Review: The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Giver #1
Publisher: Ember
First published April 26, 1993
Paperback, 192 pages

Overview:

Jonas's world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear or pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the Community. When Jonas turns twelve, he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. The Giver alone holds the memories of the true pain and pleasure of life. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Review:

I had been in the middle of studying for final exams when I picked up The Giver, hoping it would be a nice, easy break from all the work I was trying to finish. The Giver is a middle-grade novel that has been sitting on my shelf for years, unread; overall, I enjoyed the book, despite some reservations.

The Giver focuses on life in the Community, a utopian society that exists in perfect harmony. Every life choice--from naming babies to deciding what career someone will have--is carefully decided by a review board. When the main character, Jonas, is selected to become the next Receiver of Memory, he quickly learns that a world with no choices is more complicated than it seems. Other than the current Receiver of Memory, the Giver, Jonas is the only person in the Community who has access to past memories from a "before" time when people saw in color and felt emotions. With these newfound abilities, Jonas begins seeing many of the flaws present in his community, unquestioned by others.

One of my favorite things about The Giver is how unique its concept is, but while the idea of a world without colors and emotions is explored, I was left with more questions than answers. I would have loved to see more about the history of the Community--how did it come to be? Why would people want to give up the abilities to see colors and feel emotions? And especially, how exactly would they be able to give up these experiences? The world of the Community is intriguing and fascinating, but the world-building is vague.

The Giver is written as a middle-level book, and I felt like this confined the story and prevented further discussions from happening. The one thing that soured the whole reading experience for me was the oversimplified explanations given for the questions brought up. We're told (quite explicitly) who the "good guys" and the "bad guys" are, in very simple black-and-white terms, without any discussions of why these people might act the way they do. There are many complex social problems presented in The Giver that could have been explored in a multitude of different ways, but their overly-basic explanations left me feeling dissatisfied.

As a middle-grade novel, I think The Giver could serve as a good introduction to the many dystopian and utopian books that have cropped up since The Hunger Games. However, where books like The Hunger Games are aimed at an older, YA audience and are able to explore complicated, controversial issues more in-depth, The Giver sticks with simpler, basic explanations of good-versus-evil.

Overall rating: 3 of 5 stars.