I finished the first book moments ago, having read it on recommendation by my wife. I guess lots of her students had been reading it, too. I enjoyed the book, though it's certainly written for school-age kids(still, it's refreshing to have a book carry itself without sex, profanity or unduly gratuitous violence). There were a few points where suspension of disbelief was not possible, but I'll forgive that... I've read much more far-fetched stuff.
Come to think of it, the book bears many similarities to "Tunnel In the Sky". Main character capable and savvy but also dense in some ways, an engineered, controlled test of survival, even a "stobor"
creature to be afraid of.
Worth reading. Wonder whether the movie will be any good or if they will turn it into a gory action flick and neglect Katniss' internal conflicts.
Minor spoilers follow.
Political themes were many:
Central planning pays off only for the planners
Abrogation of private property rights
Abolition of any sort of personal weapon(including hunting implements)
Diminished worth of the individual, who is absolutely subject to the capital-S State
Highly restrictive laws - at one point a character mentions that anyone is at everyone else's mercy because "who hasn't committed a crime?"
Overly harsh punishments, "making an example" of lawbreakers
Etc etc.
I got no red-vs-blue vibe. If anything, the book is a warning against the concentration of power(or the concentration of wealth, but I think that's presented as a symptom and not the illness) and the diminishment of the individual.