Reading: The Giver

I picked up a copy of The Giver from the thrift store about a week ago. I remember reading the book when I was younger so I figured it might be neat to read it again as an adult. I don't remember much about when I read it the first time, but I wanted to compare my overall impression of the book as an adult to what I remember as a child. I don't usually buy books, but for less than $2 I can be swayed easily.

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price. -- Amazon.com Review

I suppose I understand the appeal of using this book to teach younger children. It reinforces the idea that unique qualities are good and that being "fitting in" isn't always what it's cracked up to be. The book is short and presented simply. There are few characters to keep track of and the writing is straight forward.

Reading it as an adult though, I was unimpressed by the story. Maybe I'm just getting used to overly descriptive writing, but I wish there had been more information about the society he lived in and how it came to be. Or even how it functioned then. I have a difficult time buying that this is a functional society just because the author says it is.  Why did people agree to give up all their books and memories of the past?  Was there really an Elsewhere where people retained all their emotions and freedom of choice or was the world populate with similar "sameness"-societies? What was the deal with that plane anyway?  I know authors love to let the reader fill in these types of gaps on their own, but I wish they would write a more complete "big picture" of what I'm reading. Too many gaps make me think the author didn't know what to write.

*****SPOILER*****
HIGHLIGHT THE WHITE TEXT BELOW IF YOU WANT TO READ
*****SPOILER*****

I don't understand the ending, and perhaps that's the point but still it bugs me. Did Jonas die? Is the similarity of the "Elsewhere" that he found to the memories that he had received due to him finding death (or falling asleep in the cold and succumbing to the elements)? Or are we to believe that Jonas really did find Elsewhere it just happened to be Christmastime? That ending seems to be too trite for me to believe now but I'm sure that when I was a child I thought that was exactly how the ending happened. Jonas found some wonderful house filled with Christmas cheer and they gratefully took him in and he lived the rest of his life in peace.


After reading the book I also found this review of The Giver on Goodreads. I think it's a well written review that brings up a lot of good questions. Overall, this books falls into the "I'm not sure how I really feel but I wasn't really feeling it" category.

What to see what I'm reading next? Check me out on Goodreads.com.