The Giver by Lois Lowry
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Book Reviews of The Giver
Book Review: A Thought-provoking, Original Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Lois Lowry's The Giver has just made my top-ten list of favorite books. Although I am a senior in college, this is the first time I have ever delved into the intriguing world of The Giver, and I found it fascinating.
The story revolves around a young boy named Jonas. Jonas has grown up in a supposedly perfect society where no one experiences pain or suffering and no one has to make their own choices. Everything about their lives is carefully controlled, from how they wear their hair, to their jobs within the community and their assigned spouses. At the beginning of the book, Jonas is about to become a twelve and receive his assignment within the community. Jonas learns that he has been selected to be the new receiver of memories. The giver is the man who currently holds those memories, and he begins to give some of those memories to Jonas. As Jonas receives these memories, he learns of a long forgotten world, a world full of pain, full of sorrow, full of color, full of joy and full of love. It is as he begins to learn about things such as sunshine, war, holidays, and family that he begins to realize what is missing from the society he lives in--depth of feeling and the ability to make choices for oneself. Jonas struggles as he tries to adjust his new knowledge in to the perfectly ordered society that he lives in. And the more he thinks about how things were, and how they could be, the more he begins to wonder if things can change.
I gave this book five stars for two reasons. Number one, as a life-long lover of books, I particularly enjoy reading a story that is very unique, even for its genre. Although one could argue that The Giver is similar to other dystopian novels such as 1984 or Anthem, I thought that Lowry's approach was quite original. The second reason that I loved this book is because it was thought provoking. It truly made me ponder the importance of choice, the necessity of experiencing pain and sorrow to understand true joy, and the significance of feeling and being loved. Unlike other dystopian novels, this book didn't seem to be a political statement or a warning of what society could become, but rather just a story that raises questions about what is most important, and what a perfect society truly is.
Book Review: A Colorless world of Perfection
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not the kind of person who reads one book more than once in a short period of time but the Giver was an exception. The first time I read it I couldn't put it down. I read through math class, through dinner, after my parents told me to turn my light off I read it with a flashlight under my covers until I was done. For the next month I couldn't get it out of my head (the first sign of a good book) so I picked it up again. I read for what seemed like barely minutes but must have been hours because by the time I stopped I was more than half way through. I seriously got lost in the Giver and I have a feeling I will need to read it quite a few more times before the year is over.
This book is about a perfect era. There is no pain. There is no fear. There is no sorrow. But there is also no love, no color, no music, no snow, no pure joy. Everything is planned and calculated so there are no choices. There are rules for everything. When you get too old, break the rules three times, or are simply a baby that won't develop fast enough, you are released, sent Elsewhere. But Elsewhere isn't what the people are led to believe. Children don't live with the people who gave birth to them but with a 'family unit,' two people who applied for spouses; babies. There is only one person who remembers what used to be, who remembers love, color, music, choice. He is the Reciever of Memory. The Giver.
I guess I don't really have much original to say about this book that hasn't been analysed and discussed thouroughly already, but just imagine if that is our future, total sameness. No individuality, no pride, simply sameness. If that is what we are to become, than what is the true cost of pain? It's true that war must end and that starvation is torturous, but I think we can fix these things without getting rid of love.
I think everyone should read this book. It is a bit disturbing and it makes you think, but it is not jut your ordinary fluffly little kid's book. Some people commented that because it was about a perfect place it wasn't exciting or scary. But it was the perfectness that scared me. Now I know that perfection has a cost. And that even that whicg appeears perfect could be, in fact, sheilding the lies.
Book Review: Nine years later and still excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
Can it really be nine years since I first read The Giver? Even now this book still resounds with me. Some of it has to do with the very open-endedness that has so unnerved some revieweres. The reader begins with fascination at the perfectly-ordered community, which transforms into revulsion. This is a book that rather than simply presenting straightforward answers, is more an invitation to introspection and debate. Take one single scene, for instance--the one where Jonas' father "releases" the newborn twin. It is clear that he's bothered by that side of his job--he even makes somewhat of an effort to try and spare Gabriel that same fate, yet he does nothing to stop the release of the twin. Even when it is Gabriel's term, he relents to the will of the community. But in his society, would it even have been possible for him to develop a rebellious mindset, after having been controlled to a degree not even the Communists could accomplish? This makes one wonder--is Jonas' father a good man in spite of what his society has indoctrinated him to do? Aristotle suggested that a person who lived in an eternal coma (which the state of Sameness could be considered) could not be virtuous, because his or her virtue has never been tested. So can there even be a such thing as a good or evil person in a society where there is no true freedom of thought or choice?
I must admit, I find one reviewer's dismissal of the book simply because certain scenes such as the release of the newborn twin "did not agree with [their] beliefs" rather narrowminded--if not a demonstration of the very attitude that created the hell of Sameness. Is that scene repugnant? Absolutely, and that is the intention. The whole point of that scene is to show the horrible price society and the individual pay for conformity. I do not think children should be shielded from this reality.
Although it leaves more questions than answers--this is not a bad thing. For instance, it seems that clouding the history of how such a Sameness was accomplished adds to the "timeless" sense of the novel. And many of the philosophical questions are well worth the mind-expanding debate. All in all, this is an excellent book I would even recommend to adults.
Book Review: Shocking, frightening, and written with deceptive simplicity
Summary: 5 Stars
This book terrified me. And I loved every word of it.
The "Release" was haunting. How far are we from a society that kills people on a whim because they aren't convenient? I'll tell you: we're there already. Have you ever heard the term "abortion"? Just because a baby has not been born does not mean it is not a human being. People who are shocked at the concept of Release perhaps have not heard their counterparts in this world: Abortion and euthanasia for the old.
Jonas was a great character. He was sympathetic and EMPATHETIC. When Gabriel was scheduled for Release, I was so scared until I read that line, so dramatically put right after the lines describing how he left (sorry if this is slightly off, I don't have the book with me):
"He had hesitated for a moment in taking this, not wanting anything of his father's and unsure whether he would be able to ride the larger bike. But it was necessary because it had the child's seat in the back.
And he had taken Gabriel, too."
I loved that line. One of my favorites. Then there was the equally haunting scene in which Jonas asks his parents whether they love him. They laughingly reply that 'love' is a vague word, and that they enjoy him and take pride in his accomplishments -- but no, they do not love him. Directly after, Jonas whispers to Gabe how, if everyone had the memories, there could be grandparents, and colors, and choices, and animals...and -- "Gabe?...There could be love."
I am surprised so many people found the end "disturbing", yet the same thing is happening in our world as we speak. Infants and the elderly are being killed for the sake of convenience. Yet when you read about it in a book, away from the comfortable mindset of "It's not even born...won't feel a thing...maybe it's not even really alive..." or "He's not long for this world anyway...so much trouble to keep healthy...", when you're away from this mindset, it is shocking and disturbing.
Thank you so much, Lois Lowry. Maybe this is what people need to see before they can understand the horrifying things being done in today's world, glossed over and even advocated nowadays.
Rating: Very Good
Book Review: The Giver
Summary: 5 Stars
The GiverBy Lois Lowry
The Giver is a fantasy novel by Lois Lowry. The setting is a fantasy utopia, where every family unit has a mom, a dad, a son and a daughter. Everyone has a job chosen by the elders set to the recipient's mental, emotional and physical health. Jonas, the main character, is growing up with a group of kids the same age as he is. On the day Jonas' group turns 12, they get their "assignments" which is their lifelong job. Jonas gets a very special job. He is to be the "Receiver of Memory."
In the utopia Jonas lives in, people don't want to have the burden of war, hate, pain and love, but they also give up sunshine, snow, color and music. They do not simply give the memories up. They give them to the "receiver." The "receiver" can aid the elders in decisions they have not faced before. When Jonas becomes the "receiver" he learns of the true nature of life and death and how many bad things his family and friends are trained to do, but not think badly about. When the old receiver, named The Giver by Jonas, transfer memories to Jonas, it is with almost psychic power. Jonas gets to live these old memories with all the senses he has. He actually feels like he is reliving terrible past events. He finds out terrible things. When Jonas learns of the worst things, he decides he can no longer live in this community. He decides he must leave and he takes with him the one person he has grown to love and can't bear to abandon that person to what fate has in store for them if left in the community.
The book is very detailed about the community and its people. You actually begin to enjoy watching them come to life, and when you begin to learn things about them, you feel angry. Lois Lowry does a great job relating Jonas feelings of anguish and betrayal as he makes one of the hardest decisions in his life. The climax is very good and you are left with idea that maybe a couple of things could have happened, and you need to decide what kind of person you are to end the book for yourself. And added benefit is that it is not a very hard read and anyone above the 4th grade should easily be able to read it. I highly recommend the book to anyone who likes to read fantasy novels.