The Giver
by Lois Lowry
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Book Reviews of The Giver
Book Review: seeming utopia, essential reading
Summary: 5 Stars
It is a seeming Utopia. The children are all well mannered. The adults are content and behave in ways that benefit society. Everyone knows their place in society and all are content. It has to be a complete fraud. This is the world The Giver inhabits. The society rewards those who emphasize how they are the same as everyone else; differences are not to be discussed. It would be rude to discuss differences, and there are few differences as it is.
Jonas is eleven. He is soon to turn twelve in The Ceremony of Twelve. Each December all of the children have a Ceremony graduating them into their next year of life and education and they are granted certain privileges at each step. In a society of sameness, Jonas is somewhat different. He is one of the very few with blue eyes and every now and then he sees a flicker of...something...but it doesn't last and he doesn't understand. At the Ceremony of Twelve all of the new Twelves are appointed their new jobs which they will do for the rest of their lives. Jonas is set apart even here when he is selected to the Receiver of Memories. It is the most honored of all occupations and only one person holds the position in the entire community. It is a great honor. It is also the event that shows Jonas just how different the Sameness is.
Lois Lowry won the Newbery Medal for this book, which is perhaps the highest literary honor for fiction written for children. The Giver is deserving of this award. The Giver is written simply and is easy to understand, but there is a real depth to the storytelling and the lesson that Lowry is presenting here. Lowry has written about a society which has embraced being the same so deeply that any aberrations will be punished (to a greater or lesser extent depending on the violation) and something has been done that the citizens only know a certain amount about themselves and their world. It is very limited even though everybody believes they are truly happy, and perhaps they are. But the Sameness comes at a great price: The Receiver is the only individual who truly knows all of what was given up and what the rest of the world holds. He knows the very good and the very bad that the world has to offer. It is a crushing weight. The subtle message as Jonas learns all of this is that it is differences which need to be embraced and should not be something to fear. Differences are what make life truly interesting and worthwhile. But there are some out in the world who want to eliminate some differences because it makes them uncomfortable and The Giver is something of an answer to any sort of prejudice and misunderstanding and celebrates those who go out of their comfort zones to really see what differences are.
What makes The Giver so remarkable is that it is a novel that works both for adults and for children and is highly readable for both age groups. Adults can enjoy the book just as much as a child, though perhaps in a different way. Highly recommended.
-Joe Sherry
Book Review: one of my favorites
Summary: 5 Stars
Jonas, the main character of The Giver, is a 12 year old boy living in a society that has decided to rid itself of imperfections. The weather, for example, has been erased, leaving every day a bland day without sun, rain, wind or snow. Color has been erased. Animals no longer exist. Perfectly proper language must be used at all times - if a child mistakenly says just before lunch, "I'm starving," that is cause to be beaten, because, although he may be hungry, he is not actually "starving." Love has been erased, presumably because it is often messy or painful. And choice has been erased. A committee of elders from this society decides, when you are twelve, what occupation you will begin training for, and eventually they decide to whom you will be married and if you are fit to raise children. You do not HAVE children in this society, however. One of the occupations for females who are slightly less intelligent and hard working is 'birth mother.' Birth mothers live amongst themselves, and give birth to up to three children who are in turn given to suitable parents. (There is no mention of how these children are fathered - the only loose end in the story but one my middle school language arts students found unsatisfactory.) There is, then, no need for sex nor sexual desire; when that little problem comes up among adolescents, they are told by their parents that they must start taking a pill daily that erases these urges.
The novel begins just before the main character, Jonas, turns twelve. At the Ceremony of Twelves he learns that he has been chosen to be the next Receiver of Memory, a position of prestige but one that is very painful, for Jonas learns that every other person in his town, with the exception of The Giver, has had their memories of the past erased. He must be given these memories - memories of love, of extended family, of war, of pain, of snow, of animals, of everything that has been erased - and he discovers the richness of the world that has been extinguished, its good and bad, the absurdities, joys, tragedies, everything that makes us at times sad but also, at times, euphoric. Jonas realizes how colorless, literally and figuratively, this new world he lives in really is, and he is overwhelmed with the knowledge. The reader is treated to a captivating story, one that is difficult to put down. When I read it along with my students, as a group, out loud, and I say, "OK, now we'll stop and read again tomorrow," there will be a collective protest because they do not want to wait until tomorrow; every chapter they read must be followed immediately by the next. This incredibly well written novel is at times almost unbearably sad, though, and if sharing it with students or your own children, it is best to read it first so that you can ascertain if it is age-appropriate. When it is age-appropriate, is is one of the best novels to share with young people, a story that they will remember long after they have finished it.
Book Review: A riveting novel for everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
Lois Lowry's The Giver is quite a remarkable book; it has something in it for everyone. I first read the book when I was in Seventh Grade and had re-read it several times before recently reading it again as part of an upper-division college literature course. I have been fascinated by this seemingly simple novel for so many years-every time I come back to it, I find new ways in which I can apply it to my life. The Giver is laced with some of the most beautiful symbolism. In many ways it is alive, the book itself seems to change and adapt to an individuals needs and circumstances. When I read the book for the first time, I was about the same age as Jonas, the pre-pubescent boy who is to become the most respected leader of his community-The Receiver of Memory. I could relate to his feelings as he questioned the future and tried to find his place in life. I read it several times throughout junior high and high school and I became especially aware of the relationships which Jonas had with his friends and family. As he began to acquire knowledge (memories), he could see just how impersonal and rather meaningless his most cherished relationships were. This prompted me to develop stronger, more meaningful relationships with those whom I love.
Now, as a college student, I relate to the book in much the same way I did when I was in seventh grade. I can more fully appreciate Jonas' apprehension about the future and his ability to actually make a difference in the world. He has powerful emotions, which if left unchecked could be disastrous; so do I. He has a passion for understanding the people and the world around him; so do I. He again questions whether or not he can actually make a difference in the world, but gradually begins to see that he can; I am beginning to see that also. These feelings and emotions are shared by all young men (and presumably young woman also) and Lowry does an amazing job of helping young people realize that they do have great potential to change the world for the better.
Along with the symbolic nature of the book, Lowry does an outstanding job of creating a visual feast for the readers of her novel. As I read it, I become a part of it; I can see so clearly in my mind everything that she is talking about. One of the most striking examples of this is how she uses color-in a book?-to show how limited this society is. People in Jonas' community see only in black and white, but occasionally Jonas sees red-on an apple or in the flesh tones of people's skin. Over time, he begins to see more colors and with the colors come wisdom and understanding of the suppressed nature of his people.
These are the some of the things that make this a powerful and moving book. The nature and content of the book appeal to so many because it addresses the basic needs of all people. To sum it all up-a book for all ages with timeless lessons to be learned from it!
Book Review: The Giver
Summary: 5 Stars
The GiverIn the book the Giver by Lois Lowry a science fiction novel. Is a very exciting and adventurous story about a boy in a sameness community. Who sees everything very different from others.
Jonas is eleven year old boy who lives in a sameness community. In the community there are a ton of rules for example you can only have two children one boy, and one girl. Once you reach the age of twelve which on Jonas mind is coming up everybody in December has I big ceremony celebrating there age, and when you are twelve you get assigned a job by the Chief Elder the leader in the community. The most important job you could be assigned is receiver of memory which Jonas was chosen for. He thought he was skipped because she did not say his number. Everybody has trainer and Jonas was the Giver he gave him memories of the past and could see color now because of the Giver but he could not tell anybody about his training. Later on in the book Jonas Dad a nurturer in the community had a job when there was two kids (twins) wit same name they have to choose the one that is the heaviest and his Dad had to kill the other baby. Jonas asked the Giver if he could see the tape of the neutering and he does, and after he has seen he tells the Giver he wants to apply for a release but you are not allowed to apply for a release. So what does he do?
Jonass motivations are when he does stuff like when he tried for an a release he did not think about it he just went and asked for one with out thinking and that is how Jonas is in the book. In every decision Jonas makes he never thinks about it first and then he ends up regretting his decision. He does it because he doesnt know about the consequences or does not think of any consequences that might happen. There for Jonas is a character who does thinks before he acts and later on pays for those mistakes.
Jonas role in the book is he is the main character the center point of the story. Jonas is a wise, brave, persistent boy who sees everything different from other people and that is why he was chosen as receiver of memory. The Giver the man who is training Jonas is also the same as Jonas because the receiver of memory and the Giver are the same thing and thats why they were chosen for that position in the community.
The strong points of the story are that it is very exciting and adventurous, and it makes you think like why did he do this? Another one it was a very descriptive book and, very easy to read and, follow along the author describes every little detail in the book. It is also very strong in describing the characters description and what they do and why. I dont think there are any weak points in the book because it is very, easy to read and, follow along, and follows the expectation for a science fiction novel and, it is very descriptive and, really good word choice. Thats what I think of the Giver a really great book.
By: Derek Rager
Book Review: The Giver- For students and teachers!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry.
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Reprinted: September 10, 2002
Fry Readability: mid to late 9th grade.
Number of pages: 192
Genre: Utopian fiction
Synopsis:
This novel chronicles the workings of a utopian society. This community centers around duty, responsibility, correctness of speech, and courtesy to others. At the age of 11, each child must take his or her place as adults within the community. On the day of the Ceremony of 11, Jonas gets assigned the mysterious and highly respected position as The Receiver of memories. His training centers around receiving the unremembered memories of the world. Joy, pain, love, depression, and loss pass to Jonas through The Giver of memories. These new experiences give Jonas a new range of emotions and appreciation for life. At the same time, it begins to distance him from his family unit and isolates him from the rest of the community. He realizes the atrocities the community commits on a day to day basis to preserve sameness and to prevent the community from feeling. He begins to plan, with the help of The Giver, to release the memories to his community and allow them to look at life in all its rich colors, its devastating pain, and its overwhelming joy.
Negative aspects of book:
This book has a couple of disturbing moments centering around "being released" or the euthanization of those who cannot conform to sameness (the elderly, the sick, twins). My students found these parts difficult to read and even more difficult to understand. However, it did make for an interesting conversation about what a utopian society would be like and where conformity can lead a society. While I don't believe there are negative aspects of this book, these touchy areas should be approached with sensitivity and caution. At the same time, the issues that Lowry raises within real societies is unmistakably important for students to study and consider. We used some of the more disturbing areas in the book as a spring board for some incredible discussion. We even re-examined our own society in light of Lowry's critique.
My personal appraisal of book:
This book was interesting to me as a junior high student and even more interesting to me as a teacher of junior high students. It is a classic that holds readers and thinkers to a high standard. Parts of it may be hard to read for students with a lower reading level without teacher support (sentence structure and vocabulary might prove an obstacle to understanding). However, the story itself interested each student more and more the deeper we dug into the story. It is thought provoking while its characters are endearing, and its community is intriguing. It shows that without being taught, there is kindness, courage, love, and choices in a colorless, unvarying world.