Saturday, 17 January 2009

The Giver / Lois Lowry

My friend, Heidi, kindly contributed this review. Please leave her a comment.
Summary - In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy.

Review - The Giver was one of the first books to really get me thinking. We read it in Middle School, but I have read it many times since then. The book makes you think in the beginning that a world with no pain and no stress from making choices might be a good world to live in, but Jonas and the reader soon find out that taking away choice takes away the ability to be an individual. I love the way this book makes you think. As a teenager, it introduced many new ideas and even now, as an adult, I find new things to consider each time. I haven't read it in a while, and now, thinking about it, I'll probably have to reread it.

I really love the parts with The Giver and Jonas. I like their conversations and when Jonas gets the memories. I really feel for both characters. Jonas, for having to endure the pain and grief, and The Giver, for having to give away the good memories and having to inflict the bad ones on Jonas. I also really enjoy Jonas' family dynamic and hearing about this world that is so strange and controlled. I mean everyone get a bike when they're 8, I think that's the right age, how boring is that. You'd know every step of your life. Nothing would be a surprise, except what job you would get, but you wouldn't get to choose. There is so much to discuss, so I'll end here.

Published: 1994
Format: Paperback, pages
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Origin: USA
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There is a movie version of this title that is projected to be released in 2011. David Yates, who also directed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is currently attached.

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