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224 pages, Paperback
First published April 26, 1993
Stuck at home? Got some time on your hands? Want to start a long series? But you don't want a dud?![]()
The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without colour, pain or past.However what appears perfect on the surface hides a far darker truth. There isn't any negativity in their world but also, there isn't any true happiness or love.
The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.And soon, he comes to a decision. One that would irrevocably shift his small world.
Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.I first read this one in fifth grade and whew. It was a doozie.
I don't remember reading a book as fast as I read this one.It was a great read.I couldn't put the book down for hours.And I must say is different from other books that I have read so this review actually is going to be somehow different from others.So let's start.
I enjoyed the beginning , maybe because it looked like dystopian kind of book and as you may know I love dystopian books.Also the colorless nature and emotionless were things that made me to continue read the book.This is one of those books that keeps getting interesting page by page.
What I really enjoyed from this book , the reason why I gave it 4.5 stars is because there were some moments described so beautifully and full of energy and life.Somehow they made me think about life and all things that it has , the nice , the cruel , the dreams , the goals , the feels , everything and how beautiful it is.I'm not this emotional but I must say that they were some sentences that are worth reading over and over again.This book also shows how life would be without colors, emotions, without the fun of it.It sucks!
This book is about a boy called Jonas who lives in a world full of order and rules.He has two bestfriends, one of them is this girl called Fiona.At the ceremony he is chosen to be the reciever of memories and from that moment his life changes...
I liked this characters because I can relate to him somehow.He is smart,caring and most important curious about things.And that curiosity leads him to the impossible known.
What I really liked about Fiona is her rebel side.She breaks the rules almost every time but on the other side she is caring and fights for people she loves.
“For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing. Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps, it was only an echo.”
“I liked the feeling of love,' [Jonas] confessed. He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening. 'I wish we still had that,' he whispered.
“Of course they needed to care. It was the meaning of everything.”
“...now he saw the familiar wide river beside the path differently. He saw all of the light and color and history it contained and carried in its slow - moving water; and he knew that there was an Elsewhere from which it came, and an Elsewhere to which it was going”
“Even trained for years as they all had been in precision of language, what words could you use which would give another the experience of sunshine?”
“Things could change, Gabe," Jonas went on. "Things could be different. I don't know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colors. And grandparents," he added, staring through the dimness toward the ceiling of his sleepingroom. "And everybody would have the memories."
“And here in this room, I re-experience the memories again and again it is how wisdom comes and how we shape our future.”
“The worst part of holding the memories is not the pain. It's the loneliness of it. Memories need to be shared.”
It's so worth reading.I highly recommendit to you if you life dystopian books!
Well, yes, of course, it *IS* a dystopian tale about a young boy growing up in the commune of sameness that is devoid of colors or intense feelings or individuality - and the said boy has an unusual ability to experience what the others are missing out on, and he selflessly sets out to bring that experience to others at the cost of his own life, likely, and you can see it as an ode to individuality over sameness, written shortly after the end of the Cold War.The way I do choose to see it after this reread is a story of a child learning to see past the happy and safe confines of childhood into the bigger world and realizing that the wonderful security of childhood, the rules and foundations of that world no longer apply in the adult universe.
But let's focus on the other aspects first, and worry about this later. Because that's not how I choose to see this book now.
Remember how small and secure the world was for most of us when we were children? There were rules designed to keep the world simple and predictable, and to keep us safe. There were adults who had fascinating jobs and were in charge of keeping our world safe and protected. There was a valid concept of 'that's not fair!' It was simple and secure, and everything happened for a good reason.In this book, I see the realization that people's lives are very different from what you perceive as a child, and that it's going to happen to you, too. That those who were the core of your world not so long ago - family and childhood friends - may drift away and become distant as you make your way through adulthood and form new unexpected and vitally important relationships that overturn the world you are used to.
At least it's how I remember it through the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia.
(I guess we all need some allusions to Citizen Kane's Rosebud hidden in children's literature? So that children can grow up, realize the allusion and say, "oh, hey there...")
"The life where nothing was ever unexpected. Or inconvenient. Or unusual. The life without color, pain, or past."Yes, it's drab as our special Jonas sees it - but the world that eradicated poverty and war cannot be something to just snicker at.
"But why can't everyone have the memories? I think it would seem a little easier if the memories were shared. You and I wouldn't have to bear so much by ourselves, if everybody took a part."But is returning to the world we all know - the world that has teeth and can bite you with them anytime it wants (yes, that's a nod to Stephen King, why'd you ask?) - the only way to happiness? Superficially, this book seems to suggest that it may be - but the fact that it made me think past what's on the surface suggests otherwise. Written for children, it does have something for adults to ponder about.
The Giver sighed. "You're right," he said. "But then everyone would be burdened and pained. They don't want that. And that's the real reason The Receiver is so vital to them, and so honored. They selected me - and you - to lift that burden from themselves."