The Giver

I had the opportunity to reread this classic YA dystopian novel for a book club, and I was struck by how good it is and how well it's held up over time. Without getting into too many spoilers, The Giver asks what society might be like if everyone was the same, and peace and order were prioritized over everything else. In our increasingly divided world, it is difficult not to see The Giver as a chilling warning of how the world might be if we ever lost our diversity, our freedom, and our feelings.

The narrative itself is very solid. I did feel that time began to accelerate in the mid-teen chapters and at times the author seemed to gloss over elements of Jonas' training and life for the sake over moving on with the story. This isn't a fault exactly, it just felt a little too easy and somewhat diminished the mystery and the tension for me. I also thought the rules of the world were a bit unclear and too convenient. Lois Lowry didn't exactly explain how transmitting memories was possible, or why memories would return to the community as a whole if the Receiver was lost. Since this differs significantly from how memory works in the real world, I think it would have merited more explanation. Perhaps since this is a YA novel the author felt she could play fast and loose with reality, or perhaps she will reveal more in one of the other books in The Giver Quartet? I don't remember being bothered by the mechanics of memory when I read the book for the first time as a child, but still, this is arguably a problem with the book. There is a sci-fi or fantasy element present in a world that otherwise seems to be our future, and the failure to account for this device challenged my suspension of disbelief just a bit.

The Giver is the first book of a four book series, which is something I didn't know until recently. I've eagerly ordered the next three books. I hope to learn more about Jonas and Gabe, as well as the Giver and the community. I would rate this book 4.5, rounded up to 5. Well worth a read, or a reread.