{"id":138,"date":"2011-01-10T07:00:45","date_gmt":"2011-01-10T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=138"},"modified":"2011-01-08T20:20:28","modified_gmt":"2011-01-09T04:20:28","slug":"mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/01\/mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Catching Fire’: Chapter 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixteenth chapter of Catching Fire<\/em>, HOLY SHIT. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Catching Fire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This honestly keeps getting better and better. Seriously. I know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s silly, but I expected myself to be bored with things like interviews, allies, and training sessions, since we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already seen them, but the dynamic that Collins has created makes these scenes even better a second time around.<\/p>\n

Haymitch grips my wrist as if anticipating my next move, but I am speechless as the Capitol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s torturers have rendered Darius. Haymitch once told me they did something to Avoxes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 tongues so they could never talk again. In my head I hear Darius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice, playful and bright, ringing across the Hob to tease me. Not as my fellow victors make fun of me now, but because we genuinely like each other. If Gale could see him\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
I know any move I would make toward Darius, any act of recognition, would only result in punishment for him. So we just stare into each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes. Darius, a now a mute slave; me, now headed to death. What would we say, anyway? That we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sorry for the other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lot? That we ache for the other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pain? That we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re glad we had the chance to know each other?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I still like the idea that Darius acts as a parallel to Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guilt, but here we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given another subtext to all this. Perhaps the parallel is more about the inevitability of their lives in contrast with the Capitol. In a way, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both slaves to this tyranny, one forced and the other chosen.<\/p>\n
The Capitol sure knows how to ruin everything.<\/p>\n
But the only time I really feel present is when I purposely knock a dish of peas to the floor and, before anyone can stop me, crouch down to clean them up. Darius is right by me when I send the dish over, and we two are briefly side by side, obscured from view, as we scoop up the peas. For just one moment our hands meet. I can feel his skin, rough under the buttery sauce from the dish. In the tight, desperate clench of our fingers are all the words we will never be able to say.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Could a dish of peas ever be so heartbreaking? No, really, I respect Katniss a lot for this. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a small thing to do, but the small things are what matter sometimes.<\/p>\n
This chapter, in that sense, is all about people doing things that are small in scale, yet affect things in a much larger way. After a night of terrible sleep, Katpee are forced to do what they did a year before: train with the other tributes. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting here how Collins almost acknowledges that this process is incredibly boring by having the victors refuse to take most of it seriously. It further contributes to the idea that this Quarter Quell idea is not going to work in the Capitol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favor.<\/p>\n
First of all, Haymitch tells Katpee that they should plan to make friends with some of the other victors and create allies.<\/p>\n
“No,” I say. “I don’t trust any of them, I can’t stand most of them, and I’d rather operate with just the two of us.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You know, I agree with Katniss. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem like a good idea, despite that I generally trust Haymitch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s judgment when it comes to the Games. Well, I should say that if Katpee were going into this blind, it would make sense. But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m worried that making friends with the victors would make everything much harder. How is making friends going to help them survive? What if one of the victors they ally with immediately turns and kills them?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Because you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re at a distinct disadvantage. Your competitors have known each other for yearss. So who do you think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to target first?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ok, that is sort of<\/em> a good point, but the games are about physical and mental triumph. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t other people have a distinct disadvantage that is more prominent over the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153newness\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of Katniss and Peeta?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Find someone to team up with who might be of some use to you. Remember, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not in a ring full of trembling children anymore. These people are all experienced killers, no matter what shape they appear to be in.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I have to admit that makes sense. Nearly all of these people do not appear to be killers at all, and I suppose it is foolish not to remember that.<\/p>\n
It didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help, though, that virtually no one took the training sessions seriously. When Katpee arrive downstairs, only two other people are there.<\/p>\n
Only Brutus and the woman from District 2, Enobaria, are present. Enobaria looks to be about thirty and all I can remember about her is that, in hand-to-hand combat, she killed on tribute by ripping open his throat with her teeth. She became so famous for\u00c2\u00a0 this act that, after she was a victor, she had her teeth cosmetically altered so each one ends in a sharp point like a fang and is inlaid with gold. She has no shortage of admirers in the Capitol.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, so far, Enobaria is the only victor I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not too fond of. Also, WHAT.<\/p>\n
We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re treated to scenes of Katniss moving through various stations, starting with knot-tying. You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6it is kind of boring. I kind of feel I should say this. Finnick shows off a bit, Katniss gets bored again, then moves on to fire-making. The listlessness of all of it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t grate on my nerves, though; in fact, it just made me more nervous for what would break the monotony of it all.<\/p>\n
That monotony gets broken by two unsuspecting tributes from District 3, Wiress and Beetee, a woman and an older man who seem to pose no threat to anyone\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6well, ever. Turns out they are both inventors of sorts, and while they make small talk about such things, their conversation turns to uprisings.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I guess a lot of orders from Distrcit Three were getting backed up.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Beetee examines me under his glasses. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes. Did you have any similar backups in coal production this year?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I love that they have to use language in this manner to avoid detection; the subversive nature of their conversation is one of Collins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better details that she provides, even if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a simplistic style of coding. Obviously, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not as complex as, say, Navajo or Choctaw Code Talkers, especially since this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for conversation during wartime. But I do want to give her credit for re-creating this sort of parallel in this way, because we sometimes take for granted the privilege of open conversation.<\/p>\n
Their conversation does become a bit more open after this, but not about uprisings. Wiress gestures towards the Gamemakers, who have entered the room, specifically, Plutarch Heavensbee.<\/p>\n
I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see why this merits comment, but I say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been promoted to Head Gamemaker this year.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, no. There by the corner of the table. You can just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Wiress.<\/p>\n
Beetee squints under his glasses. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just make it out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
I stare in that direction, perplexed. But then I see it. A patch of space about six inches square at the corner of the table seems almost to be vibrating. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s as if they air is rippling in tiny visible waves, distorting the sharp edges of the wood and a goblet of wine someone has set there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT<\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A force field. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve set one up between the Gamemakers and us. I wonder what brought that on,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beetee says.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Me, probably,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I confess. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Last year I shot an arrow at them during my private training session.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Beetee and Wiress look at me curiously. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was provoked. So, do all force fields have a spot like that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chink,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Wiress vaguely.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the armor, as it were,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d finishes Beetee. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ideally it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be invisible, wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Head has exploded into a trillion different pieces. Force fields? Now my brain is turning. How have these two seen force fields before? And noticed that they have weak spots? And why is Collins making sure to point this out?<\/p>\n
Oh man, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten me to forget about District 13. Or uprisings. My mind is NOW wondering about the edge of the arena and force fields and victors. BRAVO, COLLINS.<\/p>\n
During their meal break from the training, Katpee discuss allies, the other victors, and Haymitch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to be annoyingly correct about the Games. I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t surprised that Katniss wanted Wiress and Beetee to be on her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with Peeta and I kind of hope they are, mostly so we can learn more about what they know about Capitol technology. Peeta, on the other hand, wants both of the District 11 victors, Seeder and Chaff. Katniss opposes Chaff because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6well, dude did<\/em> kiss her when she didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want it.<\/p>\n
Unlike in The Hunger Games<\/em>, Collins spends a moment with almost every victor; we learn their names, their districts and brief bits of information about what kind of person they are. Katniss meets Effie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s friend Cecelia, the woman with three kids, and an older man named Woof we seems ill-suited for the Games. She meets the brother and sister team from District 1 and frets about the thought that she killed both tributes from that district a year earlier. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a short moment where she trains with Enobaria, but that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to work out at all. Finnick introduces Katniss to the female victor from his district, the 80-year-old Mags, who proves to be rather amazing at making a fishhook out of anything.<\/p>\n
Suddenly I remember how she volunteered to replace the young, hysterical woman in her district. It couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be because she thought she had any chance of winning. She did it to save the girl, just like I volunteered last year to save Prim. And I decide I want her on my team.<\/p>\n
Great. Now I have to go back and tell Haymitch I want an eighty-year-old and Nuts and Volts for my allies. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll love that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well, go for it, Katniss. It can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make things any worse, right? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really know how fishhooks are going to factor into anything<\/em> at all. I am worried that the Gamemakers will see Mags\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability and then design like\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6a lake full of poisonous fish or something.<\/p>\n
Katniss decides to abandon any attempts at making allies, so she heads to the archery training area.<\/p>\n
Since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hitting everything he throws up, he starts increasing the number of birds he sends airborne. I forget the rest of the gym and the victors and how miserable I am and lose myself in the shooting. When I manage to take down five birds in one round, I realize it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so quiet I can hear each one hit the floor. I turn and see the majority of the victors have stopped to watch me. Their faces show everything from envy to hatred to admiration.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh, Katniss. You are my favorite. Not that this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make EVERYTHING MORE DIFFICULT. The thing is (and Katniss points this out), the more she spends times with the victors, the harder it is for her to think about killing them. Does the Capitol intend this? Man, I still think this is going to backfire in some way.<\/p>\n
The last thing of training is the private sessions with the Gamemakers, which could be the most absurd thing about all of this. The Gamemakers already know what these people can do, so why even have them? When Katpee meet up before they are called, they both vocalize how strange this all is.<\/p>\n
We sit in silence awhile and then I blurt out the thing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s on both our minds. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How are we going to kill these people, Peeta?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He leans his forehead down on our entwined hands.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want them as allies. Why did Haymitch want us to get to know them?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make it so much harder than last time. Except for Rue maybe. But I guess I never really could\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve killed her, anyway. She was just too much like Prim.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Peeta looks up at me, his brow creased in thought. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Her death was the most despicable, wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m curious: Has Haymitch actually made his first mistake in mentoring them? Is this going to create a situation where there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a death that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s somehow worse than what happened to Rue?<\/p>\n
Goddamn, I am so worried about all this.<\/p>\n
Peeta gets called in for his fifteen minutes, but Katniss isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t called for forty minutes. FORTY MINUTES.<\/p>\n
When I go in, I smell the sharp odor of cleaner and notice that one of the mats has been dragged to the center of the room. The mood is very different from last year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, when the Gamemakers were half drunk and distractedly picking at tidbits from the banquet table. They whisper among themselves, looking somewhat annoyed. What did Peeta do? Something to upset them?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OH NO. Why is there a mat in the center of the room? Did Peeta paint a poisonous cake or something? Is he even still alive? WHAT IS GOING ON.<\/p>\n
Katniss, confused by this, is certain that Peeta did something to irritate the Gamemakers. She immediately resolves to do exactly the same:<\/p>\n
To break through the smug veneer of those who use their brains to find amusing ways to kill us. To make them realize that while we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re vulnerable to the Capitol\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cruelties, they are as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OMG. OMG. WHAT. WHAT ARE YOU DOING. YOU ARE GOING TO GET KILLED.<\/p>\n
Suddenly I know just what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to do. Somethig what will blow anything Peeta did right out of the water. I go over to the knot-tying station and get a length of rope. I start to manipulate it, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never made this actual knot myself. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve only watched Finnick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clever fingers, and they moved so fast. After about ten minutes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come up with a respectable noose. I drag one of the target dummies out into the middle of the room and, using chinning bars, hang it so it dangles by the neck. Tying it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands behind its back would be a nice touch, but I think think I might be running out of time. I hurry over to the camouflage station, where some of the other tributes, undoubtedly the morphlings, have made a colossal mess. But I find a partial container of bloodred berry juice that will serve my needs. The flesh-colored fabric of the dummy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s skin makes a good, absorbent canvas. I carefully pain the words on its body, concealing them from view. Then I step away quickly to watch the reaction on the Gamemakers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 faces as they read the name on the dummy.<\/p>\n
SENECA CRANE<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
;ASDFJ;LASDHF\u00c2\u00a0 ;AHSJF; ALSDFUH;ASDF@#$%#^@^RTHSDFW$%$%<\/strong><\/p>\n
HOLY SHIT. HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n
Oh my god, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. oh my god<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the sixteenth chapter of Catching Fire, HOLY SHIT. 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-138","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\/138","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=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}