The Giver

Jonas was the same as everyone else. He looked the same, thought the same, spoke the same. Until his twelfth birthday. On that day he was chosen. Chosen to be different, set apart for a specific task that eventually causes him to see his world in a different light. In world where choices don't exist, and the people are governed by a strict code of conduct and rules, Jonas will see the truth. The truth will force him to do something no one else in his world has done before - to choose.

This book is a gem. As a huge fan of dystopian fiction, The Giver delivers a world so possible, it's scary. Despite being a short book, every page, every word is purposeful, packing a creepy punch that leaves me wondering if we aren't just one bomb away show more from living in a world not unlike the Community. My only critique would be I wished there was more. More history behind the Community. More on what happens to Jonas. More. Regardless, it was a great read, worth every award and accolade it has received. show less

I'm generally not a fan of futuristic stories about our world gone wrong as they seriously impede on my hyper-optimistic view on life. However, I had no problem making it to the last page of The Giver just days after turning the first one...and I'm surprised to be doling out four stars after doing so. Lately I've been harder than usual on books, so this carries some weight. So maybe the fact that it's a young adult book is why I survived the depressing storyline. It's a fast read for us "older" readers...but, I will say that Lois does not write "down" to her younger readers so I never felt like I was reading a kids' book. There's some good lessons for most ages in this creative tale...according to my daughter, best to wait until high show more school unless you surpass the middle school norm. show less

The Giver tells a very good story about a world where there is no pain, no hunger, no crime, and - no choice. Very apt for our time. The powers that be definitely want us to live in a perfectly sane, perfectly safe world. It's distressing to me and I felt this book was able to tell a dystopian story about the world as it could be if "perfectly sane, perfectly safe" was carried out to its logical conclusion. It's not a world I'd want to live in, even if it meant I'd be pain free. There is no growth without pain and without love and that's what the main character, Jonas, begins to learn in this story.

In this world without choices, Jonas is given the job of Receiver of Memories. All the knowledge of the previous generations will be passed show more onto him. I definitely have some questions about the book - how this world came to be, what happens next. Maybe the following volumes will address that, I'm not sure. The ending is open and subject to personal interpretation - unless, of course, subsequent books reveal more of the story.

Recommended! show less

The Giver asks a question: Would we trade love, emotions, art, beauty and the like for a life without pain, insecurity, anxiety, and fear. The Giver asks us to consider what really makes us human and if living the life described above, a life without true emotion or individuality, is really living at all. The main character Jonas is forced to make this choice and decides that, in spite of the suffering that will most likely befall him, he would rather live a life with pain and pleasure than continue to take part in the numb community that he has been raised in. The Giver also questions how much power we should surrender to governments and what we really trade for security and safety. Jonas is horrified by what his society has traded for show more security when he discovers the cold and calculating truth of the emotionless existence of everyone around him. show less

There are countless books and films about Utopian/Dystopian societies in which everything is regulated by the "powers that be." However, many of these works--in my opinion--tend to over-focus on the powers in control rather than the main character. Lois Lowry's The Giver starts and ends with an intense focus on the feelings of main character, Jonas.

I have no doubt that I would use this book--without hesitation--in an high school classroom. The theme of the awakening of feelings and rebellious nature of Jonas parallels the inevitable experiences of adolescents. However, this book may be even more suitable for middle school students these days--especially due to its brevity, but I would caution teachers to make that judgment based on show more students' level of maturity.

Furthermore, I can easily see this book being used as a supplementary text to a larger text that deals with concepts such as freedom, identity, or power, and even with a similar "coming of age" text. Due to its current popularity, Suzanne Collins's Hunger Games may be an ideal choice for an anchor text that includes all of these concepts as well as a dystopian society.

Somehow, throughout all 17+ years of schooling, I have never been asked to read The Giver; and now, at the age of 25, I cannot express just how mind-opening this book has been for me. Despite being written in 1993, Lowry's book still stands the test of time and--I believe--will continue to do so for years to come. Profound, to say the least. show less

It’s wild how a book this short can feel this big. The Giver reads simple on the surface, but it’s the kind of simplicity that hides a whole philosophy underneath. Lowry builds a world so quiet it’s almost sterile, and then she cracks it open just enough for the light to hurt your eyes.

What struck me most wasn’t the dystopia itself but the tenderness hiding inside it. Jonas’s curiosity feels less like rebellion and more like waking up from a dream you didn’t realize you were in. The way he learns to name color, pain, and love hits in a way that’s hard to shake. It’s a story about memory, but also about art—the need to feel things even when it hurts.

Lowry’s writing has that stripped-back lyricism I really admire. show more Every word does its job. There’s no noise, no filler, just meaning layered on restraint. For a book written decades ago, it still reads like a mirror held up to how easy it is to trade truth for comfort.

It’s one of those stories that lingers after you close it—not because of how it ends, but because of what it makes you notice when you look at the world again. show less

The Giver plays heavily on the concept that one person's utopia is another person's dystopia.

The main character is Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy who was born in Sameness; a place both physical (the town where he lives) and spacial (the time in history). In Sameness individuality was completely destroyed for the sake of equality and uniformity. When kids are born they don't belong to their birthing mothers, they are part of the community and are re-assigned to their new, permanent "family". Emotions have been so distilled down that no one in town can truly claim to know what love is for real.

Education and development is carefully controlled by the town's elders with a highly strict yearly system. For example, when kids turn 7 years of age show more they are given a front-buttoned jacket. Until that time they were never allowed to wear clothing with buttons at the front. When they turn twelve they are assigned their future career. That's when we meet Jonas, when he is about to go through his (and every other "12-year-old's) Ceremony of Twelve.

As Jonas moves forward on his new assigned job he learns the full truth behind his town, humanity's history, and the high price that was paid in order to achieve Sameness. To a point, the book can be compares to the movie Pleasantville. In fact, the early parts of the story are pretty much in greyscale, and as Jonas moves forward and re-discovers emotions his world begins to turn to Technicolor.

I loved the juxtaposition of what is right versus what is perceived as being right. Definitively a story I would recommend to any book lover. The Giver is a pure science fiction book set on a dystopian world that forces you to evaluate your definition of freedom, how much of it you have and what are you willing to sacrifice in order to either obtain it or keep it. show less