Gathering Blue (Paperback)

"Gathering Blue" has a similar flavor to "The Giver" but not the power. Whereas "The Giver" reminded me of "1984", "Gathering Blue" reminded me of "Planet of the Apes." Now, I'm a fan of "Planet of the Apes", mind you, but it's not the same thing.

Again, in "Gathering Blue", there is the story of an anti-utopian future society. Kira is a girl who has lost both of her parents. The book opens with her mourning her mother. Because of her deformed leg, Kira is now at risk of being killed herself as she can no longer contribute to her society made primitive after an event called the Ruin. Her unequalled skill with a needle and thread, however, keep her alive and get her close enough to the power of her society to see its secret horrors.

"Gathering Blue" is a good story. Certainly better than much of what's out there. What I like about this story even over "The Giver" is that it seems almost more real. While reading, I felt that this kind of primitive society could really develop. What it lacks is the tension and surprises of "The Giver." There is little tension in Kira's trial because we know she has to live for the story to go on. There are a couple of surprises in the last few pages but they are not a powerful as in "The Giver."

It is a risk to read a book by an author who has written one of your favorite books because it is difficult to beat the comparison. Still, "Gathering Blue" is an excellent book and well worth the read. But I would recommend "The Giver" to anyone who reads this.

Now, GATHERING BLUE did not have that impact for me. But it's a very good example of a YA novel with a smart, kind heroine in a world that is complex, often brutish, and all to human. Where the world of THE GIVER, we gradually discover, is technologically advanced but emotionally and psychologically regimented, even soul-destroying, the catastrophes have turned the world of GATHERING BLUE to a fierce hunter-gatherer society.

It's a world where deformed people are routinely abandoned to death at birth, and where children, or "tykes," are redistributed to other families should one parent die, where parenting is full of shouts and slaps (but also, we see in glimpses, some kisses and handholding) and where those who can't contribute or work in an obvious fashion are ruthlessly discarded.

For all that, however, it's a world more familiar to the reader than the world of THE GIVER, and somehow, a friendlier place. Perhaps because family units, however bickering, do exist, or because of the presence of a mischievous child named MATT who even has a pet dog, this world's harshness is less shocking. Everyone in the world is brought up with it, knows about, no secrets there.

There are secrets, however. Kira is accused by a Vandara, a woman who wants her land (Kira's cottage was burned after her mother's death from illness), but instead of being kicked out of the community, Kira is promoted to weaver/designer-- she has an unearthly talent for it. As in the world of THE GIVER, there are traces of magic in this universe. She is taken to live in "the edifice"-- a cathedral that has survived more or less intact from the war. Unlike the GIVER, there are clues that this is definitely our world. In the song the singer recites each year at the Gathering, which tells the story of mankind, he lists some names of places that exist no more-- and if you read carefully it's obvious that they are Bogota, Baltimore and Toronto. There is also clearly a cross in the Edifice. Nobody remembers what it signifies, but everyone remembers that it's important.

As in THE GIVER, however, being promoted for your talented is a mixed blessing. Just as in that world, having a talent is something that people in power find alluring, and the people in power, even when seemingly protective and kind, may not have your best interests at heart, or be telling you the truth.

The title refers to the search for woad, the plant that Kira could use to make blue threads-- blue is a color her own township no longer knows how to make.

Despite some startling revelations Kira makes a hard choice to work to improve her own society rather than choose a path that would be kinder to her and her crippled status. This is a great example for kids and for all of us.

I really liked this book and found a lot in it to ponder. It didn't sock me in the stomach like THE GIVER-- overall it was a more conventional dystopia-- but I enjoyed reading it. Oddly however some of the brutishness and coldness seemed harder to believe in-- I have trouble believing a society so clearly human would be able to resist forging stronger bonds of love and friendship than this society seems to. While it's true that in the middle ages people were more used to death, for example, it's also true from every piece of literature we have from every society everywhere that the altruistic impulse is very strong, as is the parental urge, and it's hard to believe that Kira's loving mother would have been as unusual as all that.

But these are quibbles. This is a worthy successor to THE GIVER. It's different and less timeless--I'd recommend the GIVER to everyone, whether or not they read YA or science fiction-- but I'd probably be more selective in recommending this. But it works quite well as a sort of fairy tale/parable. And I loved the reference to Jonas (not named) at the end. He appears to be in a neighboring town.

I'm guessing that Jonas' town, the one he escaped from, is the worst of all the societies in Lowry's futureworld. Looking forward to the sequel which will tie them all together.

Someone compared THE GIVER to 1984, and this book to PLANET OF THE APES. Actually I'd say in impact if THE GIVER were PLANET OF THE APES (and it's hard to remember now but the ending of that movie was a huge sucker punch) than this book is more like BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. Less shocking, less horrifying, but still very, very interesting, and a quick read with an interesting heroine.