The Giver by Lois Lowry
Book Title: THE GIVER
Author: Lois Lowry
Published by Bantam Double Day Dell Books for Young Readers, New York, USA
Printed 1994
Number of Words: 485
Suggestion for Title: Choices We Make
All certified bookworms know that the mark of a great book is not in its length but in how it has changed your point of view. Some stories seem to go on and on while adding every possible twist in the plot, and yet you remain unaffected by it. Meanwhile, there are some books out there which are short but totally changes the way you see the world. They cut across all genres - across all generations even – in its telling of one pure story. This is exactly what Lois Lowry had done in her award-winning book The Giver. In 180 pages, she relates to us the story of a boy who lived in a perfect world and his discovery of what humanity has given up to gain the ideal society.
This book has been around for ages. In fact, I first read it when I was eleven years old and I loved it so much that I must have reread it a hundred times since then. The story is about Jonas, who lives in a world where there is no pain and suffering. There are rules for everything, and everyone follows them to the letter. Everything is pre-selected – their parents, their jobs, their spouses. No one is capable of making wrong choices since there are no choices to speak of at all. There is no color, no snow, rain or sun – there is just Sameness. There are no a strong emotions either – the words enraged or jealous has become obsolete, as much as the word love has become meaningless.
What’s striking about this book is the solidity of Lowry’s crafted world. All the solutions presented to solve most of Man’s modern malaise are believable and even reasonable. And as the carefully constructed system of their society unravels, it becomes more chilling to see that what Jonas’s people had to give up to achieve the perfect society was, in fact, their humanity.
As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the ideal community is not such a distant reality for us after all. But what would we be willing to give up? It’ll be great to have everything easy, but who would we be if we never knew pain or suffering? Can existing that way be ever called living at all? These are surprisingly hard questions raised from such a short book.
It’s too bad that The Giver is technically categorized as fiction for young adults. Yes, the story is set in another world which isn’t like our own yet. But children aren’t the only ones who would love this story. I actually believe that it’s the adults who should be reading the book. Anyone who ever thought they could make do without problems should read this book. Everyone who ever wondered what makes us human should read this book. Hmm… actually, every carbon-based life form who could read should read this book. And I think, that’s enough said.
posted by Liv Burgos @ 11:21 PM
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