Showing posts with label Hunger Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunger Games. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The Hunger Games Names


I just finished reading The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Ooooooo...I was hooked from the start and could not stop until I finished all three books.

Besides being totally engaged and at times horrified by the story, I was intrigued by the names of the characters. Over the course of three books, a lot of characters are introduced and the names just fit and flow so well. Almost Ikea-like.

Let's see, there's Katniss, the main character. She's smart and self-sufficient, courageous and so very clear on her priorities. I predict there will be lots of little girls named Katniss starting kindergarten in about 5 years.

Other character names that linger for me: Prim, Rue, Finnick, Gale, Cashmere, Haymitch, Peeta, Coin, Snow, Tigris, Cressida, Beetee, Delly, Cato, Clove, Boggs, Lyme, Cinna, Greasy Sae, Plutarch....

I find myself wanting to sort out the names, to discover a pattern in the author's lexicon. Many are organic: animal, vegetable, mineral. Some hard, cold, steely. Some light and clear. Some mysterious. Are there clues to who the good guys are? I imagine the names as fonts: some are round and clean. Some are sharp, pointy; definitely serifs.

I wonder if one day we'll use fonts named Cinna, Rue, and Finnick. I can already see them. What about one named Greasy Sae?

If your name were a font, what font would it be?