Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's Worth the Read, October 1, 2007
Lois Lowry's The Giver has been enjoyed by generations of young adults, and older ones as well. It is a very good book with superficial and deeper meanings, and is a great study in contrasts and how our society might one day turn out. It just seems basic, written in a simplistic style. It is easy to follow, easy to understand, and fun to analyze. Deeper messages abound, and it has a few morals and interesting lessons about family, friends, and relationships tossed in as well. It also deals with the idea of being different in a world where everything feels the same. It has good development, and I highly recommend it to middle school students and anyone who hasn't read it. An old classic for modern times in a future world, it is truly generation-spanning. Having read The Giver multiple times, I still am not enthralled by it. However, I prefer elaborate stories, so don't be put off it. I myself did not love it, but it's worth being read.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hi, November 7, 2006
A Kid's Review
How would you like to live in a setup community? The giver is written from the point of view of Jonas, an eleven-year-old boy living in a setup society that has no pain, fear, war, and hatred. which is kind of cool because you dont worry about anything There is no prejudice, since everyone looks and acts basically the same, and there is very little competition. Everyone is polite. The society has also ended choice: at age twelve every member of the community is assigned a job based on his or her abilities and interests. Citizens can apply for and be assigned compatible spouses, and each couple is assigned exactly two children each. The children are born to Birthmothers, who never see them, and spend their first year in a Nurturing Center with other babies, or "newchildren," born that year. When their children are grown, family units dissolve and adults live together with Childless Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then they spend their last years being cared for in the House of the Old until they are finally "released" from the society. In the community, release is death, but it is never described that way; most people think that after release, flawed newchildren and joyful elderly people are welcomed into the vast expanse of Elsewhere that surrounds the communities. Citizens who break rules or fail to adapt properly to the society's codes of behavior are also released, though in their cases it is an occasion of great shame. Everything is planned and organized so that life is as easy and pleasant as possible. this is a very interseting book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Giver, An Amazing Book! , May 13, 2008
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everything was perfect? What if there was no violence and no hatred? Imagine a world devoid of color and only minor differences exist. Imagine being able to take a pill that solves all of your problems. For the normal person, this type of world seems to be non-existent. There is no way in our world, which is consumed by chaos and violence, could such a perfect place exist. However, if one was to pick up The Giver by Lois Lowry, they would enter a world that is seemingly perfect. After exploring its pages, we begin to question the validity of this utopia. This book is the perfect introduction to utopic societies and leaves the reader wandering, "Can a utopia actually exist?"
The Giver is about a boy named Jonas who lives in an utopic society. The story begins right before Jonas's Ceremony of Twelve. At this ceremony, all of the students born the same year as Jonas will turn 12 years old and receive their life assignment. Unlike in our society, Jonas and his peers are not able to choose their profession. Rather, they are assigned a profession based off the observations of the elders in the society. Jonas anxiously awaits his ceremony with nervous anticipation. This will be his last ceremony and the most important ceremony of his life. All ceremonies up until this point each presented a new element to Jonas's life. For example, at age one babies leave the nursery and are given to their parents, at age nine students are given their bicycles and become mobile. However, at age 12 students are given their life assignments and officially become adults.
When the big day finally comes, Jonas is told that he would be the new Receiver of Memory. This is the most important job in the community, and only one is selected every several decades. Jonas is afraid and excited to receive his new position. Jonas soon begins his training and falls under the leadership of The Giver. The Giver is the current Receiver of Memory and his job is to hold all of the memories of the world. He slowly begins to give Jonas memories of happiness, love, joy, and excitement. However, after Jonas becomes comfortable, The Giver begins to give Jonas memories of pain, suffering, sadness, hunger, heartache, and other terrible feelings. Jonas has never been exposed to these things and it becomes very difficult to bear.
Convinced that the community must change so that they too can experience all of the wonderful and painful memories, Jonas and The Giver makes the decision that Jonas will leave the community. After he leaves the community, his memories begin to fade, and it is believed that they fall back on the community which he left. The end of the novel is quite vague. Jonas and baby Gabriel, a child that he has taken with him, are at the top of a snow peeked mountain and begin to ride down on a sled. In the distance he hears what he believes to be music. At that moment the novel abruptly ends. Some speculate that Jonas and baby Gabriel actually die and he is going to heaven. Others suggest that he has returned to his society, except the society now has the memories that he left behind. The author never gives a definitive answer, but it is up to the reader to decide.
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is written in such a way that it can appeal to readers of all ages. It forces the reader to think outside of the box and dare to imagine a world which is perceivably perfect. It also forces the reader to question their own ideas of perfection and the possibility of a perfect world. I can think of no negative traits about this book. Lowry has truly opened our eyes to a world that is so crazy, that it actually makes sense.
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