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Nov 23, 2011

Keely rated it:

Lowry's book is a piece of nationalist propaganda, using oversimplification, emotional appeals, and dualistic morality to shut down her readers' minds. More troubling is that it is aimed at children, who don't yet have the critical faculties to defend themselves from such underhanded methods.

Unsurprisingly, Lowry adopts the structure of the monomyth, equating a spiritual journey with a moral one. Her Christ-figure uses literal magic powers to rebel against his society. This rebellion More...

306 comments like (194 people liked it)

Dec 18, 2011

James rated it:

This book is perhaps the best refutation of one common Buddhist philosophy on pain that I have seen in a long while. According to some Buddhist philosophers, pain is the ultimate evil, and so, to eliminate pain and suffering we must give up desire, and individuality. Self is an illusion, and leads to pain; desire and agency are dangerous, so we should give them up and join the cosmic oneness "enlightenment" to find a utopia without pain. As Yoda unfortunately says to Anakin, "you More...

36 comments like (63 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Kristine rated it:

I've taught this book to my 6th graders nine years in a row. Once I realized that the book is actually a mystery, and not the bland sci-fi adventure it seemed at first skim, I loved it more and more each time. Nine years, two classes most years... 17 TIMES. I've come to see that the book isn't the story of a depressing utopia. It's the story of the relationship between the main characters the Giver, Jonas, and... I won't say her name. And of course, the baby Gabe.

Every year, as w More...

21 comments like (131 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Jeane rated it:

Lowry, Lois (1993). The Giver. NY: Bantam Doubleday Publishing Group, Inc. 180 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: In this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, the reader is introduced to Jonas, who lives in a utopian community without pain or fear; where all his needs are provided for – and all his decisions are made for him. During his twelfth year he is selected as the community’s Receiver to absorb and hold all the memories of humankind, both good and bad. His training will expose truths about More...

2 comments like (18 people liked it)

May 27, 2011

Chandra rated it:

This book opens, as many dystopian books do, with a seemingly utopian society. And unless you've been living under a rock you won't believe for a second that this community that reveres 'sameness' is anything kind of utopia. Jonas is a 12 year old boy living in this community and it is through his eyes that we get to experience and learn about the community.

I found Jonas's story to be slightly predictable, but I also have to remember that this is probably most young readers' first More...

8 comments like (16 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2009

Julie rated it:

I think I'm missing something. Everyone loves this book and I liked it too, but it wasn't amazing or anything.

The Giver felt like a very sparse story to me. First, there isn't much characterization, so I didn't form an emotional connection with any of the characters -- not even with Jonas or the Giver (two central characters). Asher and Fiona (particularly Fiona) are introduced such that you assume they will play greater roles in the book than they do. I don't feel like I knew Mo More...

18 comments like (36 people liked it)

Aug 28, 2011

K.D. rated it:

This book is almost indescribably beautiful. It is comparable to the beauty of George Orwell's classic 1984. It is about the world in "sameness" when there are no more differences among its people, there are no more colors, no more music and people do not know what love is. Above all, it is a story of relationships between the Giver (who keeps the memories of those days pre-sameness) and the Receiver (who receives those memories). During the first part of the book, the main child prot More...

6 comments like (14 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Aerin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

11 comments like (18 people liked it)

Nov 15, 2011

Jeanette rated it:

I was a little creeped out when I first started reading this story. In fact, I almost didn't continue. It seemed like some kind of freaky propaganda for a fundamentalist society where everyone obeys without question and acts all fake nicey-nice and pretends everything is fine when it's not. I kept reading just to find out why the book is so popular. I really liked it once I found out what was going on. It's the opposite of what I thought at first. Conformity and uniformity are traps that ro More...

2 comments like (12 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2011

Joyzi rated it:

My Reaction After Reading This:

2 stars

Whoa?

Why?

Really?

SO FIRST OFF I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANTED TO LIKE THIS BOOK SINCE MANY HUMAN BEINGS READ AND LOVE THIS BOOK AND MANY HAVE CONSIDERED THIS AS ONE OF THEIR FAVORITE BOOKS OF ALL TIME AND BEFORE I POSTED MY RATING I BROWSE THE RATINGS OF OTHER GR MEMBERS SO THAT I KNOW THAT I'M NOT THE ONLY ABNORMAL HUMAN BEING WHO DOESN'T THINK THAT THIS BOOK IS GOOD OR GREAT OR WH More...

43 comments like (26 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2008

Matt rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

7 comments like (30 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Lena rated it:

This was an excellent book, but also very hard to read and very disturbing. The first half is like a science fiction novel about a utopian society. But the second half really gets into the emotional consequences of that society. In that way it is similar to Logan's Run, which was turned into a movie.

The point of the book, I think, was about the consequences of taking away pain, suffering and war by taking away individual choice. And the snowfall effect of taking away choice is t More...

0 comments like (18 people liked it)

Apr 20, 2011

kari rated it:

Imagine a world where you have no decisions to make. From the moment you’re born until your last breath, someone else decides for you. What you wear, what you eat, what your profession will be, who your life partner will be or whether or not you’re allowed to have one, or children, which aren’t biologically yours as all children are produced by the women whose job it is to create them. All emotions must be examined and discussed so they can be smoothed out of existence. The people’s lives have b More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Oct 16, 2010

Tatiana rated it:

As every Newbery Medal winner, The Giver is a very well written children's book. Its deceptively simplistic language reveals a rather horrifying dystopian world. This is a world where people are not given freedom to decide anything for themselves - their spouses, children, careers, future, even clothes or haircuts are all pre-planned and pre-selected for them. They are not allowed to even own their feelings and dreams. Their sexuality is suppressed. Of course, it is done for common good - to pre More...

16 comments like (16 people liked it)

Aug 23, 2008

Jj873 rated it:

Upon finishing this book, not 20 minutes ago, I'm left with several thoughts:
1. This book should be required reading for everyone with the emotional maturity to handle it! (I believe that blindly labeling The Giver as a children's book is neither realistic nor necessarily wise, in some instances. Parents would be well advised to thoroughly screen it before offering it to an emotionally sensitive child to read.)

2. Very few things leave me mentally stuttering as I struggle to put More...

4 comments like (31 people liked it)

May 09, 2010

Madeline rated it:

This is the part where I'm supposed to go, "Ooh, this book is such a terrifying wake-up call to the dark side of our views of Paradise, and even though we wish death and pain weren't a part of our lives, they're necessary because without them we would be ignorant and lost, and blah blah blah..."

So: Ooh, this book is such a terrifying wake-up call to the dark side of our views of Paradise, and even though we wish death and pain weren't a part of our lives, they're necessary More...

5 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Dave rated it:

Being a student at the time, The Giver didn't seem to 'hit the spot' so to speak. As a 16 year old teen, it's funny to say "I live to read, read to live" but it's true. Let's just say I wouldn't live to read The Giver.

0 comments like (11 people liked it)

May 01, 2008

Anyea12 rated it:

imagine a a society where you are seperated from all technology. ( most of you are probably scared to death right now aren't you? LOL) but seriously... no t.v, no phone, no computers nada! and every one is grouped according to age and you have certain things or enjoy certain luxuries until you reach a certain age. A society where child birth is shameful, if you have twins they kill the one who weighs the lesser amount. A society where they inject you with stuff to kee More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Megan rated it:

I liked this book. I read it as an adult, and I found it surprising and interesting. It covers ground that has certainly been covered before--Soylent Green and Logan's Run are the two things that pop into my head--but it is well-written and I find that the sixth graders that I teach really like it. They say that it makes them think, that it is sad, it is interesting.

I read a review on here where a guy slammed this book and called it didactic and thought it was shameful that we t More...

0 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 23, 2008

Stacey rated it:

How have I missed out on this book for so many years? The premise of living a life without agency is something to think about. I can't tell you how often I have wished (prayed) for a world filled with only peace and happiness, where no one feels pain, hunger or sadness. This book made me seriously re-think that wish and realize-once and for all-that without feeling the depths of sadness, we can't truly know what happiness is. What an amazing story!

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2010

Tina rated it:

Original post at One More Page

A few days ago, I was lamenting over Twitter about how I seem to be deprived of good literature back when I was in school. The only times I was required to read a novel for school was during senior year in high school and then in college. I didn't get my love of reading from school, that is for sure. Because of this, I wasn't able to read the books that my friends had read for school, and now I am making up for it.

But in a way, it's also good More...

7 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2010

Hope rated it:

This book is simple.
It's not going to take you long to read but you're not going to be eating it up, either. It will hold your interest. It's not suspenseful, it's steady.
And yet, it’s so complicated.
Maybe that’s why I liked it.

This book answers the question of "what would it be like if...?" And you know what? You get a world that's "perfect".. without love, without hate, without sadness...without tears. A world with no feeling at all.
More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2008

Chalice rated it:

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4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 25, 2008

Mark rated it:

A "Blade Runner" for early teenagers. Pretty heady for a 13 year old though. The idea of truth and memory -- and how they work together to support themselves. Without one or the other, or both, there's "sameness" as noted in "The Giver." However, it's all pretty short sighted. I mean, how did Earth get like it is? How is memory erased from an entire population -- was it systematic or some kind of voodoo? And are memories clouds that float from one person to another? More...

2 comments like (8 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2007

Grace rated it:

In this book, a boy from a "perfect" but isolated community is given a very important job. He must hold all the memories and all the history that it kept from the rest of the town. This book tells us that when we try too hard to reach the plane of perfectionism, it becomes unethical.

251 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Emily rated it:

Hmm... I liked the idea. Dystopian fiction is always a favourite of mine and, for a children's book especially, it was very well-written.

But I'd of liked it to be older, or at least for the protagonist to be older. The story was good and I can now see why so many people saw Matched as a rip-off of this book - the dystopia/utopia worlds followed similar standards of control and regulation... choosing spouses, children, where you work and when you die, etc. This, however, was a bett More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 22, 2008

Ashley rated it:

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0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2009

Michael rated it:

Growing up, I read a lot of books for various English classes, some I enjoyed, some I didn't care for that much. Unfortunately, "The Giver" came along a few years after I graduated because, looking back, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more than a good chunk of the novels I read back in middle school.

In the near future, Jonas is a 12-year-old boy who is a member of a society that seems to be a virtual utopia. People are unfailing nice, everyone gets along, there is More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2008

Danielle rated it:

The beauty of this book is that it's written for older children/teens, yet is engaging and instructive for adults as well. That's not easy to do.
To be brief, here's a list of what I loved about this book:
1. The whole concept. It's fascinating to think about living in a world like the one Jonas lives in, and the pros and cons are so skillfully weighed in the story.
2. The well-written pre-teens. When I read this book for the first time in 6th grade, I totally related to Jonas an More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 15, 2008

Sera rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

4 comments like (3 people liked it)

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