A Reading Guide to the Giver (Scholastic Bookfiles)

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Summary: Novel stresses the importance of understanding your past
Review: Lois Lowry's The Giver teaches society an important lesson that it most likely hasn't spent much time thinking about. That lesson is the importance of a culture knowing its history and heritage in order to savor the present. In the novel there exists a society that experiences no pain nor hunger, dilemmas nor uncertainties. Everything has its organized plan, as every person has his/her own pre-chosen fate. This strife-free society comes at a tremendous price, which only the title character, the Giver, and his protege, Jonas, realize. This price is the knowledge of themselves and their past. The people of the society have no concept of the generations before them. To them, there is nothing beyond the Community. They kill those that they claim to "Release," due to old age or request to be released. In order to free the citizens from pain and burden, the memories of their past lie on one chosen member, named the Giver. It is the Giver's job to carry the weight of the past on his shoulders, and his alone. To the oblivious Community, this plan is ideal. They go about their simple lives, having to make no choices nor experience any suffering. What only the Giver, and his student, Jonas, realize is that they also miss out on the good memories, such as sunshine, color and music. There is no love in the Community. There is truly no real emotion beyond the shallow feelings that arise during the routine days. By freeing themselves from strife, the Community has unknowingly sacrificed any point to existance. They merely continue about their ways like robots. Jonas and the Giver resolve themselves to returning the memories to the Community. They, being the only ones to experience the joys of choice, realize how important it is for everyone to share that. Without a shared remembrance of the past, there is no way to savor the present, nor prepare for the future. One's heritage is his/her identity, and without an identity, there is no true living.

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Summary: A good book for children, but not a good read for an adult.
Review: Lois Lowry's "The Giver" would be a good read for a child. But lacks the literary greatness that I've come to expect in books. In my opinion, this was just a wrip off of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" produced in a manner that is more up to date and understandable. By now, we are aware of comformity, and with the Soviet scare now longer at our backs, maybe the subject is dead?

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Summary: excellent novel w/a meaningful message relating to folklore
Review: Lois Lowry's THE GIVER is an excellent novel with a meaningful message related to the importance of folklore. While the futuristic novel might seem as far from folklore as possible, upon further inspection it is evident that THE GIVER is closely related to folklore. Folklore often consists of historical stories passed from one generation to the next. THE GIVER concerns the passing of history from generation to generation, though not conventionally. In the world of THE GIVER, people have detached themselves from true emotion, vitality and spirit in order to gain control and simplicity. Rather than being shared with the entire Community through common mediums such as oral stories and books, the past is heaped upon one sacrificial person so that the Community can remain without pain or true emotion. This sacrificial person, called the Receiver, is forced to carry all memories from when the world was imperfect. The Committee of Elders, the major decision making body of the Community, calls upon the Receiver for the wisdom of the past when faced with a new and different situation which they do not know how to handle. With knowledge of past mistakes and successes, the Receiver is able to advise the Elders. THE GIVER demonstrates how the past is essential for any community to function because of the wisdom it provides. Everyone has both a right and a responsibility to know the tales about the past which provide this wisdom, as the novel illustrates. The Receiver experiences immense pain so that the rest of the community can remain free from distressing memories. When there were two people sharing the memories the pain was lessened, and by the end of the novel the reader realizes that the community should share the past together. Thus, THE GIVER shows the need to share memories of the past with everyone. THE GIVER not only shows the need for a past, is exhibits a need for the wisdom folklore provides. It also illustrates that learning about folklore cannot be a solitary process, but that everyone must participate in learning of their past. Through an intriguing story, Lowry conveys a powerful message. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone, regardless of age.

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Summary: I didn't like it that much cause i don't like reading
Review: Really most people would like this book, but personally I think the author didn't go into enough detail on how the society *It was a completely socialistic society* was created, how they made it so people couldn't see color, and other such things. It was creative, but not in very much detail, and I would recommend this to most people, but not to the one's like me who like to see how (In the writer's opinion) these things would be done. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title

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Summary: A must for everyone
Review: I really liked this book. I gave it four stars because the ending sucked. But for the rest it was good. It makes you think about how life will be in the future.

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Summary: I think this book can teach us all a lesson
Review: I thought the Giver was a wonderful book but almost disturbing at parts. It makes you think before changing things and really makes you think about how lucky we are to have choices in our society. i read this for a college adolescent literature course and suggest it to anyone. You can take this story so many different ways.

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Summary: Why this book made the shelves, I don't know!
Review: I don't recommend this book because it was boring! I thought it made no sense. It was very weird that his world had no color, and so many rules! In the book I felt that it put down pregnant woman. It had no choice to it, meaning that the people of this community had no say in who they were going to marry, their jobs and they didn't even have their own children! BUT alot of people also enjoyed the book, but I don't recommend it.

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Summary: An excellent lesson in courage and uncontrollable spirit
Review: I really loved this book for many reasons. The characters are very well defined, especially Jonas. His bravery and his courage inspire me. This book makes me wonder how bad our world became that taking away people's civil liberties was preferred. The reader experiences a "utopian society" and on the surface it seems quite nice. No criticism, violence, hunger, or hatred, these reasons may be why people would welcome such a world. However, as the novel progresses, the reader sees that this type of society comes at a price. This is a world without sunshine or colors, music, or love. Every event of your life is carefully planned without your consent. In this world, if a three year old mistakenly asks for a smack (meaning snack) he gets one. This book makes me blissfully happy that I live in a society, with all it's flaws, that gives everyone the oppurtunity to choose for themselves. (Whether it be simply what color socks to wear that day, or who or what they would like to become and what they want to do with their life.) This book makes you realize that others are not so lucky. This is a wonderful book, and it's characters show that courage and spirit cannot be controlled.

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Summary: ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!
Review: I am a college student who read this book for a Literacy Development course in Education. It was INCREDIBLE! I recommend it to adults as well as children. Even adults can truly get a great deal out of it. If your child has a copy, borrow it right away!

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Summary: It is an excellent book to read!
Review: This book is great it portrays life lived in a utopian world where nothing is wrong, and everything is perfect. What startled me was at the end of the book I did not know whether he was dead from the cold and seeing the "Elsewhere" or if he was alive and saw the "Elsewhere". It was a fascinating book and it was really easy to read and I would recommend this book to a person. It makes them think about what is going on in this world!