The Giver by Lois Lowry is a beautiful story. It is about a would be 'perfect' society and one boy who is given a special calling within his community. It is written in a way that the differences in their society aren't stated, but are discovered as the reader sees things through the eyes of the protagonist. This story also has a very religious undertone also. What would life be like without the highs and the lows, with no opposition, no choice?
This is one of my top 5 absolutely must read books. Okay, top 2. It is technically a 'young adult' book, but I would never classify it as such. So beautiful and tragic, and just amazing. It will take you an afternoon to read, and you will thank yourself for it.
I found out a few weeks ago that this book is the first of a series. I was excited and a little disappointed at the same time. This book is so amazing on its own that I was worried if I read the other 2 books in the 'series' that I would lose a little bit of the love that I have for this book.
I did read the other two books, and I will post about them also, but this is my recommendation.
Read The Giver
If you haven't read it before I would say to read The Giver, and The Giver only. Don't read the other books.
If you have read it. I would say that it doesn't really matter if you read the other books or not. The Giver stands wholly and completely and wonderfully and beautifully on its own. The other books are good. Not great, but good, and I wouldn't call them 'sequels' at all. More like companion books. Gathering Blue (book #2) doesn't have any of the same characters at all. It isn't until book 3, The Messenger, that the characters of books 1 and 2 meet, and years have passed since The Giver took place.
The reason I give 2 different suggestions is that I wouldn't want someone who has never read The Giver to read all three books, one after another. I think you wouldn't fully appreciate The Giver, and just mush all 3 books together, as one continuing story. And that would be doing a sever injustice to one of my favorite books.
Make sense?
1 comment:
I need to read this book again.
I haven't read it since my 5th grade teacher read it to us in school.
So technically I have never read it, because it was read to me. But I count books I listen to on tape as me having read them, so maybe it counts. . .
I digress.
I should read it again. Period.
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