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Mass Market Paperback, 179 pages
Published January 24th 2006 by Ember (first published 1993)
Series: The Giver Quartet #1
Source: Purchased
My Rating: 4 Stars
From Goodreads:
Jonas’ world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.
I must confess that I just read this book. Like, as in last week. I know, I know, late to the party. The odd thing is, I was a huge Lois Lowry fan at the time this book was released (I was pretty sure that I was Anastasia Krupnik), so how this book got past me, I’ll never know. But it did. And while people encouraged me to read this book, arguably the beginning of all YA dystopia, I just never did. Part of it was that the cover super turned me off. Another was that I was worried that it was too middle-grade for my liking. But then there was buzz about the movie (which, incidentally, releases today. Nice timing, no?) so I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.
The first thing that struck me about the book was how small it was. Only 179 pages, lightweight. The opposite of the hardcover, 750 page monstrosity I was also reading, it seemed like a good call. I finished it in two days, definitely needing to know what was going to happen.
Some things surprised me about this book. While Jonas was supposed to be eleven, turning twelve, this book was definitely not a middle-grade situation. This book was seriously dark. I know dystopian books aren’t exactly lighthearted and fluffy, but I was mildly horrified by most of the book. Which is kind of hard to do, since I read a lot of dystopian.
The setting of this book is vague, perhaps intentionally so, but the point is conveyed. Everyone is the same, everyone follows the rules, no one thinks or feels for themselves. It sounds horrifying, but I suppose if it’s all you know, it makes sense. Would I have liked more world-building? Yes, definitely. But in the context of this particular book, I can live with it.
As for the characters, the only ones that we get any real insight into is Jonas and The Giver. To me, this makes perfect sense. In a world where everyone is supposed to be the same unfeeling specimens, other than a few minor differences, I wouldn’t expect a lot of character development.
There were some parts that were, quite honestly, very difficult to read. But they illustrated the complete malfunction of this society, it wasn’t just meaningless shock value. The end of this book left me with more questions than answers, and I will most definitely be reading the rest of the series, though I’ve read that the rest of the series isn’t a continuation, but a companion.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who considers them a fan of dystopian, and really, for anyone who just likes a book that will make them think. I do wish I had more answers to some of my questions, and a bit more information about the society in general, but an overall great story, and equally groundbreaking.
So, have you read The Giver? Thoughts? And, since today is the movie release date, do you plan to see it? And why is the guy who plays Jonas 25? No really, how’s that going to work? Let’s discuss!
This is like my brothers favorite book and he finally convinced me to read it a few months ago and I had similar thoughts. While I understand why it was so short and why there wasn’t as much world building as most distopian books I still wanted more! I’m greedy that way.
I am seriously worried about the movie because the main character should be 12! I’m planning on seeing it anyways but I don’t have very high hopes for it.
I totally agree. I don’t have high hopes for the movie either, but I am not sure if I am attached enough to the book to care about the differences? Though I think Jonas’s youth is kind of a key component to the whole story, so I don’t get how it will work at all.
I am greedy too 😉 I don’t know much about the companion books, but I do hope they give me SOME closure!
I just read The Giver last year and I liked it but I was frustrated by the end a bit. I wanted more answers too! Maybe I am spoiled by modern books that usually tie things up nicely! I really am not sure if I will read the rest or not actually. Since they are so short I probably should! Can’t wait to hear what you think if you do read more!
I do plan on reading the others (mostly because they’re short like you said!) and I am really hoping that there is at least SOME tie-in that lets me know what happens! I’ll be sure to post when I do get around to them 🙂
I had to read the giver for my high school english class. I thought it was just okay, I’m a happy book person. I’m glad you liked it. I never read the others, so I look forward to seeing what you think of them.
I liked it to the point where I thought it was well written, makes you think, etc, but I agree, NOT a warm fuzzy kind of situation. I do kind of dislike when a book leaves me feeling worse than when I started it (which was the case with this one) so I am hoping for some better outcomes with the next ones!
Confession: I haven’t read it yet. But I really do have to because of the movie.
Classics intimidate me so that ‘s probably why I haven’t picked it up, glad to hear it’s a short read though!
And wait what? A 12 year old is to be played by 25 year old?? How is that going to work out? O.o
Right!? He could literally play his own father 😉 And classics intimidate me too, but this one doesn’t feel like that at all!