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 we read the book out loud together, I am amazed at details the students notice (things I've missed the previous 15 times), or questions they raise that lead to further insights for not just the class but ME. My God, the things they come up with, that I as an English major, or even me if I'd read this with a book club, could never have gone that far in depth.

As I began to more fully understand the book over the years, I was better able to guide their discussions, which helped them think more deeply about the book, and made me appreciate the book even more. And by "guide," I don't mean calm, controlled, teachery, "I already know the answer" talk.

My discussion techniques, simple:
--I'd stop the tape (books on tape are AWESOME- the narrator is always so much better than I could ever be) and say something like, "So, what do you think? Doesn't this seem a little WEIRD?" and off they'd go, bouncing ideas off each other until finally someone said something incredible, something no kid had thought of in the past nine years. Once I myself knew how to be interested in this book, I knew what might keep them hooked.
--Or, I myself would suddenly realize something new, and I'd stop reading and say, "OH MY GOD DID YOU GUYS GET WHAT THAT MEANT??? WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN????"
I feel free to participate myself, since I myself still have so many questions about the book. I'm not spoiling the ending when I bring up my own questions, because I know this book is a mystery in which things don't much get answered- they're left to linger, and that's part of the beauty and hopefulness in this book.

There are still lines, moments, in the book that give me chills. I wait for them greedily, just to hear the words spoken.

I feel lucky to have been forced to read this book a dozen times. There are other books I've read a lot with my students, and this is the one that most stands up over time, the only one that keeps my interest. I truly am on the edge of my seat to see what we will realize next. Because I've seen that, even if I think I have it all figured out, some kid is going to say something to rock my world.

I can't believe Lowry was able to make a book this clever; part of me thinks a work this good is impossible, and that we are just reading too much into it. But no, it's all there, all the pieces, and she put them there. I just don't see how could she have written such a tightly woven mystery- how could she have know all of the questions the book would raise? And you know what, she probably didn't. A book isn't like drawing a map. You make the world, and things happen. And in this case, she did make a perfect world. (I SO did not mean that as a UTOPIA PUN!!!!!!! I hate puns so much!!!!!! I mean, she so fully created that world where everything that happens is plausible.)

Just read the damn book, then call me.

Or, call me after like, Chapter 13, then after 18 and 19.


he book. Lines that almost make me cry-

The Giver is a powerful young adult dystopian-themed book disguised as utopian at very first glance. However, as you move deeper into this dark world Lois Lowry has created, it becomes apparent that something is very, very wrong. Nothing is what it seems. Vibes of uneasiness start to follow you as you learn more about this bizarre society and its ways—its controlled, uniform, and restricted environment. Strict rules and the lack of freedom of choice sit at the very heart of this society where its citizens are protected at all costs from making the wrong decisions. There is also this recurring theme in the story known as “releasing,” and you don’t find out what that really means until the very end. For some readers, it can be considered disturbing and unsettling.

So, JUST imagine a world as such and where everyone was the same—no individuality and no choices. There are chosen elders who make the decisions that are best for you based on their observations. To be honest, my ‘cult alert’ alarm was going off incessantly!

|THE ENDING|
Is actually left open for interpretation. It can honestly be interpreted as either strictly positive or strictly negative or a combination of the two. You can ruminate with many possibilities there. I am told the rest of the series eventually fills in the gaps related to the ending the author specified, so I am looking forward to that thought process fulfillment. Regardless, this book can still be read as a standalone.

So, I did make a discovery after reading the book: I was surprised (but not too surprised considering what our time is like now) that The Giver is on the banned books list. I read this freely and independently as a child!! And though I had forgotten a lot of the details over the years, the feelings I had resurfaced immediately. I was right there with Jonas all over again!

We interrupt this review with a brief message:

《#Readbannedbooks and help fight against this! Our freedom of choice matters so much else the world represented in The Giver will become our own reality if we aren’t careful.》

This should really be on every reader’s list to read at least once in their lifetime if they have the emotional stability and open mind to explore the depths of this book as an experience in of itself. But be warned, it’s not a light or feel-good kind of read. It’s thought-provoking, well-crafted, and entirely unique. Worth it!

After finishing it, I was left in a bit of turmoil with a plethora of ambiguous thoughts fighting to be let out.

While reading this book, you can’t help but be forced to imagine what it would be like to exist in an actual utopian society and how some aspects could be considered equal to the peace we all crave as part of a higher state of existing. After working as a nurse for 9 years and facing some of the worst aspects of humanity while simultaneously suffering from my own health issues, most of my days are very grim. My moments of serenity are far and few between, and I’m constantly craving an escape from my surroundings. So, the thought of living in a world with no crime, no pain or suffering, no fear, equality, and pure happiness is quite enticing to say the least.

But my brain also tells me that humanity is perfectly imperfect, and it’s almost impossible to imagine such a good world existing without all the bad. And how would personal growth be affected? Or stories created? There would be no conflict.

Moving on….

There is also a movie adaptation that I’ve seen once. It does a pretty fair job depicting the overall themes of the book, but from what I remember there are some deviations. Still worthy of a watch!

2024 Monster Mash Challenge:
|Ghost Face Category|
◇ Read a book that the cover is black. ✔️

"Yes? Do you have a question?"
"It's just that I don't know your name. I thought you were The Receiver, but you say that now I'm The Receiver. So I don't know what to call you."
The man had sat back down in the comfortable upholstered chair. He moved his shoulders around as if to ease away an aching sensation. He seemed terribly weary.
"Call me The Giver," he told Jonas.

For a few reasons, chief among them that this book is incredibly difficult to review without spoiling it, due to its short length and single main focus, it took me a month and a half between when I read The Giver and when I'm now reviewing it, but here goes.

The story is set in a dystopian society; whether it's the future or the present I don't think is ever mentioned, but I get the sense that it's set in the future. The reader is initially given the impression that this is a utopian society. You know, one of those impossible, perfect places where everyone is perfect, everything is perfect, kumbaya and all that nonsense. However, it quickly becomes apparent that, like all utopian societies, it is really just a dystopian society in disguise, and a large part of the novel is the build up to when the protagonist, a boy named Jonas, finally figures this out.

The society implements something called "Sameness", which boils down to a generations-long effort to forget the past and force everything and everyone into a bland, controllable, indistinguishable state, to the point where no one has any memories. It is a vain attempt to eliminate pain and suffering from their society (no memory of war, death, all the things it's painful or hurtful to remember), which has resulted in them losing all normal human emotions and even losing the ability to see colour; they see everything in black and white. Even the terrain of the land has been made "the same". There are no longer hills or valleys; all the land is flat, the same everywhere.

Jonas, who has started questioning things about his society, and has started having strange feelings, ends up rising within his society, and with that comes the knowledge and revelation about the true nature of his society. But what will he do about it? What can he do?

Generally, I really enjoyed The Giver. It's billed as a YA novel, but any adult could enjoy it, and many do (it's considered something of a modern classic). Jonas and The Giver are fantastic characters, and the story moves along quickly and fluidly. Some things I didn't like: there were one or two elements of fantasy introduced, in a book that was otherwise grounded firmly in reality. The book literally wouldn't even have a plot without one of these fantastical elements, but they just seemed out of place. Another thing I didn't like involved the transfer of knowledge from The Giver to The Receiver (no, this is not a sexual innuendo, hehe). It seemed like the author was insinuating that this transfer could take just a few years, when really, given the scope of the knowledge transfer, it would probably take an entire lifetime to complete. So that seemed a bit unrealistic.

Overall, The Giver is a good dystopian novel, with a fantastic ending. Some people say the book has an open ending, but I really didn't see it that way. For me, it was the best possible ending this story could have been given (pun not intended, or was it?).

Recommended!

n  The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.n

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver does he begin to understand the dark secrets behind this fragile community.

This little book has so much squeezed into 200 pages that has you flipping while barely registering the book is nearly over. The concept of ‘Sameness’ in this book is fascinating. A world with pain, suffering, hunger, poverty and war. A community that was devoid of color, choices and history thrived through their meticulous efforts to keep everyone in line. There was no love, no wrongs; rather everyone lived in utmost peace not knowing the thrills of uncertainty. Everything in the community was predictable and pre-planned. The housing units were all the same. The world building was really good along with great character development. You could relate with Jonas and sympathize with the little child called Gabriel. The community was a well governed one and everyone had their specific roles. It was fascinating to read about the different types of Ceremony that takes place in the community.

Although this world is supposed to be void of feelings, we get to see a good number of human relations in this book. Jonas and his family, his best friend and Fiona, also Jonas' affection towards the Giver and finally the urge to help the child named Gabriel which finally compelled Jonas to do what he did was fascinating to read. These bonds helped give the characters in this book a humane touch. The emotions that Jonas experiences when the memories are transferred into him by The Giver, and the change in the way Jonas views his world in which he has lived all his life was compelling to read.

On the other hand, this book leaves several questions unanswered that might have enriched my reading experience with this book. How did this community come about? Are there other ones like it? Who is in charge of things? Do people in charge question their ways? Is this a social experiment? What is the rest of the world like? How do “memory transfer” work, especially on the massive scale when one person's memory is shared with the entire community? These things aren't exactly the point of the story but it would have been better if we could get some answers to these.

Lois Lowry’s writing style is great and descriptive enough that we are able to visualize what she speaks of. It is very difficult to unlearn what you already know and describe it from a newfound perspective. But Lowry manages that perfectly well as we get the feeling that Jonas is indeed new to the concepts of snow, sunshine, love, color etc.

Overall, I am glad that I finally read this book and I recommend it to anyone who is considering reading it. I think I will be continuing with the series because I did enjoy the writing/storytelling and fascinating world that the author manages to construct.

In times of anguish, I always turn to The Giver. It reminds me that feelings, no matter how painful, are vital to our humanity.

I'm so glad I decided to reread this. I love this book so, so much. If you're a fan of dystopian books and you haven't read it yet, I implore you to do so. It's so fantastic and near and dear to my heart. <3

snif. this book marks the end of dystopian month. it's okay, it was getting a little bleak in here. i'm not sure if this counts as dystopian, because it reads more like a teen cult novel. with magic. we never really find out what is happening in The World Outside - this could all take place in some small gated community like that one in disney which is totally creepy in its forced perfection. i absolutely support lowry's apparent stance on the twin agenda - but the rest of it seems underthought out. even if you are simply setting up a small allegory for a teen audience, it can still make sense. actually, i think you have to make more sense than with an adult audience because kids still have all that interest in life, and may be more accustomed to asking "why" and"why not" and "how" and "blah." again, this may be a book i am too old to read now, and if i had read it when i was younger, or not last-in-a-string of similarly-themed works that treated the subject better (mostly), it could have been different for us. but that's where it is.

come to my blog!

Boy is reading this with his English class. He was really enjoying it, so I read his copy when he wasn't looking. I thought it was quickly captivating and quite moving, but I admit that I'm a bit surprised that my sports-centric kid digs it, too. Can't think of a better compliment.

n  Could you imagine living in a society where you never need to decide?n

In the community where Jonas lives, everything is chosen for you, from your parents and family unit to your life partner and life assignment. There are no emotions. No color. No one has questions. Life is perfect.

When Jonas turns twelve, he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory, which is considered special. He meets with the Giver, who begins transferring memories to Jonas by touch.

Jonas immediately has questions...

I love Lois Lowry's storytelling and writing style and the subtle messages in her novels. With this one, you find little nuggets undiscovered at first glance. The society seems utopian and creepy initially, but it shifts and becomes dystopian, which is disturbing.

The Giver is a thought-provoking story that strikes up meaningful topics and themes of individual identity, freedom of choice, duality of emotion, conformity and isolation, and the glaring irony and contradictions of this utopian society.

The ending is ambiguous, leaving the reader to decide what happens next, and I like that. This chronological series contains three more books, Gathering Blue, The Messenger, and The Son. I'll be reading all three.

The audiobook was narrated by Ron Rifkin, whose voicing of the characters and the story's recounting was superb!

The Giver is a jewel of a book I purchased for my personal library. I highly recommend this book!

5⭐

I've been on a dystopia roll recently, it seems. So here goes. This is supposed to be 1984 for children.

Jonas, the protagonist, is a 12 year old boy who lives in a world without war, pain, hunger, death, misery or, even, bad weather, where everyone is happy and has their place in society. Yet gradually a much more disquieting picture emerges of a world where all personal choice has been taken away, where every decision is made for the individual by the "state" (I have put state in quotation marks here because really we never find out exactly who makes these decisions and choices) and where nothing is private, not even your own dreams.

I am a firm believer that children's books have to be written the same as adult books, but better. I also think it is much harder to write good children's books, than it is to write for adults. And, ultimately, with children's literatiure, you have to satisfy both.

I'm afraid, for me, Lowry's book failed as both a children's book and as an adult book because her world just didn't make sense. And I do not accept, as a few goodreaders have stated in their reviews, that that's ok because it's a kid's book. I would have thought the opposite should be true. That it is especially important for the world that the author is creating to make sense, because it is a children's book.

This books does raise important questions about the price of happiness, freedom, responsibility and the importance of adversity but how can we expect kids to learn any of its lessons when there is no explanation of how such a society has arisen, barely any description of how it functions and lack of any sort of logic to the way it does.

The inability of the population to see in colour. How did that come about? Why is Jonas able to see it? There is a climate control system which ensures the sameness of the weather, yet there does not appear to be any physical barrier separating this world from the mysterious Elsewhere. The whole society seemed to be a series of loosely connected communes with a very strong cult flavour (brainwashing - tick, isolation - tick, control - tick) governed by a counsel but it is not clear how a counsel of so few is able to control and effectively govern all these people, particularly given the apparent extent of their involvement in the day-to day oversight and running of things like allocation of careers to 12 year olds.

I don't know what on earth was going on with the collective purge of all memory and its transfer to a single individual (through touch!!!). I found that whole aspect of the book ridiculous and unnecessary as the same could have been achieved by suppression of history and having Jonas and the Giver actually read some of those many books that are repeatedly mentioned but never even opened. I understand that sexual urges are suppressed by the pills but how do they manage to suppress love? It is in people's nature to become attached to and feel affection for other people and that would be inevitable in family units, even if unrelated by birth. The build up around "release" was another ridiculous aspect as it was patently obvious what it involved from pretty much the first time it is mentioned. It is unclear how this society with its severely restricted birth rate and commonplace release of anyone from petty rulebreakers to infants who don't sleep through the night is able to sustain itself or why such severe population control is necessary given there appear to be vast stretches of unoccupied land surrounding the community. I could go on and on.

I wish I could end this by saying, yes there were problems in the world building but the story and writing were fantastic. Yet I am not able to do that either. There was barely any story there at all. Most of the book concentrated on world-building with the plot only really taking off in the last few pages. The book felt far too short and rushed. The characters were flat and indistinguishable (the fact that Jonas' little sister Lily seemed to talk in exactly the same way as his parents particularly grated) and the writing was simplistic and uninspired.

We were really hooked with this story from the first few pages. The idea of a dystopian future where lives are controlled and feelings suppressed is not a new one but we really enjoyed the ideas in this book and were on tenterhooks to find out where this would lead.

We really enjoyed the characters, particularly Jonas and Gabriel, Asher and some others. We found the ideas of the ideal society interesting but there were ideas we thought weren't thought through and seemed lacking in places such as  why the old people were so keen to be released when they were fit and well if they had no afterlife beliefs, and why non related families didn't see each other when the children started their jobs. There were not enough birth mothers to sustain the population in the story and why choose mothers that were not what they deemed as academic, how were the fathers chosen? It seemed to suggest the Giver was a father which would seem to suggest the fathers were chosen for intelligence but the mothers were not. It felt as if there were so many unanswered questions

There are some brutal parts that sensitive readers could find very distressing. The distressing elements are accompanied by a very lighthearted, almost comical attitude by the characters involved which makes it all the more disturbing.

We found the ending open ended as many reviewers found. I wondered if Jonas was recalling  the best memory he had of Christmas with a family to transmit to Gabriel as they died from exposure?

I was hoping this would be answered in the next book but from the reviews I have read it sounds as though we don't see these characters again.

Read on open library.

Me encantó esta historia.

Una fantasía llena de mensajes. Me mantuvo pegado al libro por horas y aún siendo en inglés, se me fue volando.

Jonas fue un personaje con el que conecté muchísimo y los aprendizajes que obtuvo, los pude relacionar con mi propia vida. Sus emociones tan inocentes y bien abordadas, me permitieron disfrutar de esta “utopía” como ninguna otra.

Y en verdad, estoy dispuesto a comprarme el resto de la saga, porque quiero seguir conociendo este fabuloso universo.

No dudo que Rodrigo de 12 años hubiera amado esta novela ❤️