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A review by pris_asagiri
The Giver by Lois Lowry
4.0
August 23, 2018
This is the umpteenth time I’ve read this book. Before GR, I have no idea how many times I read it before. But the first time was in 8th grade lit. Reading all the reviews of my GR friends, I am very grateful for the forward thinking lit curriculum of my school as none of friends had read it in their youth and I think that’s a shame. It’s not that as an adult you can’t appreciate this story. You can. I am always surprised by how well it continues to hold up over the decades (which is a main component of a classic, I suppose). But it wasn’t written for adults and so you’re not going to appreciate it in the same way as if you were 12 (I’d say 11-13 is a good age range).
I was going to wait until my daughter was in 8th grade to read this, mostly because I wanted to be sure she could fully grasp the ideas of the story. What do we sacrifice for peace and safety? And at what cost do future generations pay for our decisions? And what can we do to affect change? Is it our right to change others for them without their consent, even if it’s “for the better”? These are heavy topics and deserve a thoughtful discussion. But, my kid wanted to read it this summer and so we read it together. And it was her favorite book she read. So that made me happy. I find it interesting to be able to discuss topics like this with kids because it’s intriguing to see their thought processes and how some may be firmly rooted and others may change as experience and time changes them.
There are other books in this series but they are not “sequels”, more like stories from the same universe. And I enjoyed them a lot (I read the sequels as an adult). I didn’t understand as a kid, nor do I understand it now, why people were upset with the ending. I suppose the idea of will they or won’t they survive is unsettling for a lot of people. Some people need clearly defined closure. But I enjoy a good open ending. And my kid was nonplussed by it, firm in the belief that. I enjoy her optimism in humanity.
This is the umpteenth time I’ve read this book. Before GR, I have no idea how many times I read it before. But the first time was in 8th grade lit. Reading all the reviews of my GR friends, I am very grateful for the forward thinking lit curriculum of my school as none of friends had read it in their youth and I think that’s a shame. It’s not that as an adult you can’t appreciate this story. You can. I am always surprised by how well it continues to hold up over the decades (which is a main component of a classic, I suppose). But it wasn’t written for adults and so you’re not going to appreciate it in the same way as if you were 12 (I’d say 11-13 is a good age range).
I was going to wait until my daughter was in 8th grade to read this, mostly because I wanted to be sure she could fully grasp the ideas of the story. What do we sacrifice for peace and safety? And at what cost do future generations pay for our decisions? And what can we do to affect change? Is it our right to change others for them without their consent, even if it’s “for the better”? These are heavy topics and deserve a thoughtful discussion. But, my kid wanted to read it this summer and so we read it together. And it was her favorite book she read. So that made me happy. I find it interesting to be able to discuss topics like this with kids because it’s intriguing to see their thought processes and how some may be firmly rooted and others may change as experience and time changes them.
There are other books in this series but they are not “sequels”, more like stories from the same universe. And I enjoyed them a lot (I read the sequels as an adult). I didn’t understand as a kid, nor do I understand it now, why people were upset with the ending. I suppose the idea of will they or won’t they survive is unsettling for a lot of people. Some people need clearly defined closure. But I enjoy a good open ending. And my kid was nonplussed by it, firm in the belief that