Name: The Giver
Rating: 4.041111621497474 (2177 reviews)
ISBN: 9780385732550

Lois Lowry

At the age of twelve, Jonas, a young boy from a seemingly utopian, futuristic world, is singled out to receive special training from The Giver, who alone holds the memories of the true joys and pain of life. An ALA Notable Book for Children & Newbery Medal Winner. Reissue.

The Giver

I’m only in the introduction of this book and I’m already making “highlights”

Baylea Fancher

A book, to me, is almost sacrosanct: such an individual and private thing. The reader brings his or her own history and beliefs and concerns, and reads in solitude, creating each scene from his own imagination as he does. 

We don’t dare let people make choices of their own…. “What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?… or what if they chose their own jobs?…. I can’t even imagine it. We really have to protect people from wrong choices.

Angelica Garcia

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

thya

Greg Talbot

Re-read 3/17/13, first time middle school

The book is written from a kid's perspective. And I think if I were reading it as a kid, there would be a lot more to learn from and enjoy. The near-perfect design of the community, the emphasis on politeness and the right words, and the simmering tension between rules and structure on one side and feeling and freedom on the other would be very relatable to an adolescent.

I was also left with unanswered questions—about the old man, the community, Jonas's parents, and his sister. All these characters were suddenly jolted to the periphery.

It was still great to read as an adult, but I was expecting more: the ending fell short of its promise. Such endings aren't an uncommon literary device. It recalls "Life of Pi," which I read about a decade ago, where the author said all that could be said, and there was nothing more to say. That provides some closure to the reader. In contrast, here the ending felt rushed—or at least incomplete in a peculiar way that perhaps Lois Lowry meant to communicate through the imagery of voices.

Apurv Verma

The book is written from a kid's perspective. And I think if I were reading it as a kid, there would be a lot more to learn from and enjoy. The near-perfect design of the community, the emphasis on politeness and the right words, and the simmering tension between rules and structure on one side and feeling and freedom on the other would be very relatable to an adolescent.

I was also left with unanswered questions—about the old man, the community, Jonas's parents, and his sister. All these characters were suddenly jolted to the periphery.

It was still great to read as an adult, but I was expecting more: the ending fell short of its promise. Such endings aren't an uncommon literary device. It recalls "Life of Pi," which I read about a decade ago, where the author said all that could be said, and there was nothing more to say. That provides some closure to the reader. In contrast, here the ending felt rushed—or at least incomplete in a peculiar way that perhaps Lois Lowry meant to communicate through the imagery of voices.

Jonas' life assignment is as the Receiver of Memory, where he will apprentice the Giver and become a storehouse of all the things humanity left behind when it entered utopia: color, emotion, and even more complicated secrets.

upon reread the community is much more disturbing + terrifying and the hopelessness of the situation is a lot more apparent. also realized this book is a lot like le guin's omelas? has anyone talked about this before? i'm convinced that omelas inspired the giver inspired divergent... though at least lowry seemed to be expanding on omelas whereas divergent is just. well. doing the giver but much worse.

not going to comment/detract points on the plausibility of lowry's world coming to be from our world because i've decided i don't think it has to be plausible; it's not like omelas was a plausible world. omelas is a thought experiment and the giver is that thought experiment expanded -- to its own detriment, at times. so a thought experiment should maybe stay a thought experiment and not be forced into a plot, but maybe it's not as lucrative for lowry to make another thought experiment short story to encapsulate what she wanted to say. and to be fair she has some interesting things to say about human condition but kindof not that many to be making it into a novel. i skimmed a bit of the companion book son and unfortunately it does seem like the best part of the giver was the omelas part and the things lowry had to say about the implications of the omelas setup and it reallyyyy looks like these companion books don't have much to say because the omelas part was already played out. really presumptuous of me to say all that when i only read the giver + the last quarter or so of son but... even the giver itself was pretty much falling apart as a story at the end once the main character literally leaves the omelas thought experiment...

this book does chekov's gun really well where everything comes back again later with more significance and more importantly with an answer. and when i say that i'm talking about the omelas part. i would like to know if the plane mentioned at the start is a search plane even though that raises more questions because if not what the hell was it? now knowing that jonas + gabe lived and the ending wasn't hallucinated, i don't understand how a sled could just be there on that hill. because a sled is always on a snow-covered hill in a society accustomed to snow? that's my best answer. but you would never go all the way up and just not go back down... is this a sledding society? do they travel by sled? yknow what this might be it. they just have sleds every damn where

tl;dr: the giver is "what if omelas but you aren't permitted to leave but the child is also not locked up but no one knows about the child"

upon reread the community is much more disturbing + terrifying and the hopelessness of the situation is a lot more apparent. also realized this book is a lot like le guin's omelas? has anyone talked about this before? i'm convinced that omelas inspired the giver inspired divergent... though at least lowry seemed to be expanding on omelas whereas divergent is just. well. doing the giver but much worse.

not going to comment/detract points on the plausibility of lowry's world coming to be from our world because i've decided i don't think it has to be plausible; it's not like omelas was a plausible world. omelas is a thought experiment and the giver is that thought experiment expanded -- to its own detriment, at times. so a thought experiment should maybe stay a thought experiment and not be forced into a plot, but maybe it's not as lucrative for lowry to make another thought experiment short story to encapsulate what she wanted to say. and to be fair she has some interesting things to say about human condition but kindof not that many to be making it into a novel. i skimmed a bit of the companion book son and unfortunately it does seem like the best part of the giver was the omelas part and the things lowry had to say about the implications of the omelas setup and it reallyyyy looks like these companion books don't have much to say because the omelas part was already played out. really presumptuous of me to say all that when i only read the giver + the last quarter or so of son but... even the giver itself was pretty much falling apart as a story at the end once the main character literally leaves the omelas thought experiment...

this book does chekov's gun really well where everything comes back again later with more significance and more importantly with an answer. and when i say that i'm talking about the omelas part. i would like to know if the plane mentioned at the start is a search plane even though that raises more questions because if not what the hell was it? now knowing that jonas + gabe lived and the ending wasn't hallucinated, i don't understand how a sled could just be there on that hill. because a sled is always on a snow-covered hill in a society accustomed to snow? that's my best answer. but you would never go all the way up and just not go back down... is this a sledding society? do they travel by sled? yknow what this might be it. they just have sleds every damn where

tl;dr: the giver is "what if omelas but you aren't permitted to leave but the child is also not locked up but no one knows about the child"

A reminder that we cannot feel joy without pain. That when you live inside your comfort zone you are negligent about caring for others. A reminder to be grateful for feeling deeply and a reminder to avoid ignorance. 

I loved the part where Jonas’s parents describe love as a meaningless word and Jonas cannot think of anything more meaningful than love. 

Liz Hunsaker

A reminder that we cannot feel joy without pain. That when you live inside your comfort zone you are negligent about caring for others. A reminder to be grateful for feeling deeply and a reminder to avoid ignorance. 

I loved the part where Jonas’s parents describe love as a meaningless word and Jonas cannot think of anything more meaningful than love. 

It's an interesting concept. I feel wiser but then there's no words to describe what it really feels to read this book. It's a great one.

Jonas made the right choice, and plot twist gave me strong feelings of sadness. 

A friend recommended this to me and I'm happy to report back to her. I loved this book.

It's an interesting concept. I feel wiser but then there's no words to describe what it really feels to read this book. It's a great one.

Jonas made the right choice, and plot twist gave me strong feelings of sadness. 

A friend recommended this to me and I'm happy to report back to her. I loved this book.

read this as a requirement back in college for one of my major classes. i initially did not plan to read the whole thing and decided i was just going to look up the summary online in case i got quizzed about it (lol smh don't do that) but when i gave it a try and got past the first chapter, reading it became very easy and exhilarating. i couldn't put the book down and got so engrossed in it and ended up finishing it in 2 days. the plot wasn't intimidating at all, nor were the elements overpowering for such a solid work of dystopian science fiction. i think this would be a great first read for someone who's just starting to get into sf.

Haley

beautiful book but i have serious hands to throw with the ending

For a book it’s pretty good, for a dystopia it’s not my favorite. The supernatural aspect with no explanation was what kinda ruined it for me. I liked the idea though just not the execution. 

Vienna Cragin

Sarah Sammis

I think this is a book more for adults (though writen in in the form of a children's story). It is covers the same themes and concerns as Atwoods's Handmaid's Tale but doesn't give the same satisifying glimpse backwards upon the enclosed community that the main character strives to escape.

Christine

I hate this society so much and that's probably what I'm supposed to do I just what the heck

Connie Pietranico 

Nanthanat Chompradist

I read this book ages ago in middle school for my reading class. I can't recall much about it, but I remember liking it back then. I don't plan to reread it soooo🤷🏻‍♀️

The Giver is a modern classic and one of the most influential books of our time. Now in graphic novel format, Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal–winning classic story of a young boy discovering the dark secrets behind his seemingly ideal world is accompanied by renowned artist P. Craig Russell’s beautifully haunting illustrations. Placed on countless reading lists, translated into more than forty languages, and made into a feature film, The Giver is the first book in The Giver Quartet that also includes Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. In this new graphic novel edition, readers experience the haunting story of twelve-year-old Jonas and his seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment, through the brilliant art of P. Craig Russell that truly brings The Giver to life. Witness Jonas's assignment as the Receiver of Memory, watch as he begins to understand the dark secrets behind his fragile community, and follow the explosion of color into his world like never before.

The Giver (Graphic Novel)

Annika Arguemore

LOVED THIS ONE. can't imagine myself in a world like this.

Whitney Nicole

Wow. Amazing concept, beautiful simplicity. I know this book came out in the 90s but something like this is truly timeless. I wish there were more books that maybe focused on Jonas, but I know the next three are gonna be amazing.

read for class and surprisingly enjoyed ! it was so thought provoking and enjoyable to read

Laura Mauler

This is a really deep book masquerading as juvenile literature. What is the difference between a utopian society and a dystopian society? Turns out, not a lot.

Hannah Russo

incredible and captivating concept. i loved every minute reading it. so many details i adored and really likable and interesting characters too. if i could bet transported to a book for one day it would be this one.i wanna see and feel what these characters did.

Geetika 

I was loving till about 60% in. But the ambiguous ending did not work for me as well as i would have wanted. I think if there would have been a sequel, it would be my favourite series.

I would recommend but a my age I don’t really Have that life changing moment.

Hannah Yang

The Giver has certainly become a "classic" of its own. It's pretty much at every school library. It's hyped and popular, now even a major motion picture. Most of my friends also gave this book a shiny 5 stars. So, while you can read the many other awesome reviews for this book, take a few minutes to read my two cents?

Ahem. The Giver is a stunning dystopian novel because it's different and unique. It's original, and I have never encountered any dystopian world quite like The Giver's. As stereotypically dystopian as it may seem, it's not used much. It was also a tear-jerker, family-friendly, and heart-warming. What more could you ask for? 

Best part: stuff about human nature.
There you go. Super great book.

The Giver is a book about a colorless, emotionless, pretty much lifeless community, where Jonas lives. He has never known anything more (depressing much?) and never has thought to explore what's beyond the community until he is selected to become the Receiver of Memories. In his training, he has to learn about what's beyond. He discovers what everyone else has been missing.

Does that not sound brilliant. I know. Go Lois Lowry.

The way everything is described is not normal, but it's in such a familiar, simple language that you just get everything. The community is definitely not normal, but in some ways, it's just like the real world. It feels like something we all know. 

This was just a heartachingly good book. I totally recommend it. You should prepare to feel like someone ripped out your gut at the end though. Especially the end because who would be cruel enough to end a book like that like do you want your readers to spend the rest of their lives haunted by it. Recommended with all of my heart, times infinity.

Kahli Scott

'The Giver' comes across as more a fable than a detailed novel, but in that sense, it works. Remember this was published in 1993, long before the likes of the Hunger Games and Divergent, and was a pioneer of the young-adult/children's dystopian genre. The utopian/dystopian world of the novel doesn't seem that original, given all the tropes we've now seen in the 21st-century, but the careful story achieves what it sets out to in its simplicity. It's an enjoyable read, with a dark moral vein. I understand why it's often used in reading circles and school curriculums.

Sadie Hoffman

This book is centered around an 11-12 year old boy named Jonas who lives in a community of “sameness”. There is no color, individuality, love, pain, or choice. 

Jonas is “honored” with a special life assignment during the ceremony of twelve which opens his mind to all the pains and joys in life that he didn’t even know existed.

He is faced with a moral dilemma after learning more about how his community operates but ultimately (in my opinion) makes the right decision.

I’m honestly a little lost for words. 

This book is centered around an 11-12 year old boy named Jonas who lives in a community of “sameness”. There is no color, individuality, love, pain, or choice. 

Jonas is “honored” with a special life assignment during the ceremony of twelve which opens his mind to all the pains and joys in life that he didn’t even know existed.

He is faced with a moral dilemma after learning more about how his community operates but ultimately (in my opinion) makes the right decision.

I absolutely recommend this book.

The Giver

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