{"id":140,"date":"2011-01-11T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2011-01-11T15:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=140"},"modified":"2011-01-08T23:30:13","modified_gmt":"2011-01-09T07:30:13","slug":"mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2011\/01\/mark-reads-catching-fire-chapter-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Catching Fire’: Chapter 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the seventeenth chapter of Catching Fire<\/em>, TEAM PEETA and then TEAM CINNA. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Catching Fire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I am still reeling from this. Katniss just reminded the Gamemakers who they work for and reminded them what can happen to them for doing what they do. JESUS CHRIST THIS IS AMAZING.<\/p>\n

The effect on the Gamemakers is immediate and satisfying. Several let out small shrieks. Others lose their grips on their wineglases, which shatter musically against the ground. Two seem to be considering fainting. The look of shock is unanimous.<\/p>\n
Now I have Plutarch Heavensbee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attention. He stares steadily at me as the juice from the peach he crushed in his hand runs through his fingers. Finally he clears his throat and says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You may go now, Miss Everdeen.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I expressed concern that after all of the events of the first third of the book, it seemed disappointing that everyone just flat-out gave up on the concept of rebellion. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d spent so much time considering the reality of an uprising that it was jarring to see them abandon it so quickly. The truth is that the opportunity to do something that had real, genuine meaning had to present itself. Katniss just took that opportunity to make a statement to the Gamemakers. Even if no one will ever see it, what she just did is HUGE.<\/p>\n
Katniss is a bit worried that what she did was too impulsive, since it might actually harm Peeta in the arena, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad she allows herself to live in the moment and be excited for what she did.<\/p>\n
She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to say anything about her private session until dinner, when Haymitch is the first to finally ask how their sessions were. Katpee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reluctance to share what happened is kind of funny to me, as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d done something mischievous and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to tell their parents.<\/p>\n
I think of how ruffled the Gamemakers were when I entered the gym for my session. The smell of cleaners. The mat pulled over that spot in the center of the gym. Was it to conceal something they were unable to wash away? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You painted something, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you? A picture.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You know, I thought this was silly when I first read it, because how could a painting upset people so much? Especially one created in 40 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Actually, I painted a picture of Rue,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Peeta says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How she looked after Katniss had covered her in flowers.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
OH MY FUCKING GOD TEAM PEETA FOREVER<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I just cannot.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153And what exactly were you trying to accomplish?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Haymitch asks in a very measured voice.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure. I just wanted to hold them accountable, if only for a moment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Peeta. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For killing that little girl.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Just unbelievable. My heart has swelled. Just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6wow. WOW. Unsurprisingly, Haymitch and Effie are shocked into silence before lecturing Peeta about what a terrible, terrible idea this is.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I guess this is a bad time to mention I hung a dummy and painted Seneca Crane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name on it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. This has the desired effect. After a moment of disbelief, all the disapproval in the room hits me like a ton of bricks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I am seriously so happy right now. I know that they are going to have to face the negative affects of this, but I am so proud of Katpee. (That is the best sentence I have ever written.)<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh Katniss,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Effie in a hushed voice. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How did you even know about that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Is it a secret? President Snow didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t act like it was. In fact, he seemed eager for me to now,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I say. Effie leaves the table with her napkin pressed to her face. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve upset Effie. I should have lied and said I shot some arrows.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Yikes, I forgot how this is going to affect Effie and Haymitch. I feel bad for the fallout that will surely come for them. Maybe even their families. Still\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6is it bad that I am still<\/em> very happy they did this? (Also….why was this a secret????)<\/p>\n
To further drill home the point that what they did is incredibly dangerous, when they gather to see their training scores, they become the first two tributes from the same district to earn perfect twelves.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why did they do that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I ask.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So that the others will have no choice but to target you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Haymitch flatly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go to bed. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand to look at either of you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ok, I do feel bad about this. Haymitch has<\/em> been trying his hardest to help them up until this point and, while I love what they did, it did basically erase everything he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done.
\nDamn. :\/<\/p>\n
I came to really enjoy the scenes that Collins created between Katniss and Peeta. For the first time, their relationship doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel restrained by outside factors, namely the Capitol. Katniss realizes that her plan to keep Peeta alive rather than herself is subversive in and of itself, since it goes against the nature of the Games. Her little bit about making herself a martyr for the cause is a bit much, but this all feels much more believable than the scenes of Katniss and Peeta before.<\/p>\n
They sleep together for the first time that night and while it is cheesy that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first time they both don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have nightmares, I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also entirely possible because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve stopped worrying about the Games. They did something powerful and transformative for this system and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve expected the absolute worse: they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll die and their families will die. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of a neat way for them to confront their fears.<\/p>\n
When Haymitch and Effie cancel their coaching of Katpee the next day, they spend even more time together. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deny that their scenes on the roof are kind of soothing. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nice not to see them fighting, bickering, or pretending to care for each other for cameras. No one bothers them and it makes me feel that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually something genuine and real between the two of them.<\/p>\n
Of course, this can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t last long. The next day is when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll appear for their final interviews with Caesar Flickerman before the Games start. Having taken Cinna\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice, Katniss\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trio prep team doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t speak to her during their work to prepare her for the appearance.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nearly lunch when I feel something dripping on my shoulder and turn to find Flavius, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s snipping away at my hair with silent tears running down my face. Venia gives him a look, and he gently sets the scissors on the table and leaves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This begins a sharp decline in my general happiness while reading this chapter, not because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s poorly written or anything, but because it is so goddamn depressing<\/em>.<\/p>\n
We learn that President Snow has ordered that Katniss wear the wedding dress that was voted on in the Capitol, which is the most fucked up reminder that he still has power over her.<\/p>\n
I suppose since I was the greatest offender, my pain and loss and humiliation should be in the brightest spotlight. This, he thinks, will make that clear. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so barbaric, the president turning my bridal gown into my shroud, that the blow strikes home, leaving me with a dull ache inside.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Prepare for all of your hope and joy to be sucked right out of you. Cinna alters the dress a bit, making it a bit heavier, and they discuss the right time to twirl, reminding me of the first time Cinna did this to Katniss. Man, that seems forever ago, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n
Katniss talks about how fucked up all of this is by comparing it to the relatively simple process of a marriage back in the district. In a way, even though she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t say it, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not hard to think that President Snow is purposely aiming to disrupt the idea of marriage itself, not because he hates it, but because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to use that imagery to further oppress and harm.<\/p>\n
Of course, the other victors aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t too happy to see Katniss in a wedding dress, whether they are angry at her or because they feel sad. This was pretty cool:<\/p>\n
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m confused because, while they are all angry, some are giving us sympathetic pats on the shoulder, and Johanna Mason actually stops to straighten my pearl necklace.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Make him pay for it, okay?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the first sign that this process is not going to go as planned, that turning all of the victors into victims again is not a great idea. I think that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been nothing in this series as heartbreaking or depressing as the following paragraph:<\/p>\n
Cashmere starts the ball rolling with a speech about how she just can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop crying when she thinks of how much the people in the Capitol must be suffering because they will lose us. Gloss recalls the kindness show here to him and his sister. Beetee questions the legality of the Quell in his nervous, twitchy way, wondering if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been full examined by experts of late. Finnick recites a poem he wrote to his one true love in the Capitol, and about a hundred people faint because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re sure he means them. By the time Johanna Mason gets up, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s asking if something can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be done about the situation. Surely the creators of the Quarter Quell never anticipated such love forming between the victors and the Capitol. No one could be so cruel as to sever such a deep bond. Seeder quietly ruminates about how, back in District 11, everyone assumes President Snow is all-powerful, why doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he change the Quell? And Chaff, who comes right on her hells, insists the president could change the Quell if he wanted to, but he must not think it matters much to anyone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so amazing about this is how unplanned it is. The interviews given during this time are generally about as inauthentic and posturing as you can imagine and for the first time, most of the tributes are now able to speak freely, about their lives and the oppressive government they live under.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s backfiring. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s starting right now.<\/p>\n
When Katniss finally gets her turn, the audience in the room has lost it. If this wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t planned, it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s working.<\/p>\n
Finally there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lull and he gets out, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, Katniss, obviously this is a very emotional night for everyone. Is there anything you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to say?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
My voice trembles as I speak. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Only that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so sorry you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to be at my wedding\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad you at least get to see me in my dress. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6the most beautiful thing?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to look at Cinna for a signal. I know this is the right time. I begin to twirl slowly, raising the sleeves of my heavy gown above my head.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really the best thing that Katniss could have said, to play on the tragedy of her recent victory and the complete violent absurdity of all of this. She begins to twirl, but realizes that she is LITERALLY ON FIRE. LITERALLY ON FIRE<\/em>. But her skin doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t burn, only her dress, and she knows it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something Cinna has done. When the flames suddenly disappear, she stops spinning.<\/p>\n
But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not naked. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in a dress of the exact design of my wedding dress, only it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the color of coal and made of tiny feathers. Wonderingly, I lift my long, flowing sleeves into the air, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when I see myself on the television screen. Clothed in black except for white patches on my sleeves. Or should I say my wings.<\/p>\n
Because Cinna has turned me into a mockingjay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
LKA;SDFHAF;HJASDF<\/p>\n
ASDFK;LASDFKJASDHF;KLASHDFJALKSJDF<\/p>\n
$\"\"$ <\/p>\n
A;ISDHF;LKASDHFADJSFGHA;LSDFJA;SLDKFJADSL;KFJASDFLKJ<\/strong><\/p>\n
TEAM CINNA UNTIL EVERYTHING ENDS FOREVER<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n
I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t breathe, I just drooled on myself typing this. FUCKING FLAWLESS. Oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the seventeenth chapter of Catching Fire, TEAM PEETA and then TEAM CINNA. 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-140","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":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}