J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins?
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Re: J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins?
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That said, the series are radically different in their tone, literary style, and in some measure target audience. "Young adult" tends to be a catchall descriptor for anyone between 8 and 18, which encompasses a wide variety of people at different levels of reading comprehension, social and historical awareness, and critical thought development. (And to complicate matters further, there are those of us "actual" adults who read these types of books as much as we read "adults-only" literature.) Certainly I would say that the Harry Potter books, especially the first few, resemble C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series in that they overtly target the younger end of that spectrum but still prove meaningful on a deeper level to older readers. They also provide a modified third-person perspective (which I really enjoyed) on an out-of-reach, fantastical, exceptionally detailed world that sucks the reader out of his or her own humdrum surroundings, complete with a pretty happy ending (and I am a sucker for those). And Rowling boosts the charm factor with her cheeky, irreverent British humor - again, reminiscent to me of C.S. Lewis.
The Hunger Games, on the other hand, target the upper end of the young-adult spectrum. While Rowling's books certainly tackle dark and horrible themes, Collins's are unrelentingly nitty-gritty from the get-go (perhaps more so because they are told exclusively from the perspective of the already pessimistic heroine). There's happiness, but only in flashes; there's humor, but mainly dark humor; and even the ending, while technically on the happier side, is tinted with tragedy. The series is post-apocalyptic rather than fantastical, and it definitely shows.
All that said, I think the world of the Harry Potter series is much more detailed and rich than the world of The Hunger Games, and I can pick up any of the books and find humor, grief, loss, giddiness, and timelessness over and over again. I go back to The Hunger Games when I want a quick fix of on-trend, fast-paced adventure, but when I want a classic, I will choose Harry Potter every time. So I guess Harry Potter wins with me, but only by a fingernail or so.
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The Harry Potter Series -randomreader wrote:J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins are two very acclaimed authors of the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games. If you were one of them, which series would you rather have written?
I've read both and while The Hunger Games it is very well written they are not as much fun to read as the Harry Potter series. In addition, I have read the Harry Potter series multiple times while I've only read the Hunger Game series once (not sure I want to read it again).
Nothing against Suzanne Collins but a Magical World of Wizards, Warewolfs, Giants, Elfs and Dragons is much more fun than a post apocalyptic world in which a government forces children to compete to death in an effort to punish/reward certain groups of people for political gain.
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