Katniss must hunt for wild animals. (I find myself thinking of Matt Saracen in "Friday NIght Lights," though I think Matt came *before* Katniss.) Although Katniss tends to act in a heroic way, the smart choices don't always come quickly to her. We see her struggle to "behave in a political way"--we hear her thoughts, and we understand that she often has to repress the urge to w...

 One reservation that people have with regard to contemporary literary fiction is that characters will not "make a scene." There is a mildness, a quietness, that does not lead to explosive conflict. For this reason, many readers turn to "young adult" novels. "Sunrise on the Reaping" has a terrific central figure: Plutarch Heavensbee, a kind of journalist who stages tearful moments for the entertainment of the masses. He makes an error and loses footage of a family breakup; he then offers the family extra minutes of togetherness if they will cry on camera for him. (The writer Suzanne Collins was inspired in part by reality TV. When we watch someone get her hopes crushed on "The Bachelor," what are we really doing?) Elsewhere, a "tribute" in the Hunger Games confesses that he has previously organized betting pools around the games. He has profited when certain children have died. Now, he suspects that his own family is placing bets agains...