Messenger

Rating:
Summary: Messenger is Special
Review: I found _The Giver_ enthralling and _Gathering Blue_ ok, but _The Messenger_ was a great disappointment. It is far too simplistic, in terms of both plot and message. The story felt very artificial. The ending was a deus ex machina- the conflict was resolved too neatly and easily, and there was no reason for Matty to have that particular gift except to set up the ending. The characters are flat- I saw nothing of Jonas or Christopher in Leader or Seer. They have no personalities; neither does Kira, and Matty's is faint. Their only characteristic is that they are good, moral people, but they aren't really people because they don't have a true range of human emotions or show any inconsistencies. The bad characters have no motivation- according to the book, anyone who buys a nice piece of furniture or an electronic toy automatically turns into an evil xenophobic bastard. The sweeping changes that occur in Matty's former society and in Village happen too quickly and for no reason. Real reform is not that easy, and there is no reason for the negative turn Village takes except the appereance of Trade Mart.

Trade Mart is an obvious allusion to Wal Mart, which brings me to the second reason I disliked the book: it pretends to be a story, but is really just a vehicle for the author's politics. Certianly stories can and should present ideas and raise questions, but they need to do so in a way that does not cripple the story itself. In order to be effective and enjoyable, they should begin as and remain stories first and foremost. If you can't tell an good story that lets you incorporates your message, then tell your message in a non-fiction format such as an editorial. If you're trying to tell a story, focus on the story first, and only stick the message in if it works with the story. _The Messenger_ is not a particularly good story and at least part of the reason is that it is crippled by the message the author imparts. The message itself is far too black-and-white (and I say this as someone who finds Wal Mart depressing and would never support closing the borders). As another reviewer has pointed out, why is Trade Mart such a wicked thing when the marketplace is morally fine? Having an appreciation for nice things does not automatically mean someone is selfish and materialistic, and families that were emotionally healthy to begin with do not stop reading and enjoying the outdoors and spending quality time together because they buy an electronic toy, as the book implies they do.

_The Messenger_ fails to be a good, well-told story and heavy-handedly presents an overly simplistic worldview. I am surprised that this book comes from the author of _The Giver_, which is an excellent example of a great book that imparts a thoughtful message without ruining the story.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and flat
Review: (...)

The Giver and Gathering Blue are two books that have a profound effect because they explore the mixture of good and evil above and below the surface in varying versions of possible post-apocolyptic societies. Messenger is not a fitting end to the other two. It seems an insult to the complexity of mankind, and the good and evil of the societies she has constructed to have an end solution lie with an all-good, all-giving martyr character.

Rating:
Summary: This book sucks!
Review: Compared to the Giver and Gathering Blue, this book is a HUGE disapointment. It left alot more questions than answers, and in the end it's just one big question mark. It's great if you like making up your own ending to stories, but it's just horrid if you don't.

It gives closure to Jonas from The Giver, but other than that, it's a sh*tty book. My one question is...what the hell happened to Gabe? Jonas's brother?

Rating:
Summary: Messenger - great book
Review: Courtney Steinberg

Living in a caring, peaceful world, Mattie loves his home. He used to live in a cruel world where he got beaten and learned to steal. He travels to a new village where they take care of him and heal him. His village always takes in new people, helps and cares for them. Then, Mattie's village starts trading and has trading sessions in big groups. Not only did people trade more than just things, but it was making the people of the village, Village very different and hasty towards
everyone.

People starting trading their souls for their appearance in order to look incredible for their love or for some other reason. After the people made a trade from the Trade Master they starts acting different and doesn't want new people to come to their village any longer. They decide to build a wall surrounding Village so that the new ones who are injured and just want a new home or anyone else for that matter can not come there anymore. Seer, an old blind man who lives with Mattie and is like a father to him, is worried for his daughter who eventually wants to come live with them. He is afraid that his crippled daughter will be blocked off from Village and he might never see his precious daughter again.

Seer asked Mattie to kindly retrieve his daughter from her village before they put up the wall to block new comers forever. Mattie agrees. Some people have special gifts that sometimes have great use. Mattie, Leader, and Kira, the blind
mans daughter are three people with extraordinary gifts. Mattie has the gift to heal, Kira has the gift to sew and see the future through her work, and Leader has the gift to see beyond into the future. Mattie is going to retrieve Kira before his Village closes off new ones, but to get through he needs to go through the forest. The forest is very dangerous because it can kill and strangle people within its branches. Mattie has gone through the forest many a time, so he is not afraid until Leader uses his gift to see that the forest is strangely different than usual. Mattie successfully makes it to Kira's village and persuades her to go back with him.

As they travel back to Mattie's village the forest starts poking and greatly harming Kira and Mattie. They don't think they will be able to survive and neither does Leader as he looks at them from his home using his special gift. Fortunately for them, Leader decides to go after them and try to save them from the lethal forest. Kira, Mattie, and Leader all use their spectacular gifts to save Village from becoming a bitter town and them from the strangling forest as it slowly rips them apart. The young boy gives his life away using his gift for his village and the people he loves.

The Messenger is a fantastic book and I could not put it down. It makes you feel like you are in the book. It is so exciting and I had great suspense as I waited to see what would happen next. The way it was in a different world so different from ours, with gifts and special villages full of kindness and people who care greatly for others. The Messenger was easy to understand and one of a kind.

Rating:
Summary: matty is not dead
Review: first time i read the Giver, i was hooked and so i read the Gathering blue and Messenger. i finished reading it not 15 minutes ago and i have to say something. otherwise, i will not be in peace.

i love lois lowry style, she makes me think of what my real name might be.

anyway, there are questions after i read the messenger and not to mention upset about it, but when i think of it, i realize, there goes lois lowry's style again.

we know that everytime Leader, kira and matty use their gifts, they will always tired and fall asleep.matty, since we know that he is a healer,( though doesnt know realize much the extend of his power since he discovered just recently), healed a frog and dogs. and if you are talking of healing the forest and the village, it's gonna be huge. so, matty is gonna sleep for maybe 3-4 days.. in his mind, he drifted overhead before, looking down on a struggling boy leading a crippled girl, so after a tremendous work of healing, he is drifting again. to let go in peace meaning his work is done and he has to rest. i dont think it's a self-destructing gift. village needs him as a healer. and in the distance the sound of keening began.why, they wont even reach the village for a couple of days and Village doesnt know what happen to Leader, Kira and Matty yet(they dont have the gift of seeing beyond). i guess the keening is for Ramon's sister.

it's a good book. im planning to read the other books by lois lowry. she has become my favorite author.

Rating:
Summary: "The Messenger" vs. "The Giver" and "Gathering Blue"
Review: I am a huge fan of The Giver. I read it with my 7th grade students every year for the past 10 years. Every class had a few students who swore that Jonas and Gabriel died in the end. I never agreed with them. Fortunately they were wrong because Lowry did a wonderful job tying the main characters from The Giver and Gathering Blue into this novel. I liked that Jonas became a wise leader in the village. His special talent makes him a perfect leader in any community. I also enjoyed Matty's story and the special ability that he discovers in himself. However I was disappointed that the author only devoted one single sentence describing Gabriel from The Giver. I want to know more about this boy who was born in Jonas' society, yet ends up growing up in the village. The way this book ended however left room for another companion novel. Perhaps Lowry's next novel will be told from Gabriel's perspective. Now it's a matter of impatiently waiting to see if that happens.

Rating:
Summary: You fill in the blanks
Review: I did not like this book as much as the first two in the series. However, art is not always supposed to cheer us up. I think that Lowry is the kind of author who really wants the reader to become the storyteller and fill in the blanks. There is no neat package at the end, even in the book which is the third of the trilogy. Matty's true name communicates what I believe to be Lowry's central message. I don't want to spoil the end, so I won't reveal his true name, but the following quote is similarly revealing, and my favorite of the book. "So you could meet in the middle with your gifts? It wouldn't be so hard if you only went half way. If you met." Despite the abrupt ending, Messenger is a must read for those who have read The Giver and Gathering Blue.

Rating:
Summary: A great way to tie it all together!
Review: I have thoroughly enjoyed this series of novels by Lois Lowry. Beginning with The Giver, then Gathering Blue and now Messenger, this is a fantastic group of books that can be read individually or in their rightful order. Not until I reread Messenger did I see how these three books fit together. The overlapping characters and themes make these great reads for older junior high and even adults. I despise those teachers who use these books in fourth and fifth grade classrooms. The students may be able to read the words, but they will not comprehend the idea of creating a utopia and the consequences inherent to that. Some adults can't truly "get" these books. The Messenger is a fantastic story that can be read and reread. I would highly recommend this book and the others mentioned above.

Rating:
Summary: A great author sells out...why?
Review: I just finished THE MESSENGER and am confused.

Lowry's THE GIVER is among my all-time favorite children's books; it's near-flawless. GATHERING BLUE is not nearly as thought-provoking, but it too is an excellent book.

Then along comes THE MESSENGER.

Is Lowry desperate for money? Is she trying to appease those parents and still the crying of the kids who noted that Jonas and Gabe died at the end of THE GIVER? "The Leader" (wink wink) and the rambunctious eight-year-old Gabe (more winks) are established in Village.

Matty's appearance in Village makes sense, and going to get Kira makes sense. But Jonas died.

No, he is not named in the book, but the pale eyed Leader who sees "beyond"; who's first inkling of his gift was "an apple"--it's an exhumed Jonas.

For those who refuse to accept the death of the two children at the end of THE GIVER (and Lowry has always been evasive in her comments about this, though the obvious event has made the book one of the most challenged books in contemporary literature), the sled is the Giver's first memory; the warm family memory is The Giver's favorite memory. The ending smacks heavily of the bittersweet transcendence of Anderson's "The Match Girl"--another brilliant story.

IF the dead (though not quite really) Gabe and the dying-of-hypothermia Jonas actually do find a sled and swoosh down to that Christmas image, then THE GIVER is not profound and thought-provoking; it's trite. Those conicidences are far beyond any thinking reader's willing suspension of disbelief. And Lowry is not a cheesy writer; at least she wasn't until she insisted on tying a sci-fi/dystopian novel to a fantasy novel (THE GIVER and GATHERING BLUE are not even in the same genre).

If Lowry really imagines the three books as a trilogy, then she has cheapened THE GIVER or she has lost all critical sensibility, OR she just wants more strokes for her past work.

THE MESSENGER is an OK sequal to GATHERING BLUE; it is a shame that Lowry felt the need to involve THE GIVER.


Rating:
Summary: Read It, It's Great!!
Review: I must say that after reading the reviews for 'Messenger' online while I was placing my order I was a little surprised at the number of people that didn't care for it. I have never read Lois Lowry book that I didn't enjoy. 'The Giver' and 'Gathering Blue' are two of my favorie y.a. novels. After reading 'Messenger' I fell in love with her writing all over again. It takes a great deal of skill to write a book that is on a young adult level, but is so well written, descriptive, and thought provoking to engross adults as well. Soon after finishing the book (which only took about 2 days) I quickly had coworkers reading it, also. I highly recomend this series to any parents of young adult readers, and to the parents as well. I feel that it is a story that all will enjoy. The best part is, the ending still has us wanting to hear more from Lowry. I can only hope that means this trilogy will be transformed into a fourth book.