The Giver by Lois Lowry || Book Review

This is a quick read if you can spare an hour or two, but even with the amount of pages in the book, it is packed with so many important aspects and ideas.

I watched the movie first, then a few years later I found out that there wasn’t just one book, but a whole series!

I’m a little sad that they didn’t continue with the adaptation of the rest of the books when the movie ended on a cliffhanger but at least I have the books to comfort me.

DISCLAIMER: This review could contain possible spoilers based on my opinions. All opinions and views are my own.

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Originally published: 1993

Pages: 204
Format: Paperback

Plot from GoodReads:

The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colourless, world of conformity and contentment.

Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.

Thoughts:

A utopia build on structure, routines and rules is easy to control and manage. Where everyone has a designated place and purpose, and no one ever crosses the line because it is simply forbidden.

As a dystopian book, it is well thought out and the futuristic world building is magnificent. The idea of such a world is terrifying, even though it’s written as the perfect answer to all our problems.

It touches on some deep troubles, how does one justify the treatment of those that have done wrong? What does society need to give up to have unity?

You don’t ask questions, you don’t question the rules, things are the way they are, they have been for many years and there’s no reason to change anything.

It’s sad because the brainwashing causes people to be complacent, to follow on each other like sheep, never asking why you’re doing what you’re doing and if what you’re doing is actually wrong in a humanitarian sense.

I’m happy for Jonas to be chosen to see the truth about the ‘perfect’ society he has known all his life but at the same time, I feel bad for him to carry that burden of truth and to make a difficult decision: continue with the tradition or break down everything that has been built.