The Giver

I just closed the back cover on The Giver, by Lois Lowry.  Late to the game, again, I know.  My 12 year old son read it for school this year and he wanted me to read it.  Anyway, normally I don't feel the need to blog about a book as soon as I finish it, but this book left me feeling the need to get to my computer right away.

The Giver is an engrossing story that is written beautifully.  As much as I would love to be a writer, and as many ideas as I have for constructing a novel, it is books like this one that give me pause.  I know that I could never write as beautifully as this.

This is another dystopian young adult novel in a sea of them, it seems.  But this one was written over 20 years ago and has stood the test of time, becoming a required reading novel in middle schools.  The novel grabs you right away.  Jonas, the main character, is likable almost instantly and the reader is curious about him immediately.  Jonas lives in a world of sameness where everyone is satisfied and there are very clear rules that all people obey.  He is approaching his 12th year, a pivotal year in which he will be given his life assignment.  But when that happens, he is assigned a special role in the community, a role that is highly respected but others know very little about.  This sets Jonas on a journey that makes him different in the world of sameness and ultimately has him breaking the rules to save someone that he loves.

I would highly recommend the book.  Low on action, but high on beauty, feeling and intelligence.  I have yet to see the movie; the rest of my family watched it but knowing that I was going to read the book I chose to wait.  After finishing the novel, I am not sure I want to see the movie.  The novel is quite ambiguous at its end.  I am left feeling unsatisfied in a way.  I needed to go talk to my boys, who both read the book for school, to get their opinions and feelings on what they think the ending meant.  There are three other books in this quartet, but they tell me that they are about other characters, not Jonas (although my oldest tells me that Jonas makes an appearance in one of the other novels).  So my questions will go unanswered it seems and the author has left it up to me to determine what happened to my beloved Jonas.  I wish I could have spent more time with him.

Happy Reading!