The Giver
by Lois Lowry
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Book Reviews of The Giver
Book Review: The Giver: "A must read for all teens!"
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever wonder how the world would be without color, history, or the ability to choose? What if you no longer had the ability to feel pain? Would you take that choice if it meant you also couldn't feel love or treasure past memories?
In the novel The Giver, young adult author Lois Lowry brings the reader into a whole new world. It is a world unlike anything we've ever known. In this world, everything is fixed and Jonas, the main character, is a boy who is chosen to be the receiver for the community by the "Elders." This position in the community is a huge challenge for Jonas and the novel reveals his journey and struggle with this unique world.
Each chapter unfolds an intricately woven plot that leaves you on the edge of your seat ready for the next chapter, which means I will not divulge much more of the plot. One of the most enjoyable and interesting aspects of reading this novel was the element of surprise and not knowing what lied ahead. In this case, it has been much more insightful and thought-provoking to discover the plot and themes from Lowry on my own.
The book is well written and a fairly easy read. It is about grade 9 (according to my Fry Readability calculations), though students 12-13 and older should not have a big struggle to read this novel! Lowry uses her writing style to captivate your attention and clearly depict exactly what is happening at that moment. I felt like I was in the scene at times because the images were so vivid.
The style and plot are intriguing, interesting, and fun, but one of the best parts about this book are the ideas that unfold behind the story. At the end of book you feel satisfied yet provoked, along with a unique mix of emotions that causes you to ponder different aspects of life you might have taken for granted.
Although I think this book is a must read for everyone (though especially teens!), it is not necessarily loved by every reader. Some passages can be a little heavy to read at times or even a little strange to grasp and understand. Also, some chapters moved a little more slowly than others. But overall reading the book seemed to fly by!
Whether you're a young teen or an older teen, this book is a great novel to read because of its enjoyability and uniqueness. You're never too old to read this 179 page fast and fun fantasy adventure. Though many classify this novel as Sci-fi, I think it crosses different genres of fiction and readers who don't normally read sci-fi or fantasy would also enjoy the book. At the very least it gives the reader much food for thought, and even challenges their perspectives or beliefs. Any book that inspires more thought and leaves you wanting to read more is worth reading and recommending! Published by Laurel Leaf in 1994, it's a classic that won't go out of style!
Book Review: The Greatest Giver Ever!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giver is an amazing book. It's about the life of a boy named Jonas and the society in which he lives. Jonas lives in a world where they choose sameness over risk. Everyone has the same amount of people in their family. Everyone can only see black and white. Everyone follows rules exactly. No one can hear music. No one has individual birthdays, instead everyone is born in the same year and all become "ones" together, then "twos" together, then "threes". There is a ceremony for each year. At the ceremony for "nines," everyone receives the same birthday gift, a bicycle. This society does not know real death, does not know pain and does not know love. Everyone thinks the same and acts the same. They choose sameness over individuality because there are no risks. No one can get hurt. There are no problems.At the ceremony of "12's," the kids get assigned jobs. Jonas is assigned to be the Receiver, a very honored job, but does not know what the Receiver does. As Jonas trained with the elderly Receiver, he learned that the receiver held all the people's memories of when there was pain, suffering, death and war. The Receiver also held all the memories of real love, true happiness and individuality. As the Receiver, Jonas learned of these emotions, as well as learned the existence of color and music. The Receiver kept all the memories away from the society to protect the people from suffering, but for years the Receiver had been trying to think of someway to allow society to share the memories, so the society could learn real pain and true love and get rid of sameness.
Once Jonas started his training, the Receiver became the Giver and Jonas became the Receiver. Together they came up with a plan for Jonas to run away to the true world which existed outside the boundaries of the community and as he ran the memories would be released into the community and sameness would be lost forever.
What is so interesting is that this story could take place in the past, present or future. Perhaps our society evolved from Jonas' society, from sameness to individuality. On the other hand, Jonas' society could exist in the present, existing as we speak. Or this society could take place in the future and we are the people from which the society of sameness evolved into individuality.
I recommend this book to teens and adults. Both age groups can relate to the story and reflect deeply about life, the way we choose to live and the experiences, both good and bad, that we share. This book makes you think about what a society without pain, color, suffering, love or joy would be like would be like. Would you rather choose sameness with no risks, or a world where you can be yourself, take chances, a life with risk where people are hurt and hated, but where there is color, happiness, music and true love?
You decide!
Book Review: A Captivating Read! "Give" it a chance!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giver
Lowery, Lois
Published by Laurel Leaf (2002)
Reading Level: 6.5
192 Pages
Youth Science Fiction
I remember reading The Giver for the first time as an emerging adolescent. For the first time I can remember, a novel challenged me to do more than just imagine. This powerful novel (to the my delight) forced me to consider and evaluate the circumstances and situations the author describes. Lois Lowry weaves together a provocative narrative that challenges our assumptions about the desirability of a utopian world, and explores the dark underside that so often accompanies flawed human attempts at manufacturing perfection. The story is less about Jonas, a 12-year old boy who is designated to become the receiver of memories, than it is about the twisted modern utopia he inhabits.
The story is set in a world without extremes. There is no pain, no suffering, and no poverty, but at the same time, no joy, no meaning, and no love. The cost of ridding the world of its ills is sacrificing many of its greatest virtues. By introducing the reader into the sterile world Jonas is born into, and accompanying him as he breaks through personal and societal barriers, Lowry invites her audience to consider controversial issues about freedom of choice, the nature of authentic experiences, the conditions of righteous rebellion, the intrinsic value of human life, and the price of a painless existence.
Jonas's experience reminds us of the simple joys we tend to take for granted in our world, full of endless variation, possibility, challenge, and choice. In the (literally) black and white world that Jonas inhabits, experiencing everything from the fundamental concepts of color and hunger to simple pleasures and pains like sledding and sunburns leaves Jonas profoundly changed. The way Jonas grows and matures through learning about his environment reminds the reader of how important it is to seek out new knowledge to better understand our world and ourselves.
Despite the striking differences between the modern world and the society Jonas is born into, many of the decisions that Jonas grapples with upon discovering the true nature of his utopian existence are similar to those every teenager and adult must make as he or she matures to gain wisdom, and with it, responsibility. It is almost painful to watch Jonas, at a mere 12 years of age, carry the enormous burden of remembering (and experiencing) the imperfections and wonders of the past alone. Jonas's journey, beginning with his passage into adulthood with the Ceremony of Twelve, and culminating with his decision to flee the only world he has ever known (to what end, we will never know...), reveals the incredible range of emotions we all know well as the human experience.
Book Review: A wonderful story wiht many twists and turns
Summary: 5 Stars
The title of the book that I am reviewing is The Giver, the author is Lois Lowry, and I gave this book 5 stars.
This story is about a 12 year old boy named Jonas and his journey into becoming a man. I gave this book 5 stars because you can really get a feel for what the characters are feeling. There are many packed into this wonderful story. Lois Lowry created a totally different world and she filled in everything you need to know to understand how Jonas and his friends feel. Once you get to the middle of the book you feel like you actually live where Jonas lives. In this time period there are no colors, no choice of jobs, when you become 12 you are offically an adult and age no longer matters. With each year there are different perks, like when you are 10 you get your first bicycle. Every family unit gets two kids, a boy and a girlm the parents a child has are not the people that geave birth to them Birth Mothers have all the kids in the village. Everything is assigned and nothing is a choice. There are only a certain amount of new children (babies) in the community each year. If there are too many new children the ones that weigh the least get released or killed. When your children have grown and they leave you house you go to live in the house of the old, then once you have been there for a few years the workers there preform you release (they kill you). It is a very sad way to live but that is how they do things in this time period. There are many different jobs in the community. One for almost every interest you have.
When Jonas is assigned The Reciever of Memory, the most respected job in the community, he is frightened. He meets with the Giver, the former Reciever of Memory, to recieve memories of the past. All the memories he gets to start out with are all happy memories. Then once he has been recieving memories for about a year the memories start to get scary and painful to witness. The more memories Jonas recieves the angrier he gets with the life he lives. He wants to live with emotions and colors he doesn't want to live a miserable life anymore. He and the Giver are the only ones who know what life could be like, but they know they can't change the way the community has lived forever. Since they know they can't change the ways of the community they have to take matters into their own hands. Jonas plans to run away and take a new child that was going to be released the next day. He and Gaberial (the new child) run away to find a better place to live. They travel for days and days until Jonas hears music and he knows they have found refuge.
I am a 12 year old that loves to read. Other tites that I would recomend are Gathering Blue, The Messenger, and the Harry Potter books.
Book Review: A powerful, thought-provoking story...
Summary: 5 Stars
Eleven-year-old Jonas lives in a community where all decisions are made for you--your career, your spouse, and even your children. Everything is meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made. Once you begin to have wants and desires, you're required to take a pill to suppress them. There are no deep feelings, no real sense of right and wrong, and love is meaningless and useless. The Elders control everything and keep everyone happy, healthy, and ignorant, as they are themselves ignorant and must look to The Giver--the person who knows all--for wisdom.
When Jonas reaches the age of twelve, he's assigned a career based on what he did as a volunteer. Instead of being excited, Jonas is apprehensive about the upcoming ceremony-with good reason. He's selected as The Receiver, a very honorable position, and he must meet with The Giver every day after school to receive the memories of pain, war, destruction, happiness, and love--the memories of man from way back.
The more Jonas learns, the more outraged he becomes. He wants to make his own choices, and he believes everyone should be able to choose what color of tunic they'd like to wear each day, but The Giver quickly tells him there are more complicated choices, and it's safer to protect people from making wrong choices when they're at the age when choices become important.
Jonas learns that, yes, there is the pain of hunger, death, war, and cruelty, but there's also the happiness of birthday parties, holidays, spring rains, blue skies and sailing, horseback riding, and hugs and laughter. He learns that everyone should be able to experience making choices.
Even though this novel was written for teens, I truly enjoyed it from beginning to end. Several conflicting emotions surged through me as I read "The Giver"--at first it was anger that anyone could conceive of such a place, but mostly I was confused because I couldn't decide if the community Jonas lived in was truly a good thing. Part of me thought it was. People do tend to make stupid choices and mess up not only their own lives but also the lives of those around them. But the emotional side of me kept screaming, It's wrong! All wrong! Because I had the gift of wisdom, the knowledge of right and wrong, and an array of emotions, I couldn't agree with such a community. In the end I had to agree with Jonas and The Giver. No one should have the freedom of choice taken from them.
At the end of the book, you, the reader, are left to determine what fate you think Jonas saw. Yours will probably be different from mine, depending on your optimism. I like to think...well, I wouldn't want to influence your thinking. Everyone should read "The Giver". It's a powerful, thought-provoking story.