The Giver

Hello Ladies!!! :)

Well, I just have to say that I enjoyed the book--a very easy read that only took me a few hours to finish (I read it this past Sunday). That being said, it made me have fretful dreams that night because I couldn't decide if Jonas and Gabe had made it to "Elsewhere" or if they had moved to the great beyond. It also caused weird dreams because of how it dovetailed with all sorts of gospel related themes.

It took me a bit to get into the book, but I did enjoy the journey as Lowry describes the society in which the plot is set. I kinda liked some of the family unit traditions of talking about their feelings at night and their dreams in the morning because it really did seem like good family quality time. And, to be honest, I thought Lily's anger--for a young child--was pretty appropriate, because that's how my girls get. They get "angry" and "frustrated" with the goofiest things, and it's almost comical because they've never experienced "real" anger (at the library today, Elisabeth was getting angry because she couldn't fit a puzzle piece in just right). Perhaps this is what Lowry was trying to illustrate, that children and adults had the same "feelings." Her parents expression of feelings was pretty superficial. I thought it was interesting that Jonas' father was worried that little Gabe would be released--which would reflect a failure on him--and thus got him a years extension before the Father voted to release him because of all the trouble he caused the night crew, but wasn't worried about "releasing" the smaller twin.

I thought it was so fascinating that Lowry linked memory to feelings, both painful ones and happy ones--both being necessary, and seeing colors and hearing music, and that when you willingly choose "Sameness" over choice, you are still making a choice not to HAVE choices. How interesting was it that when a "Receiver" died, the memories had to be transferred instead of just dying with the "Receiver" (remember how Rosemary's memories came back to the people and caused all sorts of chaos?). I must say that it caused me to cry when I read about the baby being killed, Rosemary choosing to end her life, and then finding out that it was the Giver's daughter.

ANYWAY! It was a very profound and well written book and I can see why it won so many awards. However, it did give me enough fretful dreams that in the morning, I did some research and found a thread of discussion that was actually a relief. This guy was theorizing that the reason Lowry gave such an ambigiuous ending was to allow the reader to choose for themselves what happened to Jonas and Gabe. I liked that. And, you know, with that choice, I was no longer fretful about what happened to them, but ironically, could not decide which ending I preferred. Isn't that funny? :)

Great selection, Miss Katie!!!

:) Laurenda