{"id":117,"date":"2011-01-02T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2011-01-02T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=117"},"modified":"2011-01-01T18:50:12","modified_gmt":"2011-01-02T02:50:12","slug":"mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/01\/mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Catching Fire’: Chapter 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth chapter of Catching Fire<\/em>, Katniss is forced to re-evaluate her plans to escape District 12 when she decides to stay with Gale. And then OH NO. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Catching Fire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve converted myself to using an e-book for reading projects for this blog out of ease and the desire to have a more portable method for keeping books with me, especially as I tend to be on the road more than usual these days. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been a bookworm since I was a small child and to this day, I still own hundreds of books that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to part with and don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have plans to.<\/p>\n

Naturally, I was morally opposed to e-books for the longest time, and I would cycle through the most predictable reasons as to why I would never, ever read a book on a digital device. The feel of pages! The weight of the book! The smell when you open a brand new novel! Bookstores! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m predictable!<\/p>\n

Once I started the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mark Reads\u00e2\u20ac\u009d project in 2009, though, the second I had to leave town for more than a day, I started getting tired of carrying a book or two with me at all times, especially the hefty Harry Potter<\/em> books. It became even more tiresome to try and prop the book open while I tried to type and copy quotes. So a few months ago, after playing around with a friend\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s iPad and hearing the glowing reviews she was giving it, I started to save up for one and I managed to finally be able afford it early last month.<\/p>\n

The point of all this is that I have not used the physical books for this series in a while; I bought all three at once and never even cracked open Catching Fire<\/em> once. Today, I peeked inside the cover to read the flap summary and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still shocked at the direction this book is going in so early on in the story. After reading that summary, which makes it seem as if the Victory Tour was going to take up the majority of the book, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m left completely clueless. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now coming up on being a third of the way through the book and the Victory Tour is long over and the rebellion has started. What on earth is going to happen??? I gotta say, this is really exciting for me because I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say much of what is happening is predictable at all. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD<\/em>. Oh god, AWESOME.<\/p>\n

So now Katniss is at a crossroads in terms of what she thinks she should do, given that her plans to run away seem a bit too selfish, considering that other districts besides District 8 might also be rebelling. From the end of chapter eight, it seems clear that she agrees with Gale and staying is the better option, but Peeta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance the next morning casts doubt on her thoughts.<\/p>\n

He wakes up, as she had fallen asleep next to Gale, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a sight he wanted to see. For Katniss, too, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mighty awkward, as she remembers that he agreed to run away with her and now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6well, SHE CHANGED HER MIND. OOPS. I like that Collins isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t portraying this as if Katniss is some sort of fickle girl who can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make up her mind; her decisions are based entirely on the changing circumstances of her world.<\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re faced with another bit of passage of time that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dealt with kind of dismissively, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve sort of resolved myself to believe that this is just how Collins deals with this. She chooses when Katniss decides to narrate events and when not to. Apparently the Victory Tour was not nearly as important to the story as we thought, and the blizzard they get stuck in is not that important either. I like the idea that this buys Katniss time to figure out exactly what she is going to do, so thematically it works, but it messes up the pacing for me. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m liking Catching Fire<\/em> so far, but the pace of this novel is all over the place. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably my only substantive complaint, as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to wait until the book is done to see if my other problems hold weight once I know the whole thing.<\/p>\n

I did notice that Katniss talks a great deal about how she has to stay for Prim and how she needs to protect her, yet\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.have we even seen them have a single conversation since the Games ended? For someone who loves her so much, they sure don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk very much.<\/p>\n

Jumping ahead a few pages (since most of what is here is Katniss waiting and thinking about the people in her life and how a rebellion might affect them), I was really impressed with Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s method of healing Gale: medicinally-enhanced snow. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rather brilliant, considering how much there is outside at the moment, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I also imagine the Capitol would never, ever think of using. Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother has to improvise with what she has and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m continually fascinated by the methods she choose to use to heal people.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What did you do in warm months?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I ask.<\/p>\n
A crease appears between my mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyebrows as she frowns. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tried to keep the flies away.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a pleasant thought.<\/p>\n
I also liked that Katniss realized she overreacted the night before.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what that means exactly, but as long as it works, who am I to question her? She knows what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing, my mother. I feel a pang of remorse about yesterday, the awful things I yelled at her as Peeta and Haymitch dragged me from the kitchen. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry. About screaming at you yesterday.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard worse,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen how people are, when someone they love is in pain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mom is a BAMF. Also, I love that she adds that last bit in there. A mother totally knows when her daughter is in love. DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T DENY IT, KATNISS. I wonder if she senses that her daughter is also confused about Peeta as well. MOAR KATNISS\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S MOM. (Do we know her name yet? My brain cannot fit anymore names right now and I swear we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t heard it so far.)<\/p>\n
A couple of days pass during the blizzard (and they pass in a sentence, literally). When it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe to do so, her and Peeta get Haymitch to go on a walk and discuss their next move, which includes the best\/worst line of all time.<\/p>\n
Finally Haymitch breaks the silence. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all heading off into the great unknown, are we?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asks me.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Worked through the flaws in that plan, did you, sweetheart?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asks. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Any new ideas?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want to start an uprising,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Bless your little heart, Katniss. I laughed so hard at this line, just like Haymitch does, because she starts it so bluntly and simply, as if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something you can just do in a moment\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s notice.<\/p>\n
It can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t, obviously, but that message isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really drilled into Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head until they make it into town.<\/p>\n
The square has been transformed. A huge banner with the seal of Panem hangs off the roof of the Justice Building. Peacekeepers, in pristine white uniforms, march on the cleanly swept cobblestones. Along the rooftops, more of them occupy nests of machine guns. Most unnerving is a line of new constructions\u00e2\u20ac\u201dan official whipping post, several stockades, and a gallows\u00e2\u20ac\u201dset up in the center of the square.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThread\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a quick worker,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Haymitch.<\/p>\n
Some streets away from the square, I see a blaze flare up. None of us has to say it. That can only be the Hob going up in smoke. I think of Greasy Saw, Ripper, all my friends who make their living there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Message sent and received, loud and clear. The Capitol was very smart to make these visible, intimidating changes. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reminding the citizens of the violent, oppressive control that they live under. And they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing a fine job of it, I have to say.<\/p>\n
What about that uprising, Katniss?<\/p>\n
Haymitch, resolved to do what he does best (see: drinking) sets off to find rubbing alcohol<\/em>, since he can no longer get booze from the Hob. Katniss and Peeta know this could kill him, so they set off to find him and also check on their families and Gale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s.<\/p>\n
An uprising<\/em>, I think. What an idiot I am<\/em>. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an inherent flaw in the plan that both Gale and I were too blind to see. An uprising requires breaking the law, thwarting authority. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done that our whole lives, or our families have. Poaching, trading on the black market, mocking the Capitol in the woods. But for most people in District 12, a trip to buy something at the Bob would be too risky. And I expect them to assemble in the square with bricks and torches? Even the sight of Peeta and me is enough to make people pull their children away from the windows and draw the curtains tightly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is not going to be fun. There has to be a catalyst to inspire people to uproot themselves from feeling safe from Capitol harm, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to take something drastic and horrifying to convert those who are frightened by the Capitol and reluctant to rise against it. Oh boy.<\/p>\n
Things are made worse when they visit Hazelle. The Peacemakers closed the mines and now people are afraid to go to Hazelle for washing, due to Gale\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s illegal activities. The Capitol is using fear to deprive people even further. When Katpee visit the Hob after this, the harsh reality of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening hits them: at any time, the Capitol can take anything and everything away from them.<\/p>\n
For the second time in this chapter, Collins rushes through quite a few days in just a couple paragraphs. Hell, it might even be weeks. But conditions in District 12 worsen, as half the District begins to starve from the shutting of the mines. Children who sign up for tessarae in droves sometimes don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even get food, and citizens are punished ruthlessly for crimes that are petty or insignificant. In short, the Capitol is winning, turning the citizens against Gale and Katniss, and filling everyone with fear and hunger.<\/p>\n
It ironically isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the terror around her that finally inspires Katniss to leave her house and head back out into the familiar woods that give her comfort; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the arrival of a crate of wedding dresses from President Snow, who is still planning on going through with the ceremony. Katniss makes a great point:<\/p>\n
Is he really planning to go through with it? What, in his twisted brain, will that achieve? Is it for the benefit of the Capitol? A wedding was promised, a wedding will be given. And then he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll kill us? As a lesson to the districts? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make sense of it. I toss and turn in bed until I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand it anymore. I have to get out of here. At least for a few hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It makes no sense to me. President Snow has no incentive to improve conditions in District 12 and even I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure out what the wedding would achieve for him. So I understand the frustration that this causes Katniss and why she decides to get out of her house.<\/p>\n
She decides to put on the winner gear Cinna had made for her and head out to the lake:<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m determined, for some reason, to get to the lake. Maybe to say good-bye to the place, to my father and the happy times we spent there, because I know I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably never return. Maybe just so I can draw a complete breath again. Part of me doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really care if they catch me, if I can see it one more time.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually kind of a sad thing to me. I feel like Katniss is so overwhelmed with the despair of the situation that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s starting to give up, failing to be as cautious as she could be, willing to admit that it may be the last time she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happy for a good while.<\/p>\n
I am literally a few yards from the door of the cement house when I pull up short. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not because of the smoke or the prints or the smell. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of the unmistakable click of a weapon behind me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
GREAT. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ALREADY AWFUL.<\/p>\n
Second nature. Instinct. I turn, drawing back the arrow, although I know already that the odds are not in my favor. I see the white Peacekeeper uniform, the pointed chin, the light brown iris where my arrow will find a home. But the weapon is dropping to the ground and the unarmed woman is holding something out to me in her gloved hand.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6HOW CAN THIS GO WELL? How is Katniss going to explain this?<\/p>\n
I waver, unable to process this turn in events. Perhaps they have orders to bring me in alive so they can torture me into incriminating every person I ever knew.Yeah, good luck with that<\/em>, I think. My fingers have all but decided to release the arrow when I see the object in the glove. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a small white circle of flat bread. More of a cracker, really. Gray and soggy around the edges. But an image is clearly stamped in the center of it.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my mockingjay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
ARE YOU SHITTING ME<\/em><\/strong>. Oh my god, what the fuck? So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..a Peacekeeper who either knows Plutarch or is part of some resistance group? Oh shit, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s getting real.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the ninth chapter of Catching Fire, Katniss is forced to re-evaluate her plans to escape District 12 when she decides to stay with Gale. And then OH NO. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Catching Fire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,5],"tags":[32,28,33,24,27],"class_list":["post-117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catching-fire","category-hunger-games","tag-catching-fire-2","tag-katniss-everdeen","tag-mark-reads-catching-fire","tag-mark-reads-the-hunger-games","tag-suzanne-collins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}