Haven't I Read This Before?

I just finished reading a book called "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins. I can't praise it enough. Even though the writing style seemed a little odd to me (it's written in first person, present tense...I kind of prefer third person, past tense), the story is so captivating that I couldn't put it down.

And to think I nearly didn't buy it because the cover had a stupid shiny sticker with a recommendation from Stephanie Meyer on it! The last book I bought that she recommended was awful. I didn't even finish reading it. Not to mention that Stephanie's own work is pretty brutal itself.

Anyway, The Hunger Games was fantastic, but it occurred to me that this is a story that has been told before. As a matter of fact, Stephen King told it twice before. The first time he published a story like this, it was called The Long Walk. It's not exactly the same as The Hunger Games, but the premise is extraordinarily similar. Then, a few years later old Steve published a book called The Running Man, and that one is nearly identical to The Hunger Games. Both were published under his Richard Bachman pseudonym.

It's odd that I can enjoy a book so much when I know that the idea isn't the least bit original. It's well known that most ideas are reused, reinvented, and reworked, but this is an extreme case. Even Stephen King enjoyed it, and wrote an article recommending it in his EW column. Didn't he recognize it? Was he so drugged up in the 80's that he can't remember what he wrote back then? Or did he enjoy the book so much that he doesn't care about the close similarity?

Regardless, it's a fascinating story and I've enjoyed reading a new version of it. I can't wait to read the second book in the series. Everyone should pick up a copy, and while you're at it, read The Long Walk, and The Running Man too.