The Giver
by Lois Lowry
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Book Reviews of The Giver
Book Review: A Wonderful Story with 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 World Without Choices??
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giver by Lois Lowry won the Newberry Award in 1994. (On a side note, it also won the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Award in 1996 which is an award sponsored by the state of Illinois!) I'm certainly glad I decided to read it!
"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened." And so starts the story of a boy that is growing up in a time and place where sameness is the way only way of life. There is no such thing as choice. When a child is born, it is placed in the hands of a Nurturer. The child isn't even named until December. Every December, there is a ceremony celebrating the year's in the life of a child. The newchild is placed with it's new family...one that is chosen for that child. Every family unit is allowed 2 children. One boy and one girl. No more, no less. As the years progress, so do the ceremonies. At 8, the child is allowed to start his volunteer hours. At 9, the child is given his bike. And at 12, the child is given his Assignment. This assignment is the job you are going to do for the rest of your life.
Jonas is nervous about the 12's Ceremony this year because he is to be assigned, and he has no idea what that assignment will be. As he sits in his position waiting, he hears the assignments of all his friends. But Jonas assignment is one that is a surprise to everyone. He is assigned to be the next "Receiver of Memories". It's one of the highest honors in the Community.
When Jonas starts his training, he meets "The Giver", the man he is replacing as a Receiver of Memories. The Giver must "give" memories to Jonas. And not just memories of the Community, but memories that have been passed from Receiver to Receiver. He is given memories of color, because there is no longer color in the world of Sameness. He is given beautiful memories of snow and family and love, all things that he has never really experienced before. But when Jonas is shown what it really means to be released, he must find the courage within himself to try to change the way of life for one newchild that is about to be released.
I thought this book was wonderful. I like dystopian books anyway. But Lowry has created a world that is structured and filled with sameness. A world that is hard to imagine. She shows us that even though the world we live in right now is filled with tough choices, at least we HAVE the right to choose. Maybe we make the wrong choice sometimes, but the alternative is not really better. And she has created a compassionate, loving and courageous character in Jonas. A character that should be admired. I can see why this book won the Newberry!! I think all young adults should read this one.
Book Review: Unsettling, but a definite must-read
Summary: 4 Stars
I read this book the first time as an adult (late 20's). I remember it was a popular summer reading book back when I was in school. Everyone I know who has read it said it was good, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
From the very first chapter, it had a spooky, ominous feel to it. It was a bit confusing during the first chapter, because it's set in a different world, and even a futuristic setting. The author quickly explains everything you need to know to understand this new world, but it doesn't make it any less strange. It reminded me a lot of "1984" to give you an idea.
The last 10 chapters or so I was not able to pull myself away. It was a good read, don't get me wrong, but it was more of a morbid fascination that kept me glued to it. I could not believe what I was reading. It's horrifying not only to reading about the kind of world that was presented in the book, but to see aspects of it in the real world. It leaves you thinking (just as "1984" did): "Wow, this could actually happen someday if we continued down this path".
It left me feeling very unsettled after I finished reading the book, and that feeling continued with me until the next day. People I've talked to that read it in high school told me that the book always stays with you like that. Not to mention, I finished it right before going to sleep that night, so I was left with some pretty odd dreams and an overall restless night.
When I first finished, I disliked the ending, but after sitting with it on my mind for awhile, I have a better understanding of why she chose to end it that way.
I remember this book being on my 5th grade reading list, but I feel some of the themes are a bit mature for someone that young. I'd say it was better for 15 and older. It just contained too many mature situations, death of a baby, for one. And the author was pretty descriptive.
It was a book that I equally loved and hated. I loved the writing style, and the overall idea. It was a quick read, with no slow points to speak of. Her descriptions were amazing - very detailed. As the reader, you could really picture what she was describing. The characters that needed to be 3-D were, and there were some that needed to be less developed, and it went along with the premise of the story. I also hated the world she created because it scared me so much and it was just horrible.
I recommend that everyone should read this book. It serves as a warning of what may become ("sameness",etc) if we continue on the same path. Don't let the "young adult" label stop you from reading it, it's a must-read for adults too.
Book Review: Read it as a young kid - loved it
Summary: 5 Stars
Read it as a big kid - loved it.
Read it as a not-exactly kid - loved it.
Arguments that "The Giver" is not a suitable book for kids come from adults. I'll put it simply. When my fifth grade teacher told the class we were going to be reading this book, I was happy. I'd already read the book. Every week, once a week on Fridays, the entire class gathered round and we listened to our teacher reading "The Giver" out loud. We analyzed it in class, and every single one of us (including those who hated books and reading) loved it.
Some people say that "The Giver" is inappropriate for children because it deals with death and other difficult social issues. This is the reason adults don't like it? If that's the case, they need a reality check. We'd already studied about the Civil War in school (mentioned in the book). We knew what the word "starvation" means. We understood the concept of "death". Maybe we didn't fully understand population control, but we knew it existed. Unnecessary sheltering is silly. This book drew us in with the first sentence. It opened our minds to things we knew OF, but didn't fully understand. It brought to light things that nobody ever wanted to mention because they were concerned we were too young. This is exactly what made the book wonderful.
It's not just the world image that's interesting. I fell in love with Jonas the moment the book started. He's an easy character to relate to, no matter what sort of a person you are. I connected to his need for accuracy. Others connected to his friendships and personality. All of the characters felt real at the beginning, but only halfway through do we realize how fake everything is. It was wonderful to reread the book and note all of the little things that had been hinted at, that only later became clear and necessary.
This book is not just about a future void of differences. It's about relations between people, it's about being different, and it's about a boy who's trying to do his job, stay normal, but is realizing that he can't. The Giver himself is also a fascinating character that we very quickly learn to love like a grandfather. We see him at his best, and at his worst. We see humanity in an ignorant way.
And yes, it's a children's book. Adults may find that the writing style is too simple for them. It's perfect for pre-teens. It's got enough of a plot to keep them interested, and isn't too difficult to read. It's a wonderful book that I don't think I'll ever stop loving.
I recommend this book whole-heartedly. It's honestly one of the best books I've ever read.
Book Review: The Reciver Of Memory
Summary: 5 Stars
The GiverBy: Lois Lowry
Reviewed by: W. Horng
Per.6
This book is about a young boy who, suprisingly, got the most important and rare job, the Reciever of Memory. At the Ceremony of Twelve, every twleve year old boys and girls get the job of their life. They usually get the job that they wanted the most. Jonas was called on last and was announced the Reciver of Memory. The Receiver's job is to store all of the memory of a person including pain, love, hate, and etc. Jonas's townspeople doesn't have any feelings and their life are always predictable.
I like this book because it has adventures and the part about a person keeping all of the memory that no one else has. Tht's pretty cool, however, then you'll have to be a loner of some kind because you can't share any of your memory and you can't talk to your parents about it either. The other trouble of being a reciver of Memory is the bad memories that are like nightmares! I wouldn't want to be a Reciver because I want to share my feelings with my family and I can not hide them to myself.
My favorite part of the book is when Jonas got his first happy memory. The Reciver all get a set of rules. Guess what, in one of the rules, the Reciver can lie to anybody if he has to, he can even lie to his parents! "He had never, within his memory, been tempted to lie." That's what Jonas thought about lying to people. After a few more trainings, Jonas is starting to see colors. The first color that Jonas saw was red. Jonas loved every class going to the House of the Old and getting a new and happy memory, until now....
That's when the part that I dislike comes up. The memories are not all good, there are always some bad ones. The first bad memory that the Giver gave to Jonas was the pain of sunburn, then the pain of falling down, breaking your leg,and scraping your face against jagged egdes of ice. This is Jonas's feelings when he first got the pain of breaking a leg: "He sat, and looked at his own leg, where it lay stright on the bed, unbroken. The brutal slice of pain was gone. But the leg ached horribly, still, and his face felt raw." If you think that's overwhelming, wait until Jonas first got the memory of war. The experience was frightning, people running for their lives, orphans crying over their family member's death, and soldiers dying at war. Now that's overwhelming for me. Think about it, you even have to carry that memory around you for the rest of your life until you transfer your memory to a new Reciver of Memory.