Review of The Giver by Lois Lowry

“Our people made that choice, the choice to go to Sameness. Before my time, before the previous time, back and back and back. We relinquished color when we relinquished sunshine and did away with difference. We gained control of many things. But we had to let go of others.” 

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver is the first book in a series by Lois Lowry, set in an undisclosed time and place, in a world where societies behave much differently than we are used to. Gathering Blue is the next book in the series, however it is almost completely unrelated and it is only in the third book, Messenger, that the two tales begin to come together.

While it was initially meant to be a trilogy, Lowry released Son, the fourth and final installment last October.





This book was assigned reading for my seventh grade English class (Shout out to Mr. Sirard, if you happen to be reading this.) and is still one of my favorite books to this day. The Giver uses a deceptively simple narrative voice to touch on incredibly compelling concepts and personal beliefs.

Jonas lives in the Community, where there is no war, or fear, or pain, and everyone has a designated role. I'll be honest, there is a part of my that finds that designation and uniformity almost comforting. Which... is strange. Upon rereading, I found myself craving the consistency of life within the community.

Which only made the story more terrifying.

Every year, the Twelves are assigned to the roles that they will fulfill for the rest of their lives. Some are assigned the role of Doctor, or Engineer, or Caretaker of the Old. Everyone has their place within the community. Jonas, however, is given the very rare assignment of Receiver of Memory. He is to be trained by a man who calls himself The Giver, who will transfer all of the Community's memories.

What started of with a comforting uniformity soon loses all luster. In receiving these memories, Jonas soon learns the true pains and pleasures of life, and how fragile (and damaging) the Community is. A particularly striking scene occurs when he sees color for the first time. When Jonas tries to describe seeing the color red on an apple, the reader becomes aware that no one in the Community sees in color- they see only black and white. They see only right and wrong. The more Jonas learns about the truth, the more color and memory and pleasure and pain that Jonas experiences, the harder it is for him to accept the Community's way of life.

“There's much more. There's all that goes beyond – all ... that is Elsewhere – and all that goes back, and back, and back. I received all of those, when I was selected. And here in this room, all alone, I re-experience them again and again. It is how wisdom comes. And how we shape our future.” 

Last year I had the opportunity to see a staged version of the book- very simple set and costume pieces and small cast with minimal lighting and sound cues- and it blew my mind. At the core of this story is a young man who is coming into his own critical thinking process in a society that has eradicated (often fatally) any notion of individuality. To see this acted out in front of me was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Or possibly twice, if the film (which has been in the works for the past 15 years) finally comes to fruition. Jeff Bridges? I can dig it.

So what are your thoughts? I am perhaps, a tad biased. If I find someone who has not read this book, odds are I will give your very own copy to read. When I think of the YA genre and how totally underestimated it is, I instantly think of this book. These are tough concepts to deal think about, regardless of age. To think that being older makes a person better able to understand them is flawed thinking. The Giver discusses the notion of truth and greater good and sacrifice (to name just a few) without losing the story's complexity. There is no need to dumb a book down for the audience. We'll rise to meet the challenge, trust me.