Gathering Blue
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Yes, I got that the beasts weren't real. That's my point. There's all this build up about the beasts to scare people, but for what reason? It never says. They kill off Annabella just for telling Kira that there's no beasts and then, well, nothing. I can guess that Jamison needed Kira to believe in the beasts because of her father, but that doesn't explain why it's such widespread 'knowledge' in the village.
They don't really seem concerned about what the people do, much at all, actually. Fighting and stealing is pretty normal as is beating their kids, etc. And no one but Kira was the least bit concerned when Matt left.
It just seems like a pretty pointless book to me, but I guess it's good if other people enjoyed it though.
The book not exactly pointless, but it would be hard to understand outside of the context of the rest of the series. I think the author was trying to make a point in the way she built the society, and it's supposed to make us think more about the message of the story.
I already wrote a snippy-ish review about this title. If i were an English teacher in middle school i might be able to to muster up some type of discussion amongst the students. maybe...
Verity wrote: "The book not exactly pointless, but it would be hard to understand outside of the context of the rest of the series. I think the author was trying to make a point in the way she built the society, ..."I read the Giver, and while I found that story a little more enjoyable (since there was an actual plot), I thought the society was equally unrealistic. For different reasons. I get the general tone of the story that she was trying to convey, I just didn't feel like it was done very well.
Meiyu wrote: "Lois Lowry actually said to me she wanted her readers to figure out the mysteries out themselves,i emailed her:)"I didn't think there were any 'mysteries'. I had the whole thing figured out pretty early on. I just think there was a whole lot of build up that went nowhere. It might have worked a little better if we didn't actually know if there were beasts or not. Or whether Jamison was essentially evil or not. But we do know those things by the end. There's just no explanation for them. Which just irritates me, really.
Thisgurl wrote: "I already wrote a snippy-ish review about this title. If i were an English teacher in middle school i might be able to to muster up some type of discussion amongst the students. maybe..."Since you bring it up, the title is pretty stupid considering it refers to this tiny little part of the story that really has nothing to do with the rest of the story...
yeah...the Giver left me wondering where the rest of the story was. BUT i suppose we do have to think of who the target audience is and what purpose Lowry's tales are to serve. my guess she's trying to generate some critical thinking in a YA audience.
lol, no hard feelings. I just thought it was a pretty stupid book.
Thisgurl wrote: "yeah...the Giver left me wondering where the rest of the story was. BUT i suppose we do have to think of who the target audience is and what purpose Lowry's tales are to serve. my guess she's try..."I can respect that. I mean, I love dystopian stories like the Hunger Games and Divergent and Delirium. They all have this fantastic element that you know isn't ever going to happen, but once you suspend your belief a little bit and accept that...rule for that world, everything else just fits and makes sense.
You can still evoke the critical thinking discussions. Like say a discussion on the people watching the Hunger Games.
It's still going to result in a great discussion and some ethical convictions, but the story still makes sense.
That's what I felt was missing here.
I can get passed the unrealistic society, but the rest of the story needs to make sense and actually have a purpose. The Giver and this one were both lacking in that area, in my opinion.
Kristen wrote: "Verity wrote: "The book not exactly pointless, but it would be hard to understand outside of the context of the rest of the series. I think the author was trying to make a point in the way she buil..."
Yes, Gathering Blue left me a little annoyed because it seemed totally unrelated to The Giver. But it all fits together in the last two books!
Yes, Gathering Blue left me a little annoyed because it seemed totally unrelated to The Giver. But it all fits together in the last two books!
Not sure I'll be up for two more books. I haven't been very impressed with Lowry so far.
I just started reading Son, so far I can't tell if it's gonna be good or not. I must say though, Kirsten, I was confused too with how Gathering Blue and The Giver were connected at first, but you MUST read Messenger before you criticize their connections or go on about their lack of purpose. Most everything ties together in Messenger and ALOT more makes sense. It updates us on what is happening with Jonas and Matt
Oh, and by the way, I thought the title was brilliant! I mean, if Kira hadn't been eager to have blue, Matt would have never left and the rest of the series couldn't have happened! The title was pretty amazing in my opinion, it doesn't make sense at first but after you've finished the book it totally makes sense :D
Aspen wrote: "I just started reading Son, so far I can't tell if it's gonna be good or not. I must say though, Kirsten, I was confused too with how Gathering Blue and The Giver were connected at first, but you M..."I've actually finished Messenger and am onto Son. And the only way my view of Gathering Blue has changed is that it was somewhat less pointless than Messenger.
I just don't feel that those stories warranted their own books. They were more side-stories lacking any definite purpose, other than to illustrate the various types of communities and to show who and where the various characters were. Which really could have been done in a few chapters total.
I think the whole series would have been much better as one book. Possibly two for the time difference.
I'm still sort of wary that I'll even think it was worth it to keep reading, in the end. I was hopeful when I started Son and realized that it was a retelling of Giver from a different POV. But I've gotten as far as Claire being rescued from the sea, and I'm realizing that we still aren't going to get the details about what happened when Jonas left. Which was mostly all I was interested in once I realized what was going on in the story. Also, I feel like the whole first part of the book was a big waste of time since all of Claire's feelings could have been shown in a fraction of the time. And then at the actual interesting part, suddenly Claire's memories are limited. Lowry should have briefly changed POVs since Claire didn't seem to know much of anything. Kinda felt like a cop-out to me.
Buuut, I suppose I will reserve total judgement on the book and series until I actually finish. But at this point, I'm not very hopeful.
Kristen wrote: "who found this book stupid and kind of pointless?I mean, the society is pretty unrealistic to begin with. Show me any society where it's the norm for mothers to just disregard their babies/childr..."
I disagree with you on some points, but I think that overall I agree with you on this subject. Let me explain. See, I recently read "Gathering Blue," and had read "The Giver" several times in the past, so I couldn't avoid comparing the two. I felt that the society that Lowry created in "The Giver" made more sense than the one in "Gathering Blue." I do think that it was realistic that the people would be forced back into the stone ages after some big disaster long ago (nuclear war, perhaps?), but I didn't feel like all of the details came together. Some things didn't make sense to me, like the whole thing about the Ceremony (when, the rest of the year, the people simply go through their lives of drudgery and misery). And the plot of the book surrounds that event! So...what's going on in this society? Who is really in power? Who is benefitting from keeping the people downtrodden? I just didn't buy into it as much, because I didn't find it all to be as solid as "The Giver" (which, in my humble opinion, is a masterpiece on its own).
I saw Jamison coming and if that where me I would have taken all the kids to the village of healing . Also wait they don't understand indoor pluming but remember this is supposed to be in the future not the past that didn't make sense to me its the future so they should understand indoor pluming am I the only one who thinks that is weird .
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I mean, the society is pretty unrealistic to begin with. Show me any society where it's the norm for mothers to just disregard their babies/children because of an abnormality at birth and "send them to the field". Or where they hoard food from them, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. Or where a wife is also sent there because she can no longer be wholly useful with two arms. Don't even get me started on redistributing the kids...
Putting that aside, there was basically no plot.
I thought there might be something with Jamison. And my freaking goodness, Kira is slow! But then it just fizzles out into nothing.
Kira learns that he tried to kill her father, and is the reason she didn't have one her entire life. She thinks he's probably responsible for her mother's death, as well as Thomas' parents and Jo's (FINALLY), and then she just stays to help them all out. Even after learning that the current singer is imprisoned and treated pretty brutally. It's just peachy, apparently.
Nothing is ever mentioned about the fictitious beasts. That could have been another area to have some kind of story. But no. Nothing.
Seriously, I didn't think all the brutality and secrecy within the guardians was even necessary. In that kind of society, they could have simply offered those jobs to the kids, without offing their parents and locking them up, and I'm sure they would have jumped at the chance, simply for the honor of it. Forget the payment of food and a nice place to live.
And seriously, these people don't understand indoor plumbing, but they get syllables? Really?