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The Giver (1993)

by Lois Lowry

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Giver (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
38,435155752 (4.16)753
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
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  1. 264
    1984 by George Orwell (cflorente)
  2. 203
    The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (cflorente)
  3. 181
    Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (chrisharpe, afyfe)
    chrisharpe: I see I am in a minority but, although the idea behind the book is a good one, The Giver struck me as quite clumsy. A much more effective exploration of similar themes is Huxley's "Brave New World".
  4. 192
    The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (writecathy)
  5. 150
    The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (FFortuna)
    FFortuna: The Giver is much darker, but are similar in premise.
  6. 176
    Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (_Zoe_)
    _Zoe_: Another children's book that manages both to entertain and to make you think. These are two of my favourites.
  7. 110
    Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (KamTonnes)
    KamTonnes: Uglies and The Giver both portray societies that limit conflict by having very specific rules, roles, and expectations for everyone. Also, in both stories, the main characters slowly start to question the values of their respective communities.
  8. 100
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    Trojanprincess: The two worlds seem similar in the way that every aspect of their livee are controlled.
  10. 40
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    jbarry: futuristic take on biomedical ethics and mindbendingly complicated relationships
  11. 40
    We: A Novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin (chrisharpe)
    chrisharpe: Similar themes, We is a lot better written.
  12. 52
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  13. 30
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  14. 10
    The Owl Keeper by Christine Brodien-Jones (wordcauldron)
    wordcauldron: Similarly brain-washy story about a controlled society and how the government tries to suppress the talented people who could break it all down and bring freedom and individualism.
  15. 21
    Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (rhondagrantham)
  16. 10
    Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix (BookshelfMonstrosity)
    BookshelfMonstrosity: In these riveting, suspenseful and thought-provoking dystopian novels, 12-year-old boys learn from inspirational figures about the true nature of their repressive societies: Jonas, from the elderly Giver; Luke, from another hidden -- albeit, more privileged and knowledgeable -- "third child."… (more)
  17. 10
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  18. 10
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  20. 10
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    TheDivineOomba: Very Similar Plot

(see all 29 recommendations)

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Showing 1-5 of 1539 (next | show all)
Read it 2 times it's my favorite ( )
  milanagt | Sep 27, 2023 |
When 12-year-old Jonas is given his life assignment as Receiver of Memory for his entire community, he doesn't know what to expect, or even what that means. But the more the Giver reveals to him, the more Jonas knows that he can't continue to live in the emotionless, colorless world of conformity and blandness.

This book had me hooked from the start. The way Lowry builds the world slowly, while showing everyday life in the lead-up to Jonas's assignment ceremony, is well done. Though I could guess at some of the revelations, others were definitely a surprise to me. And while, from our perspective in real life, it seems impossible for someone to go through what Jonas does and not want to make changes, it's clear that these people are just that brainwashed, as they go along with the way life has been presented to them.

Unlike so many who read this book for a school assignment, this is my first time reading it. I've heard of it over the years, but it really wasn't on my radar until my sister gave it to me for Christmas (along with the blu-ray of the movie, so I can compare them, which I'll do soon). Not for the first time, I am so thankful for her recommendation, and while I can see that the next book isn't exactly a continuation of this one, I'm very curious to see what else Lowry wrote about this world. It's a great young-audience dystopian novel written before that became a trend. ( )
  Kristi_D | Sep 22, 2023 |
Trigger warnings: Euthanasia, death of a child

9/10, I saw this book and it looked interesting to me, to be honest, I'm so glad that I read this since this is one of the few books that holds up well even to this day and I might read this soon and I'm impressed that it can do so much in such a small amount of pages; the execution is almost perfect so where do I even begin? It starts with the main character Jonas who lives in this perfect society that is just a utopia. No pain. No trouble. No struggles. No strife, well you get the idea. Everything looks flawless at first until Jonas goes to the ceremony where he is assigned a job to do for the rest of his life and he wanted a good job but instead, he got an apprenticeship to a person named The Giver, hence the title. He goes to the house of The Giver and he is this person who holds all the memories of past moments which is such a juxtaposition compared to the society he lives in now which is more flawed when I look at it now. It turns out that The Giver still holds memories of pain that the society doesn't want people to know about and toward the last pages The Giver tells Jonas to escape on a bike so he did and the author left an open ending where I wondered whether Jonas arrived safely at a nearby town or it was all a hallucination just before he died alone, I don't know. ( )
  Law_Books600 | Sep 19, 2023 |
I didn't mind reading this book as I feel like it put me through a rollercoaster of emotions. Furthermore, I enjoyed the genuine relationships that formed between the Giver and Jonas and Jonas and Gabe. The ending was horribly disappointing as it simply just ended.
  haileycinq | Sep 7, 2023 |
An interesting book. Started it as my school lecture, but came to love it, soon into the book. It is a fascinating language and interesting arrangement and world building. A previously mentioned I started to be really interested in the not happy end thing and this one was really good. And there was really no reason to bring the baby into this... ( )
  Hexenwelt | Sep 6, 2023 |
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Showing 1-5 of 1539 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (2 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Lois Lowry—primary authorall editionscalculated
Ibatoulline, BagramIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Rifkin, RonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
▾Series and work relationships
▾Awards and Honors

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▾Common Knowledge
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Canonical title
The Giver
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
1993-04-26
People/Characters
Jonas
Gabriel
The Giver
Lily
Fiona
Important places
The Community (fictional)
Important events
Related movies
The Giver (2014 | IMDb)
Awards and honors
Newbery Medal (1994)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (1994)
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1994)
Booklist Editor's Choice
Epigraph
Dedication
For all the children
To whom we entrust the future
First words
It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.
Quotations
His mind reeled. Now, empowered to ask questions of utmost rudeness- and promised answers- he could, conceivably (though it was almost unimaginable), ask someone, some adult, his father perhaps: "Do you lie?" But he had no way of knowing if the answer he received were true.
We really have to protect people from wrong choices.
But 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.
Jonas did not want to go back. He didn't want the memories, didn't want the honor, didn't want the wisdom, didn't want the pain. He wanted his childhood again, his scraped knees and ball games.
Sometimes I wish they'd ask for my wisdom more often-there are so many things I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they don't want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable-so painless. It's what they've chosen.
Last words
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Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
English
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
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Wikipedia in English (1)

▾Book descriptions
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
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Book description
Haiku summary
A black and white world

One boy holds the memories

Of colorful past

(Sundancer)

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WorldCat

Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

813.54Literature › English (North America) › American fiction › 20th Century › 1945-1999

LC Classification

PZ7.L9673Language and Literature › Fiction and juvenile belles lettres › Fiction and juvenile belles lettres › Juvenile belles lettres

Rating

Average: (4.16)
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