Customer Reviews
Engaging Story - Ending Was Missing 
2007-12-13
The Good:
The story was compelling and the author was able to draw you into the characters. You really began to care about the few "real" people in the story. The people who know "anything" come alive and you feel the depth of the truly unique and horrible situation they are in.
I applaud the perspective on the intrinsic value of human life. The horror felt by the taking of innocent life for the convenience of the community is a breath of fresh air in our society.
I love the narration. I listen to quite a few books and quite a few narrators and Ron Rifkin did a first rate job here.
The Bad:
It seems that the most difficult part of a story to write is the ending. In this case the author simply chose not to write an ending, leaving the decision of what actually happened up to the reader. While on the surface this sounds like a clever intellectually compelling device in practice it just seems like a copout.
The Giver
Interesting subjects raised, but the story has logic problems. 
2007-12-06
The story has a very interesting if not new theme of a dystopic planned society and the ending is deliberately open. Unfortunately, the story has logical problems that prove distracting to a reader thinking about the subjects raised, and therefore make you aware you are reading a constructed narrative.
Better constructed stories on similar dystopic themes are The Forgotten Door (Apple Paperbacks), Between Planets, Citizen of the Galaxy.
The Giver gives 
2007-10-24
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Science Fiction
If you like books about the future, you would like The Giver. It is a good
book because it gets the reader caring for the characters. It also gives a feeling of adventure and action. The book is a very sad one because everyone is almost the same, and if they break the rules three times they have to die. This book has many feelings; it has love, anger, sadness, happiness, and pain. Lois Lowry did a good job of making you feel like you're in the story, but while you're in the story, you feel helpless. The story is about a boy named Jonas who gets a job as the new Receiver. The job of the Receiver is to keep memories for the community. While in training he learns about death, pain, and that his people are doing wrong things. So Jonas and a man called the Giver make a plan to secretly stop the community. It is hard for Jonas at first but, in the end ... sorry can't tell you that. If you like books about feelings and science fiction than this is the book for you.
The Giver gives 2007-10-24
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Science Fiction
If you like books about the future, you would like The Giver. It is a good
book because it gets the reader caring for the characters. It also gives a feeling of adventure and action. The book is a very sad one because everyone is almost the same, and if they break the rules three times they have to die. This book has many feelings; it has love, anger, sadness, happiness, and pain. Lois Lowry did a good job of making you feel like you're in the story, but while you're in the story, you feel helpless. The story is about a boy named Jonas who gets a job as the new Receiver. The job of the Receiver is to keep memories for the community. While in training he learns about death, pain, and that his people are doing wrong things. So Jonas and a man called the Giver make a plan to secretly stop the community. It is hard for Jonas at first but, in the end ... sorry can't tell you that. If you like books about feelings and science fiction than this is the book for you.
It's Worth the Read 
2007-10-01
Lois Lowry's The Giver has been enjoyed by generations of young adults, and older ones as well. It is a very good book with superficial and deeper meanings, and is a great study in contrasts and how our society might one day turn out. It just seems basic, written in a simplistic style. It is easy to follow, easy to understand, and fun to analyze. Deeper messages abound, and it has a few morals and interesting lessons about family, friends, and relationships tossed in as well. It also deals with the idea of being different in a world where everything feels the same. It has good development, and I highly recommend it to middle school students and anyone who hasn't read it. An old classic for modern times in a future world, it is truly generation-spanning. Having read The Giver multiple times, I still am not enthralled by it. However, I prefer elaborate stories, so don't be put off it. I myself did not love it, but it's worth being read.
Outstanding Literature 2008-07-12
I loved this book. Sameness is presented as a good, simple way to live, which at first seems like such a good idea. I loved experiencing the injustice and horror Jonas experiences as he learns, discovering with him the severe shortcomings of the only world he knows. Jonas and the Giver are strong characters who were a pleasure to meet.
My only small complaint with the book is that the end seemed rushed. After becoming attached to the characters and invested in their futures, the end feels hurried with assumptions without any definite conclusion. The setting of the ending is certainly fitting, I just would have liked the last scene to have been more fully fleshed out.
Nonetheless, this was a wonderful book, full of the joys of individuality and differences.
The Giver, An Amazing Book! 2008-05-13
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if everything was perfect? What if there was no violence and no hatred? Imagine a world devoid of color and only minor differences exist. Imagine being able to take a pill that solves all of your problems. For the normal person, this type of world seems to be non-existent. There is no way in our world, which is consumed by chaos and violence, could such a perfect place exist. However, if one was to pick up The Giver by Lois Lowry, they would enter a world that is seemingly perfect. After exploring its pages, we begin to question the validity of this utopia. This book is the perfect introduction to utopic societies and leaves the reader wandering, "Can a utopia actually exist?"
The Giver is about a boy named Jonas who lives in an utopic society. The story begins right before Jonas's Ceremony of Twelve. At this ceremony, all of the students born the same year as Jonas will turn 12 years old and receive their life assignment. Unlike in our society, Jonas and his peers are not able to choose their profession. Rather, they are assigned a profession based off the observations of the elders in the society. Jonas anxiously awaits his ceremony with nervous anticipation. This will be his last ceremony and the most important ceremony of his life. All ceremonies up until this point each presented a new element to Jonas's life. For example, at age one babies leave the nursery and are given to their parents, at age nine students are given their bicycles and become mobile. However, at age 12 students are given their life assignments and officially become adults.
When the big day finally comes, Jonas is told that he would be the new Receiver of Memory. This is the most important job in the community, and only one is selected every several decades. Jonas is afraid and excited to receive his new position. Jonas soon begins his training and falls under the leadership of The Giver. The Giver is the current Receiver of Memory and his job is to hold all of the memories of the world. He slowly begins to give Jonas memories of happiness, love, joy, and excitement. However, after Jonas becomes comfortable, The Giver begins to give Jonas memories of pain, suffering, sadness, hunger, heartache, and other terrible feelings. Jonas has never been exposed to these things and it becomes very difficult to bear.
Convinced that the community must change so that they too can experience all of the wonderful and painful memories, Jonas and The Giver makes the decision that Jonas will leave the community. After he leaves the community, his memories begin to fade, and it is believed that they fall back on the community which he left. The end of the novel is quite vague. Jonas and baby Gabriel, a child that he has taken with him, are at the top of a snow peeked mountain and begin to ride down on a sled. In the distance he hears what he believes to be music. At that moment the novel abruptly ends. Some speculate that Jonas and baby Gabriel actually die and he is going to heaven. Others suggest that he has returned to his society, except the society now has the memories that he left behind. The author never gives a definitive answer, but it is up to the reader to decide.
This is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is written in such a way that it can appeal to readers of all ages. It forces the reader to think outside of the box and dare to imagine a world which is perceivably perfect. It also forces the reader to question their own ideas of perfection and the possibility of a perfect world. I can think of no negative traits about this book. Lowry has truly opened our eyes to a world that is so crazy, that it actually makes sense.
The Giver 2008-05-08
This well-written book portrays the journey of a young boy who fights to give the society in which he grows up in a better understanding of the world they live in. The Giver is a fantasy that explores a utopian community and allows for the reader to question their beliefs on the definition of a perfect world. The novel fits the fantasy genre because it is set in an imaginative world. The main character, Jonas, is living in a fantasy world fighting to live in the "real world". The author, Lois Lowry, has a well-developed plot with a definite rising action, climax, conflict, and resolution. Also, there are many literary elements that help keep the readers actively involved with the use of figurative language and suspense that is created throughout. The author uses euphemisms to help soften the reality and build vocabulary and comprehension skills. The book's ending, however, leaves many unanswered questions to what really happened to Jonas and the community he left behind. However, this seems to have been the author's purpose. The Giver is a great instructional tool for building reading skills in the upper middle grades to early high school. There is adult content in the novel that is definitely for a mature audience. It should not be taught as a silent reading book. There are many instructional activities to enhance learning through out the book such as; journal articles, creating a graphic novel, comparing/ contrasting activities, and many more. There are also many Internet resources for both students and teachers that provide excellent learning materials to follow the novel.
A Classic 2008-02-11
I am a huge fan of science fiction, from Ray Bradbury to Arthur C. Clarke, George Orwell and one of my favorite authors Philip K. Dick. Lois Lowry seems to use all the sophisticated ideas and philosophies of those authors and ties them into one novel aimed at younger adults. My guess would be to prepare them and sharpen their minds for the thought provoking literature of their high school and college years. It is true that the ideas in The Giver are anything but new to science-fiction, but they are always exciting, and here presented in a fresh way, through the eyes of a child. Many may argue that this book is not for children (and agree to it being banned in many states education programs) but I must differ on that. I had read this book while I was in 5th grade a I loved it back then. Just rereading it now, at age 21, I have learned to appreciate it more and can really see why it was banned. Lowry makes instances of sexual dreams and fantasies/desires of the main character Jonas, and has a plot device of killing newborn babies. Honestly, the author doesnt use direct implication when talking about the "sex dreams" of Jonas, therefore younger children are oblivious to it and just has his "stirrings" as adding to the science-fiction aspect. It is the older kids, 13+ that should not be reading it, because they are just getting aware of these "stirrings" themselves. So the book it fine for younger kids because it flies right over their heads (as it did with me when I first read it). Now the whole part about killing babies is brutal and awful, but I would have to say that I felt very deeply saddened and discomforted during that part. Perhaps young kids will appreciate birth a bit more after reading such horrible things.
the best book on earth can be in your hands 2007-12-22
this book is the best book on earth. it is happy and sad,scary and not, and makes you go in the book. It is awkward because it takes place in the future where people don't love,have feelings, or see color. If you don't think this book is the best one, then show me the best and I'll read that one and write another review that one. I am Obama's biggest fan and Hilary Clinton's least!
