THE FILIPINO TRANSLATION OF SUZANNE COLLINS’ “THE HUNGER GAMES”: MORE, MORE, MORE!

I have just finished reading the Filipino Translation of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games. If I were to describe it in one word, it would be this:  WOW. 

I’m not exactly what you would call a literary expert when it comes to reading/writing in Filipino, but I really loved the Filipino translation of The Hunger Games.  I didn’t care whether it was material I wasn’t used to reading.  I didn’t care that I had to look up some words in the dictionary (like the word “lambak,” which I probably haven’t encountered in ages). 

I have to commend Precious Pages Corporation for coming up with a very good translation of one of my favorite books this year.  I can only imagine how difficult it was for the translator, Janis delos Reyes, to translate such material.  Yet, she managed to come up with a translation that is not only a fairly accurate translation of the material, but also a translation that captures the writing “voice” of Suzanne Collins. 

While this book isn’t exactly light reading fare (at least, for me) --- it IS a challenging book to read --- I loved the way it was translated.  This translation only confirms what I have always believed in my heart, that there’s magic in the written Filipino word. 

The translated prose of Suzanne Collins has a very beautiful, lyrical quality to it.  It’s exactly what I expected, given the excellent quality of the original material. And just like what I experienced when I read the Filipino translation of Twilight, the story became more visually alive and real to me when I read it in Filipino.

Have a Tagalog or Tagalog-English dictionary by your side, if you’re intimidated by heavy Filipino words.  But don’t be afraid to read this book.  And by all means, read more books in Filipino!  I definitely can’t wait to read more books in Filipino.

RATING:  5 

SUZANNE COLLINS’ MOCKINGJAY: DARK, BRUTAL, SAVAGE STATEMENT AGAINST WAR

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

If I were asked to describe this book in three words, they would be dark, brutal and savage.  This book was actually torture to read, from beginning to end.  But it’s not because it was badly written.  In fact, Suzanne Collins paints such a grim picture of war at its worst that you would actually wonder why war still exists. 

In Mockingjay, the last installment in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, Katniss has decided to lead the revolution against the evil President Snow.  Gale has turned into a bomb expert, while Peeta has become President Snow’s ultimate weapon against Katniss (you have to find out how this happened.  It’s so telenovela-like, but so riveting!)  At this point in time, they are just shadows of the teenagers they once were.  All of them have somehow turned into pawns of the powers-that-be, or hunters or killers.  Their transformation is actually painful to read about, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Suzanne Collins paints such a terrifying picture of the final showdown, so to speak, that reading about it makes you want to close your eyes and fling the book across the room.  My mind screamed in horror as I read about Katniss’ last, painful moment with her sister Prim.  The book is that horrifying and compelling.

As painful as it was to read this book, it does have a happy ending of sorts (I won’t tell you whether Katniss chose Gale or Peeta in the end, you’ll have to find out for yourself).  But the ending is mostly bitter than sweet, a grim reminder from Suzanne Collins that in war, no one really wins … and it’s the young who lose the most.  Katniss went through so much in this book that I really wanted her to die so she could finally have some peace.  No one deserves a life like hers.

I don’t know about you, but this book scared the crap out of me.  I think it’s because the world Suzanne Collins created in her trilogy is something I can envision happening, if mankind isn’t careful.  Who’s to say the Hunger Games won’t ever happen?  We already live in a world where our resources are fast dwindling and prices of the most basic of commodities are skyrocketing.  Suzanne Collins’ world could be the world we’d be living in.  If that’s not enough to scare you, I don’t know what is.

RATING:  5