The Giver by Lois Lowry
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Book Reviews of The Giver
Book Review: The Giver Comparison
Summary: 5 Stars
The book, The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is a great book that is similar to the series of Hardy Boys books, by Franklin W. Dixon. One similarity is that both books are mysteries and full of adventure. Both authors use similar types and styles of writing. If you like the Hardy Boys series of books, odds are you will also enjoy the book The Giver.
In The Giver, the main character, Jonas, goes on an adventure to solve a mystery. In the Hardy Boys series, the main characters, Frank and Joe, also go on adventures to solve mysteries. Another similarity is that both of the main characters are young and follow in the footsteps of somebody older than them. Jonas is only 12 years old, and he follows in The Giver's footsteps. Frank and Joe are a bit older, but are still very young. Frank and Joe are 17 and 18 years old, and they follow in their Dad's footsteps. The Giver and Frank and Joe's father are both very famous within their community, and play an important role in the books.
Another similarity between these two books is the author's style of writing. Both Franklin W. Dixon and Lois Lowry use a lot of detail in their writing. An example of detail in Lowry's writing is when Jonas first experiences sledding. "Comprehending all of those things as he sped downward, he was free to enjoy the breathless glee that overwhelmed him: The speed, the clear cold air, the total silence, the feeling of balance and excitement and peace. Then, as the angle of incline lessened, as the mound- the hill- flattened, nearing the bottom, the sled's forward motion slowed. The snow was piled now around it, and he pushed with his body, moving it forward, not wanting the exhilaration ride to end." Page 82. In this section, Lois Lowry is using a lot of detail to describe the hill, the speed, and the snow.
In the Hardy Boys series, Franklin W. Dixon also uses a descriptive, suspenseful and detailed style of writing. One example of this is seen in The Tower Treasure, when Franklin W. Dixon starts out his book by writing, "Frank and Joe Hardy clutched the grips of their motorcycles and started in horror at the oncoming car. It was careening from side to side on the narrow road. `He'll hit us! We'd better climb this hillside- and fast!' Frank exclaimed, as the boys brought their motorcycles to a screeching halt and leaped off. `On the double!' Joe cried out as they started up the steep embankment. To their amazement, the reckless driver suddenly pulled his car hard to the right and turned into a side rode on two wheels. The boys expected the car to turn over, but it held the dusty ground and sped off out of sight." Page 1 of The Tower Treasure.
Although these two books have many similarities, they also have significant differences. The Hardy Boys series does not have a deep philosophical meaning. The Hardy Boys series is a much lower level of reading. The Giver, is written on a higher level with greater philosophical meaning, leaving you with concepts to think about.
The two books, The Giver, and the Hardy Boys series of books are similar in many ways. The author's of these books use lots of description and detail in their writing. These writers also use a very similar style. The characters are similar, and the plots are similar. If you like the Hardy Boy series of books, odds are you will like The Giver, and odds are that if you like The Giver, you will enjoy the Hardy Boys series books.
Book Review: The Giver by Kaite Wileman
Summary: 5 Stars
Katie Wileman
Fantasy Genre
Lowry, L. (1993). The Giver. New York: Random House.
Synopsis: The Giver is a story about Jonas; a young boy who lives in what he considers a normal life until he turns twelve. Once all students in his community turn twelve they are assigned a job by the elders. Jonah is selected to be the Receiver of Memories, the most honorable of all jobs. Jonas quickly learns that the life he once considered normal was in fact choice less and everything and everyone was the same. The Receiver of Memories job is to hold all the memories of many centuries. Eventually Jonas discovers what feelings like love, pain, joy and anger really are while the rest of the community are spared of this and live in ignorance. Jonas also discovers colors, seasons, and having the ability to make choices. But when Jonah discovers that when someone is released it is not a reason to celebrate because instead of being sent "Elsewhere," the person is killed. At the end of the book Jonahs is so miserable he wants to be released, but instead plans an escape and sends his memories to the community for everyone to experience the memories he holds.
Evaluation: I thought this book was outstanding and beautifully written with an original plot. Lowry writes in a manner that the reader is convinced that the other members of the community are really clueless to what true feelings like pain and love are, and that they truly live in a choice less, carefully planned world. In this fantasy book, Lowry writes the community where everything is opposite of real life, as we know. People don't marry for love, rather the elders match them, and instead of giving birth to their own children there are birthing mothers, and couples must apply for children. The characters have rigid and proper lives with a strict set of rules everyone must abide by. Additionally, children are grouped specifically by age and receive certain rules and responsibilities as each year passes. The community members will never know hunger, or war, or inclement weather because the Elders and Receiver have planned and controlled all of that. Last, members of the community do not know what choice, colors, or death is. Lowry writes the story so well that the story and the characters lives sound believable, and the story is logical and consistent throughout. The story ends openly for the readers to decide if Jonas and Gabe will survive. Between the open ending and the universal truth that this story brings to life give readers many issues to discuss. For example one universal truth is that every society is plagued with troubles and dangers that the government can't always control because of our rights and freedom. If the novel was used in a classroom it might provoke students to examine if the rules in our own society should be changed and choice restricted to make the world safer? Another question an instructor might pose why or why not does the reader believe if Jonas will survive?
Another book that connects to The Giver, but contain different characters is Gathering Blue which is about a world similar to Jonah's a world of the future but this time the main character is a handicapped orphan named Kira who is spared because of her gifts as a weaver, making her useful to the guardians.
Book Review: Very Powerful Book About How We Cope With New Ideas
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book twice. The first time, I read it in one night, which I rarely do. The second time, I finished it in two nights. It's basically about a 12-year-old boy named Jonas who lives in a perfect world. There is no crime, no poverty, no illness. Everyone is happy and all is well. Then he and his friends are given their careers. Jonas gets the job of retaining memories of how things used to be--before the world became a perfect place to live. He visits an old man called "The Giver" who is the one who gives Jonas the memories. Over time, as Jonas receives these memories, his entire view of the world changes as he learns what is real and what he has been taught. For example, he starts to see color. Apparently, this peaceful, ideal world is in black and white. I thought this was a fantastic idea. Then Jonas stopped taking pills that he, his friends, and adults take. These pills inhibit sexual desire. In fact, no one has sex. There are birth mothers who carry babies and that is how the human race continues. Well, when Jonas stops taking these pills, he starts getting these desires, such as falling in love with his childhood girl friend. He also recalls pain, illness and war. So it's not all pleasant stuff that he's being taught.
This book is actually more gloomy than books I typically read but the author did a terrific job of pulling me into Jonas' world and I had to keep wondering what was going to happen next. Some of it made me cry. *spoiler alert* He discovers that babies who aren't developing normally are euthanized and when the elderly reach a certain age, they are euthanized as well. But you see, the people in this world are told that the babies are going to another family and that the elderly are having a big party before they head off somewhere else. It is Jonas' love that develops for the baby his father brought home to nuture (because the baby wasn't developing normally--he had delays in his development) that leads Jonas to run away with the baby before the baby can be euthanized. Well, Jonas manages to escape with the baby and he's searching for the place where people will be like him (now that he's changed). The final thing Jonas experiences (after who knows how long he's been gone) is sledding down a hill at Christmas time and looking into the window of a house where a Christmas tree is hung and there is a fire in the fireplace and there's love and happiness. Then the author makes it clear that this is a memory that he dies remembering. Very sad. I still get teary when I remember it because I really wanted Jonas and the baby to make it.
Now on the flip side, it wasn't a completely sad ending. When Jonas escaped, the memories he contained "leaked out" and the people began to remember these things as well. The book ends with the people coming to the Giver and wanting to know what to do about these memories, some good, some bad. The problem with the perfect world was that people lost their humanity. Even though pain is part of the human experience, good emotions are part of it too, and to give up the bad, they had to give up the good. Love and compassion seemed to be the thing these people needed the most, and at last, they will get it back.
Book Review: The Giver, Louis Lowry
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giver
Louis Lowry
The Giver is an exciting book. It is a very fun and interesting book but it also has good lessons in it. It is a good book for teens and up. I think that it is a very good book and everyone should read it at any age but if a young inexperienced child read it I don't think that they would learn very much from it. They also probably wouldn't get the whole point of the book.
The story takes place in what Louis thought would be the Future. So it is somewhat a real place. Personally though I don't think that the "Future" would be like this. The world is to into its ways of living, such as Christmas. Christmas is a big part of our society. And so is pain as well.
The story is mostly about a boy named Jonas and the Giver. Jonas is a boy who at the beginning of the story is 11 and later on turns 12 years old. He lives in a community of plain and orderly living. When he turns 12 he and all the rest of the "12's" get their permanent occupations. He was chosen to be the communities Receiver. His job was confidential and quite different from the other jobs in the community. The Receiver before him would give all the memories of both joy and pain from what would have been experienced today and before hand. All of these memories have been taken away from the community and should not be distributed out into the community ever again. Jonas struggled with it immensely. At the end of the book he finally leaves the community and goes "Elsewhere". The Giver is a very interesting character. He had kept many secrets from Jonas until near the end of the story. Secrets like who the Giver was before he became a Giver. Did he ever get married? Have children? Did he ever really have a true life in the community instead of being locked up with his memories in one room by himself? He is the one who helped Jonas escape to "Elsewhere".
I think that Louis Lowry did a very good job with this book. She had many good points and goals with this book. Many people have written books about perfect worlds and utopias but to some people that may not be their perfect world. After Jonas had been given memories about how wonderful Christmas or even just color is, his community was no longer his perfect little world. One lesson I learned is how we take so many things for granted. Like color, love from and for our loved ones and many other wonderful things. Even as simple as a boat ride or running across a field of daisies.
I like the way the author writes and I plan on reading more of her books sometime. During the time I was reading it I was so engrossed in the story that sometimes when I would get up from the book and I would be doing normal everyday things that Jonas's Community usually didn't do I would almost get afraid that someone would catch me doing it. It was like I was living in the book. It sounds weird but really it is wonderful. That is how I usually know that it is a good book. It is a very fascinating book and I feel bad for anyone who doesn't have a chance to read or who doesn't want to read it at all. I definitely recommend it to teens. It is a great book to read.
Book Review: A silent keeper...
Summary: 5 Stars
How many years have I known about The Giver? Why haven't I read it before this? Students who have read it always say what a good book it is. It's just one of those things, I think, kind of what my sister calls such things: "It is what it is."
I take my lunch most days and eat in the library where I work. Twenty minutes of quiet time. I always take whatever book I am currently reading. One day I forgot. No way am I going to just sit there, so, aha, what book catches my eye? It's time I say.
The Giver by Lois Lowry won the Newbery Award in 1994. That means it was voted Best Book in older children's literature for that year. Devil's Advocate that I am, I always want to know what books were in contention, the Honor Books. They are Crazy Lady by Jane Leslie Conly, Eleanor Roosevelt: A Life of Discovery by Russell Freedman, and Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep, all worthy choices.
So, The Giver. Set in a nameless community in an unidentified future, the story is about a utopian society or seemingly, depending on whose opinion is being solicited. No hunger, no domestic violence, no deformities or disabilities, no painful and lonely old age, really, basically no worries. To accompany those realities, no color, no variations, no differences, no choices. Ah, this utopia begins to look dystopian. Yes?
No, of course not, why would you question? Choices, colors, differences have been removed. How can one question if one has no frame of reference? That's where the character of The Giver comes in. In this society children go through a naming ceremony when they reach the age of twelve. The main character, Jonas, has no idea what his future will hold. He has no particular interest in any particular field.
During the ceremony Jonas is skipped over, only to be given his future at the very last. Receiver. Keeper of the community's Memory. Jonas will be the next Receiver, an assignment held with such reverence and awe that Jonas can hardly fathom that he is the one to be trained by the old Receiver, who will now become The Giver. Therein lies the rub.
The Receiver is privy to all that has been erased from community memory: color, smells, bird twitter, tastes, things now controlled and wiped out of existence, such as snow, and sunshine, and forests. Things that make life interesting, but certainly unknowable. Things unpredictable. Love. Family. Yes, certainly, Jonas has a family of two parental units well-chosen for compatibility, one annoying sister (some things don't change), and a temporary baby.
Jonas's dad is a Caregiver, meaning he takes care of babies. This particular baby shows signs of not adjusting--he cries when it's time to sleep, so Dad brings him home to socialize him. If this doesn't work, Dad will be required to "release" this baby. During Jonas's training, during the transfer of memory from the old Receiver, now called The Giver, to the young Receiver, Jonas begins to learn differences. Jonas in the belly of the whale.
And a plan is formulated. There is a sequel.
Newbery, yep, definitely.