I went into Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes thinking it would be a real eyeroller as I’m not to fond of YA dystopian sci-fi, but seeing as how the film adaption was around the corner and the time I sank into the Hunger Games trilogy (and being the unapologetic asshole who believes the words “the book was better” to be Mosaic Law), I said fuck it and gave it a read.

And I was surprised be how I wanted to keep going after the end of every chapter. I enjoyed getting into the head of Coriolanus Snow and his possessive infatuation with Lucy Gray and the inner working of Capitol class structure.

That’s not to say I don’t have issues with the book. The pacing is inconsistent, the actual Hunger Games are a relative bore, and some characters could have benefited from more focus.

But through it all, I don’t feel my time has been wasted reading it and am curious to see how the film adapts it.

Any books you’ve read that you thought you’d hate but ended up enjoying? Why?

  • Sauerteig@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    My prime example is “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky (2003)

    I exchanged books with a good friend of mine years ago. We said this one exchange would be non-fiction/and or historical. , I gave him “Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond. He gave me the Salt book. I didn’t think I would find it interesting at all, but boy was I wrong. You can never look at a salt shaker the same again after it.

    Have you ever heard the expression that someone is worth their salt? This expression originates from an ancient practice in the 19th century where Roman soldiers were paid in the form of salt as wages. For many years, salt was considered as a very rare and priceless entity. Wars, intrigue, murders, the book had it all. Fascinating. All about salt.