Pacing Problems

First of all, and in all fairness, I must say that writing a conclusion to such a juggernaut as the HUNGER GAMES series is a thankless task. And I must also credit Collins with giving this book new and different directions to explore. For that, I was thankful. What made MOCKINGJAY good but not great for me was the narrative pacing, especially during the climactic moments. I also had a few quibbles with characterizations and the way the many scores were settled at the end of the book. I'll avoid spoilers by speaking in general terms if you haven't read the book -- and I certainly endorse reading the book! Three stars ain't just gravy!

This book focuses not on any "games" but on the real thing -- a Civil War between the 13 Districts and the Capitol of Panem with President Snow at the helm. It draws interesting parallels with modern wars and the United States in the sense that it shows the role of propaganda and how the media can be manipulated to froth your constituency up. Thus, the character Plutarch is asked to exploit Katniss so that the Capitol's propaganda can be usurped by the Rebel's propaganda. For anyone watching the nightly news, it should give you pause.

The reader is patiently carried along as Katniss tries to work her way to the singular goal of personally killing President Snow. Unfortunately, she must also deal with the leader of her own cause, President Coin, a woman from District 13 (a nuclear state, like the Capitol) who has visions of grandeur or her own (and who knows a valuable chess piece -- namely, Katniss, when she sees one).

The book both takes off and sputters with the climactic attack on the Capitol. Among the obstacles for Collins are what I call "suspension bridges of disbelief." That is, the reader must be willing to go along (or "suspend disbelief") with plot developments and I, for one, was not so willing in the methods she used with Peeta, Katniss's love interest. To put it simply, his whereabouts first and his personality changes second occur a bit too conveniently. Also disturbing was the narrative pacing. There are beautiful and realistic stretches where Collins takes us door-to-door and block-to-block as Katniss & Company fight and claw their ways to the center of the Capitol. But then the intense and realistic necessity of such description seems to be forgotten. Gaps in time occur. Major events happen offstage. Anti-climactic resolutions happen too quickly to resolve plot issues that have been central to the entire book. And finally, Katniss's last dramatic act is not unforeseen, but rather foreshadowed in a hamfisted way.

This is why the book lost a few stars in my estimation, but as I said in the opening, bringing this beautiful series to a conclusion is no easy bear to wrestle. I recommend the book and the entire series, but believe that some readers may be disappointed in the climax and in the characterization decisions made by Collins -- especially regarding Peeta vs. Gale. A little more subtlety might have helped on that front.

Oh. And one final word. When you reach the two-page Epilogue, you may wish Collins had skipped it altogether. The gimmick here is sadly cliched and done in too many books and movies in the past. Nevertheless, HUNGER GAMES fans, keep your eyes on the prize! Three solid stars here!

Unbearably painful and hauntingly beautiful

I've never thrown a book before. I've never stared at a book that's laying across the room and viscerally hated it.

Then I read "Mockingjay." And now I've done both.

After hearing "The Hunger Games" series being heralded as "The new 'Twilight'" I made every effort to steer clear of it. Only after I had a friend whose opinion I trust implicitly tell me that they were nothing like "Twilight" did I go out and get a copy of "The Hunger Games. Then I immediately went out and got "Catching Fire." Then I immediately went out and got "Mockingjay."

And then I started throwing.

(Note: There are spoilers below).

I know many, many other reviewers have touched on the disappointments that are obvious in this book: The death of characters you come to love being tossed away without ceremony (I have to admit, when I finally let go of hope that Cinna would show up midway through the book, it was one of the things that hit me the hardest), the needless drawing out of the embarrassing "love triangle," the way none of the characters acted the way they should, the lack of a romantic flourish to leave us with a neatly wrapped relationship.

When I first read the ending, I have to admit that I skimmed along, skipping entire paragraphs in a frantic search for Peeta's name, inwardly counting down, "Okay, only seven pages left, SURELY she's going to have him pop up now and sweep Katniss off her feet and it will be business as usual."

And then five pages. And then three. And then the final page and the epilogue, and then the dramatic toss of my book into the wall.

Then I left it. I made myself not think about it, because for the first time ever I read a book and wished immediately not to have done so. I was so upset with the way the ending seemed tacked on, as if Suzanne Collins got to the end, realized that a decision hadn't been made, and said, "Okay aaaaaand.... Peeta! That's it! The end!"

But, against my best judgement, I went back to it. I turned to the ending and re-read it. And, although I'm not a sap, and although even as a nineteen year old I stayed dry-eyed through "The Notebook," I wept. The ending as it is is perfect. It's unbearably painful to not get the happy ever after epilogue that you want for characters that you've invested yourself in. You want to hear the romantic lines, the thrill of the proposal, the tears that dot eyes at the wedding.

But Suzanne Collins gave us those: We had their first kiss. We had their stories. We had the proposal (as anticlimactic as it might be). We had Katniss in her wedding dress and Peeta in a tuxedo. We even had their first child.

What was lacking was authenticity. And in that page in a half, in the return of the sweetness that was lacking for the entire book (and this was, really, a hard book, especially since the character that I looked to for empathy, for compassion, was missing for ninety-nine percent of it), we see what Katniss has become: that she has needed to become the girl on fire metaphorically, then symbolically, and finally literally, to become the pearl that Effie famously predicted she would be, that the layers she shielded herself with would burn off and what would be left would be the essence of her core that recognized her weaknesses and, more importantly, turned elsewhere for her strengths. At last we have a girl who is acting not out of need to provide for her family, or to keep a promise, or in return for something else. We have a girl who has lost most everything she holds dear and in her we find our heroine, in her we find an unbelievable character, and in her, we at last find the romance.

So don't take this book as is, because it is painful to lose character after character after character, it is painful, like I said, to lose the sweetness that Peeta brings, it is painful to see the devastating impact that the war has on every person we've come to love.

But in the pain is beauty. And the beauty is unforgettable.

The Others were better

For this book, Mockingjay, one might think that it would follow the other two in that it has tons of killing, scary moments, and fake public love for the tv....not only does this book not have that....it is also kinda boring. Well first of all whats her face became so not memorable i literally cannot remember her name and Peeta is her every other thought even after he tries to kill her. I mean seriously if somebody tried to kill me I wouldn't forgive them. But back to the book it was mediocre I personally thought that it should have been more like the other two and have an actual Hunger Games to it and not just talk about how some situations remind her of the Games...booorrrriinnnnggg!

still waiting for delivery

I ORDERED THE BOOK "THE MOCKINGJAY" FOR MY GRAND DAUGHTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA, SHE HASN'T RECEIVED AS OF SEP 8, ATTEMPTED TO TRACK DELIVERY, SAYS IT WAS DELIVERED AUG 26TH, I DONT WANT THIS TO A REVIEW, I JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DELIVERY IS. AMAZON PURCHASED

Wow!

I love the fact that Collins lets the "gloves come off." It is refreshing to read a book that is unpredictable and does not follow a "cookie cutter" mold. And finally,boy, how our young people need to learn how media can manipulate and contol our thinking!

Run, Buy, Read!

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen is a truly rewarding book. It is so rare to find a genuinely good writer these days, that we ought to celebrate every of their efforts.

In recent times, two guardrails have been established, it seems to me, beyond which lies the writerly abyss. On the one hand the profane, badly written, misogynistic fare in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and absurd treacle on the other in Eat, Pray, Love.

In Freedom, Franzen achieves the sweet spot between those two guardrails, and accomplishes what a good novel should do - give us fully formed characters (whether we actually like them or not).

The opening chapter of Freedom is not like the rest. Its style is almost like a report, a journalistic report. Looking back, one realizes that the author has established a number of markers that evolve throughout the book. But it is difficult to spot them in the first reading, since they are so integral to the narrative itself.

The second chapter is a tour de force. It is in one of the three main characters Patty's, voice (only). This chapter fully explores her personality and psyche and is a beautiful explanation of the markers that were laid out in the first chapter. You develop enormous empathy with Patty, not because Franzen is yanking emotional levers, but because of where the character is placed.

The middle part of the book fully explores the main characters. Clearly there are primary and secondary characters in the book. Because this is a novel and there is room to breathe, everyone of them is given a chance to grow, explore and express. The character of Walter (Patty's husband) grows from a sketch of an eccentric and cranky individual to a fully formed human being one can relate to.

As the book was approaching the end, I was filled with a tad bit of anxiety. Here was a very recognizable world that Franzen has created, but with a depth that we fail to perceive as hurried live-rs of our lives. In the last chapter, Franzen clearly had a choice. He could have opted for any trajectory - comedy, tragedy, or guns blazing. But to my utter delight, he allows the world that he has created (and observed) develop organically. There is an internal logic to his plot that has a trajectory - and he lets the trajectory build without blocking it. In Mihlayi Czitzenmihalyi's prescription, he finds 'Flow' not only for his writing but for his characters - a twofer!

Some observations on the writing itself: Somewhere in the middle of the book it occurred to me that Franzen explores psychological and relationships terrain only. What I mean is that his characters find themselves in NY, MN, DC, abroad. But he never writes anything about the surroundings. Any other writer would record the sights and sounds of the environment and be evocative. Franzen (willfully?) ignores this and saves all his energies for character development.

Also, his language is contemporary. Sometimes in a riff, he gets to poetic lines. But then again reverts to the journalistic and the banal. If I had one complaint, that would be it. The language he employs is not consistently spectacular. It is uneven at best. A good summary might be that his ear for the language is contemporary, no more no less.

The title of the book Freedom, is more than appropos. The theme is freedom. The plot is about freedom. And the characters are about exploring freedom. It is also a poke at our thoughtless use of the word in modern society sometimes. It is also a meditation on what the word really means. The novel gives plenty of scope to explore this in cynical, aggressive, ruminative and psychological terms. A real reward for the reader.

Is this a great novel? Is Franzen a great writer? In the blush of reading this terrific novel, I am most tempted to say yes enthusiastically. Then in a sober moment I think of Coetzee and Naipaul, and have to conclude not yet. But clearly Franzen's writing trajectory is headed in the direction of Coetzee and Naipaul. And I can't wait!

In the meantime please run, buy and read Freedom.

It lives up to the hype -- give it a try

Two things drew me to this book -- the promise that it was a great depiction of 21st century suburban life, and all the hype about Jonathan Franzen in general. Hype can hinder as well as help a book. Automatically I was going in to the book with a sort of "Prove it!" mentality.

Another reservation I had going in was the early reviews I had seen saying that we would see ourselves in these characters, but we wouldn't like these characters. I by no means only read "happy tales," but I also don't gravitate towards scathing criticism of the reality of our lives.

I was pleasantly surprised with the characters and the plotline. No, these are not heroic type characters, but they are absolutely real. Yes, I disliked some of the choices that they made, but they were painted with a broad enough brush, that I didn't end up hating the characters completely.

And it IS the kind of book you want to talk about: Is this what our society is like? Are you like this?

The theme of FREEDOM comes through loud and clear, but in so many ways other than what you might think:

*freedom from dysfunctional friendships and families
*freedom that leads to entrapment somewhere else
*freedom from selfish desires
*freedom to indulge selfish desires
*freedom from convention
*the responsibilities of freedom

Because of a satisfying conclusion, which wrapped up these characters' stories, the strong voice of each character, relevant observations of society today, in a story told with honesty and a good amount of humor, I give this a solid 4+ star rating. I'm glad I read it.

AUDIO NOTES: I actually listened to it. An audiobook is a good way to tackle a long book. These CDs were over 19 hours long, but the narrator David LeDoux did an excellent job nuancing each of the characters' voices. I think that this is one of the best-read single-narrator novels that I've listened to. Patty's self-deprecating laugh will stay with me for a long time. I'm glad I experienced the book in this way.

Freedom and its implications

This is the first review I've ever written on Amazon and will likely be my last. It's also maybe more interpretative than is appropriate. I should also note that I might probably reveal one or two [important] plot details in making my point, so if that concerns you, maybe you shouldn't read this. Once again:

SPOILERS
There's obviously a lot to be said about many of the themes of waste, consumerism, and political and media exposure in this novel. On the first of these, the hypocrisy inherent to trying to be environmentally is maddening. Inevitably, I have been forced to conclude that even if I `do my part' to help the environment (not eating meat, recycling, composting, cutting down on gas consumption, etc.) it is impossible for me to be truly at ease with my role because more and more it seems like no one else cares. Walter knows this throughout the book, and it is only with the death of Lalitha, and the death of his hope of affecting that he finally indulges his most extreme impulses and lives alone in the woods and kidnaps a family's cat. It is immediately obvious that such a decision is not only harmful to his mental health, but also conflicts with humanity's own evolution in much the same way that Bobby the cat is at odds with the evolutionary patterns and history of the birds he murders.

The really important theme of the book--what Franzen that older authors can't begin to imagine (because many of them are dead)--is consumerism of modern society. This consumerism extends beyond the frivolity of Blake's interior decorating choices to the way in which we consume information and shape our opinions. The internet has provided not just an outlet for sociopaths and conspiracy nuts to spout their garbage and generate great hate in the populace (the anarchists in this book spring to mind, as do many movements seen in the recent news...), but has also obscured truth to the point that it is trivialized and completely relative. The fact that a drug-induced rant, that is at once reproachful and apologetic, is able to inspire such a following is not at all unrealistic.

The problem is that people are too willing to believe what they want to believe; they are too willing to find nonexistent subtexts in Walter's blog posts and act on them. The problem, Franzen is suggesting, isn't that people are writing bad things, it's the way they're reading everything that's written. The availability of information has completely commoditized it (forgive me if I become repetitive) and what should be a time of freer thought and more accountability, has become a time for people to accept whatever matches their opinions the most, and ignore everything else (hopefully I'm not doing this with my reading of the book). It's easy to write off Freedom as elitist because of it's characters and their social and financial statuses, but it's important to realize that the ignorance of Coyle Mathis is purer than that of Walter, Jocelyn Zorn, or Jonathan and Jenna's father (whose name escapes me) because his is the product of his upbringing, while theirs is the result of their own discomfort with questioning their ideals and decisions in order to engage in a difficult, but productive, discussion.

Cost too much

Like so many things in the old world,people promise one thing and then break their word.It's no wonder we have come never to put much trust in so many things.The Main Draw,when Kindle started with was the price of new books.You push that for all you could.You must all have law degrees or that back ground.

Mediocre

Franzen is a talented writer, and by giving this novel three stars I am by no means making an attack upon him. In fact, it is my opinion that The Corrections is a sublime piece of literature. Franzen wrote that novel with a perfect combination of humor and pathos, straddling the line between farce and melodrama while only occasionally going astray.

Chip was a character for the ages. Funny, flawed, and deeply interesting. Who can forget the scene in which Chip shoplifts $78.40 worth of Wild Norwegian Salmon? Chip screws up again and again throughout the novel, but he screws up in ways that the reader can understand. He is a believable and consistent character, rather than being a slave to the novel's narrative/thematic arc.

There are no characters in Freedom that come close to matching Chip's quality. I'm sitting here a mere four hours after finishing the novel, and I can't recall any scenes that particularly stand out to me. Make no mistake, when I complain about the characters in Freedom, I do not complain about them being unlikable - although they are indeed unlikable - rather, I complain about them being uninteresting.

Patty hates her family growing up. She is good at basketball, is therefore a good competitor, therefore enjoys to win. She is raped at a party in high school. She has an attraction to the musician Richard. She marries Walter instead. She loves Walter but she doesn't.

This is all that we ever learn about Patty, and it's simply not enough. Not enough to make her into a fleshed out character, let alone to make her into a character deserving of empathy. And all the other characters are just the same way. There is no consistency to them, no meat.

The problem is that the characters function only to serve the theme. And lord, what a clunky theme it is. There is such a thing as subtly exploring an idea and then there is the other thing - using a sledgehammer. Franzen has his sledgehammer out for this novel, and he's going crazy with it. The first half of the novel is not so bad in this regard, but at some point around the halfway mark, the word freedom shows up. From that point on, freedom is mentioned almost twice or thrice a page, often times in the form of a rather simple, child-like rumination by one of the characters. Franzen's use of the thematic sledgehammer really slogs down this portion of the book. As does his penchant for inserting similarly unsubtle - and unoriginal - political rants.

Do I really care what Franzen thinks about freedom or politics? I have yet to see a particularly nuanced argument coming from him on these subjects. What I have seen - in The Corrections - is his immense ability to tell a story.

And that's what it comes down to here. He hasn't told his story well. The characters are boring. There's very little humor. There's not much suspense. It's all themes, themes, themes. Blah, blah blah.

Bring on the story, Franzen! Bring on the humor! Bring on the emotion! You're capable of more!

Amazon sells the FOURTH printing APRIL 2010

This is the CORRECTED FOURTH printing from April 2010... however, this is only true if you buy it from Amazon... I am not sure if the other retailers are up to date with the printing or they are still selling the erroneous first printing. Don't buy a used one with this.

This overpriced and unnecessary 'book' caters to the far left ideology and supports perversion!

Good morning to thee, potential buyer of this Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, good morning!

I am writing this review to hopefully prevent you from making the same mistake I once did, to wit I mean, buying this book! There are many reasons why buying this book would make you more of a gullible fool than say, someone who voted for Barack Obama, the most important of which would be the huge price that you have to pay for a book that you will never use in class anyway. In fact, most of the information contained in this book that is relevant to actually writing a term paper can be found elsewhere on the Internet for absolutely free! If you absolutely need this book for some reason, you can simply check it out from your local library or even the library on your campus!

That being said, the main reason why you would want to avoid this book, avoid it like the Noid, would be the amount of far left liberal propaganda that they have snuck in! The aim of this book is clearly to have the student learn to write in the most Politically Correct method possible! One of the most egregious examples of which is how the book strives to normalize g a y behavior by instructing the reader on what these ...people... desire to be called! I find this to be extremely hypocritical when the American Psychological Association has this type of behavior listed as a mental illness as recently as the 1970s!

In closing, do not buy this book under any circumstances. That is, unless you want to demonstrate to the world your very own herd mentality!

company is stealing from people

never recieved the book,
cant get a hold of supplier, no numbers, emails, anything.

NEVER ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY!!!
IT HAS HAPPENED TO MANY OTHERS TOO, ONCE I SAW THE OTHER REVIEWS.

AMAZON HAS NOT HELPED ME GET MY MONEY BACK YET.

I ORDERED THIS BOOK JULY 29TH.

APA Manual 6th Edition

The manual is less expensive than the 5th edition by about $16, however, it is cheaper made and the paper is cheaper and the wireless is hard to turn and feels like the paper is going to rip. The manual extensively written is very confusing. Not too much different from 5th edition. Just a way for the APA to make more money!!

Amazing how fast I got this item and in great new condition!!

I was absolutely amazed at how fast and the condition that my book arrived in. Thanks so much and I am truly impressed, great service. I would definitely order from this sellar again in the future.