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Summary: A children's version of 1984, only more entertaining
Review: My own personal grudge against the book comes from the extent of the writing profession, and how it beared so scary and remarkable a resemblence to one of my unpublished ramblings into the SF genre. I had plans of doing a novel where all emotion is stripped away, set in a world much like THE GIVER. Then when I read it, I was somewhat concerned for my own work.Anyway, this is often comparted to a children's 1984. Yes, while it does bear resemblance to 1984, this book is wonderful on its own terms. The story is the world has been taken down into a utopia, a place with no crime and no feeling, no true feeling. The family establishment is essentially nil with no sexuality at all (this resembles the dominant theme in my own work). Birth Mothers are the source of the population, though it does not give the identity of the fathers. Work and family comes about by selection. Jonas, the hero, has been selected to be the Reciever of Memory. It is here he realises how shockingly sterile and devoid of beauty his world truly is. The ending, somewhat vague, rewards the reader by not giving away to much detail. For those readers who will be travelling on to Orwell after this, go to ANIMAL FARM, my own personal favorite, and then 1984 for when they're older. Like all good children's literature, this book deserves to be read by both adults and children alike. Bravo Lowry! Other significant works by Lowry: Number the Stars. Mike London
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Summary: an absolute MUST read
Review: In a future, perfect world where there is no such thing as pain, hunger, unemployment, or even death, 12 year old Jonas lives with his family in The Community. In the Community everyone has their chosen job to perform: Laborer, Nurturer, even Birth Mother. As a Twelve, Jonas is to take his place in the Community by being given his career. He is chosen to be the next Receiver of Memory. Jonas soon finds out that to be the new Receiver means that he is to receive all of the memories from all time, including the memories of things that do not exist in the world anymore. ...The most obvious reason for this huge turnout for a lesser-known young adult book is obvious: it is simply a fantastic work. Ms. Lowry starts off painting such a beautiful picture of this perfect world Jonas inhabits that we, as readers in this more than imperfect world, wish we could join him in his utopia, even with so many personal decisions being made for him. However, slowly, bit by bit, we realize how limiting his world really is as he is exposed to more and more of what we call "normal life" that he has never even conceived of. "The Giver" is a work of sheer genius for all ages. However, most will encounter it first in school language arts/reading classes. Somehow I managed to miss it through my formal school education and finally picked it up at the ripe age of 32. It sings out to me as a brilliant work as much at my current age as I know it would have if I had read it in junior high. If you have not yet read it, you simply have to.
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Summary: I read this book when I was in 6th grade
Review: I read The Giver and the ideas of this book has remained with me (I am now in 11th grade). A hauntingly tragic story, it makes you think about the price of a completly peaceful society. This book is amazing and I recommend it to everyone
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Summary: a true mind opener!
Review: This book opened up your mind and made you think. It is a truly original book. I couldn't put it down. It's like a mystery putting everything together. After reading it you look at life differently.
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Summary: Magnificent
Review: I first read this book several years ago and have been rereading it ever since. Only recently did I learn that it was, at one point, banned because of "explicit sexual content." I had to laugh at this because the only thing sexual that happened in the story was something very natural to a young person's development. (Please remember that the protagonist is an adolescent.) It was also crucial to the story as it showed how the community attempted to stifle sexual and romantic feelings (this includes love) in its members. I have to admit that there are parts of the book that are too heavy for younger readers. Aside from the above-mentioned situation, there is euthanasia and infanticide. Yet these things are necessary for the reader to really understand what the characters' lives are like. They are a community without feelings, without history, without the ability to cope with anything that is out of the ordinary. Only two people in the story, a young boy named Jonas and an old man known as the Giver, have feelings, emotions and true awareness. Only they can see colors and hear music and experience joy, anger, sadness and other feelings. In the end, Jonas is smart enough to use all the knowledge and information that he has received to do some good. Instead of letting the community continue to hide, he and the Giver carry out a plan that saves everyone. (At least, that is what the plan was supposed to do. The story ends without clearing up what happened to the community.) The book teaches the necessity of sharing emotions--be they happy ones or sad ones. It teaches the importance of history and the richness of variety. Its ultimate moral lesson is that people cannot hide from the darker aspects of life, because in doing so they hide from all of life and ultimately from love as well. Then the darker aspects (euthanasia and infanticide, among other things) win anyway. We can't kill them by hiding from them: we have to take them head-on.
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Summary: Top Rank Book!!!
Review: I've read this book about 7 times. Everytime you read it you think of what it would be like to live in a land where you can't make your own decisions, choose your own job, and voice your thoughts. Jonas, a pre-teen, discovers himself when faced with a serious decision on what to do with a small child, Gabriel. He learns about the past, and the future and finds his own being. This is a must read!!! This book opens up your imagination and pulls your heart out onto the pages everytime you read it. 5 STARS FOR "THE GIVER"!!!
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Summary: A great book!
Review: This was a wonderful book about a boy that lives in a community that is very different from the kind we live in. It is an exciting journey as the Giver helps him to understand the community and sees things differently. This book was great and it makes you think about your surroundings and makes you have a greater apprieciation for them. I would recommend this to teens or anybody!
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Summary: the Giver, and what I think of it....
Review: My Review consists of the following coments... 1)In the book "the Giver" there were many topics and many characters that made the book so much more interesting and so much more indepth that readers from age 10-100 could read this book and all of them would get something different from it. 2)The author made this book have more then 1 topic which made it so you didn't get stuck with 1 topic and then get bored with the book in the first 15 minutes of reading. 3)When I picked up "the Giver" looking for a good and interesting book to read and I deffinetly got the book I was looking for.Sence my first reading of this book I have read it 5 times, I can't put this book down.I get down with it and then start all over on chapter 1. The last thing that I want to say is thank you Lois Lowry for writing such a wonderfull book, hope to read more of your books.
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Summary: College Senior says EXCELLENT book.
Review: I am a senior at UNC-Chapel Hill and I'm in a Young Adult Fiction class. So this semester we're reading many YA books. And we get to choose our own as long as we end up reading across the genre's of YA books. I choose The Giver because of the reviews I read on this website and I thought it was only appropriate after reading the book to contribute myself. This is an EXCELLENT book and I don't care if you're 8 years old or 80, you will gain something from it. The way Lois Lowry shows this world of "sameness" makes you physically ill sometimes but at the same time frightened because you can actually see our own world in bits and pieces of it. With the way she portrays "the community" it allows you to get more and more out of it the older you are. If you aren't aware of certain things, you don't understand them as much as a young reader, but the plot and story are so well written you still get a lot out of the book. If you are older and do understand, her statements are even more profound. Definitely worth your time and effort. I couldn't put it down once I read the first chapter.
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Summary: Awesome book
Review: This was an awesome book because it is so interestng from the beginning. It was a real page turner and it told of a perfect community. This book is so good, it almost seems true. You really get to know the characters and start to like them. It is really easy to get into, and you will not want to put it down. Well, in conclusion, it was one of the best books I have ever read and I highly recommend it.
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