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Sara's Reviews > The Giver
The Giver (The Giver, #1)
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Sara's review
bookshelves: young-adult, dystopia, children-s-literature, sci-fi, 2021-aty-challenge
Mar 13, 2021
bookshelves: young-adult, dystopia, children-s-literature, sci-fi, 2021-aty-challenge
I find it pretty much impossible to read YA books as an adult and leave the adult in me behind long enough to enjoy them. There are those rare ones that are written on two levels, a level at which the youth gets all they need and another in which the adult is also satisfied. This book doesn’t quite make that bar for me, even though it addresses some important issues and would make a great choice if you were teaching a class filled with nine and ten year olds.
Jonas is a twelve year old boy, living in a colorless dystopian world of regiment and sameness. There is no pain or unpleasantness here, nor is there any joy or morality. Choices are never made, rules are followed, without anyone feeling the need for more...for in fact, in this society, all feeling has been purged. Kind of made me think of Stepford Wives.
In order to be held, I expect a lot from a good dystopian novel. This is a good one if you are young, but, again, the comparisons are inevitable, and I’ll take Margaret Atwood’s Maad Adam series, thank you.
I suppose what it all comes down to, for me, is that I would rate this book quite differently depending on what the criteria were for rating it. If I consider it for what it is, a YA novel, meant for a young audience, and concerned with stirring thoughts and considerations among them, it would get a 4-star rating, easily. As an adult, it was less enthralling and more just “interesting.� I wouldn’t probably give it more than a 2-star rating. So, I have landed on a 3-star compromise, with a caveat that if you are a parent or spend time with children in the right age group, this would be a great book to read and discuss with them. There will probably be a generation of kids who grow up with this book as an all-time favorite and a feeling that it helped shape their lives.
Jonas is a twelve year old boy, living in a colorless dystopian world of regiment and sameness. There is no pain or unpleasantness here, nor is there any joy or morality. Choices are never made, rules are followed, without anyone feeling the need for more...for in fact, in this society, all feeling has been purged. Kind of made me think of Stepford Wives.
In order to be held, I expect a lot from a good dystopian novel. This is a good one if you are young, but, again, the comparisons are inevitable, and I’ll take Margaret Atwood’s Maad Adam series, thank you.
I suppose what it all comes down to, for me, is that I would rate this book quite differently depending on what the criteria were for rating it. If I consider it for what it is, a YA novel, meant for a young audience, and concerned with stirring thoughts and considerations among them, it would get a 4-star rating, easily. As an adult, it was less enthralling and more just “interesting.� I wouldn’t probably give it more than a 2-star rating. So, I have landed on a 3-star compromise, with a caveat that if you are a parent or spend time with children in the right age group, this would be a great book to read and discuss with them. There will probably be a generation of kids who grow up with this book as an all-time favorite and a feeling that it helped shape their lives.
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The Giver.
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Reading Progress
March 12, 2021
–
Started Reading
March 12, 2021
– Shelved
March 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
young-adult
March 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
dystopia
March 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
children-s-literature
March 13, 2021
– Shelved as:
sci-fi
March 13, 2021
–
Finished Reading
March 20, 2021
– Shelved as:
2021-aty-challenge
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Antoinette
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Mar 13, 2021 08:29AM
I feel much as you do, Sara. It’s hard for me to leave my adult persona and totally enjoy many YA books. If my kids were still kids and I could read along with them, I think I could. I came to the realization at some point that there were too many adult books I wanted to read, so I didn’t have to read YA books.
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I read this one primarily because I needed a Newbery winner for a challenge slot. I was aware that it was out there, but I seldom pick up a YA intentionally. This tended to reinforce that that policy is the best one for me.
I have also tried to read some books I missed in my childhood, although YA as a category didn't exist when I was a teen. As a rule, I'm disappointed for the same reasons you state. But some books just need to be read for the cultural significance, and I think this is one of them. My book club read this about 20 years ago.
I would happily hand this book to a child of the appropriate age, but I couldn't see it really added anything to my own enlightenment. The questions dealt with are ones we all need to confront, but I feel I can do that better with a more mature book...and, I wasn't a fan of the hanging ending.
A very fair and articulate review, Sara. You have reinforced my inclination to avoid YA. Like Diane said, the genre didn't exist when I was that age. I don't think I missed anything, but even if I did, going back now probably wouldn't work, as you say!
I'm with you on YA books Sara, but I have found a few Gems. I was thinking of using this one for my Newbery award slot too but since fantasy isn't a favorite genre anyway, I think I'll go with one of my alternates.
I know what you mean. I enjoyed quite a few YA books when our kid was at home and we could read separately, but compare what we thought. Doing it solo, as an adult, is much harder. It's worth attempting, but doesn't always work. With this, I managed to do it. But your next point, about working at two levels, is crucial. I just read Flowers for Algernon, and I think that manages it, whereas with this, you really need to be in a YA frame of mind.
Like everyone else on this thread, I understand how you feel about YA, though a few classics are great, like Anne of Green Gables.
Kathleen wrote: "A very fair and articulate review, Sara. You have reinforced my inclination to avoid YA. Like Diane said, the genre didn't exist when I was that age. I don't think I missed anything, but even if I ..."I have even revisited books I loved as a child and found that reading them again ruined the memory. Then there are books, written for children, but a joy, even for an adult. I think it makes all the difference if you have children to read them with!
Sue wrote: "I'm with you on YA books Sara, but I have found a few Gems. I was thinking of using this one for my Newbery award slot too but since fantasy isn't a favorite genre anyway, I think I'll go with one ..."I had planned on reading The Bridge to Terabithia , but when this came up as a group read I decided to switch. I still might do Terabithia someday.
Cecily wrote: "I know what you mean. I enjoyed quite a few YA books when our kid was at home and we could read separately, but compare what we thought. Doing it solo, as an adult, is much harder. It's worth attem..."Exactly, Cecily. I don't even think of Flowers for Algernon as a YA book, and I have occasionally come across books labeled that way that I think don't deserve the label because they are written for everyone.
Anne wrote: "Like everyone else on this thread, I understand how you feel about YA, though a few classics are great, like Anne of Green Gables."Yes, Anne of Green Gables is one of those universal books. Everyone should read it. I have the same reaction to The Secret Garden...written for children, but really a delight for any age.
Excellent review even though it wasn't your cup of tea. It's been quite long time since I've read a YA novel and I understand your disappointment.
Sara, I read this several years ago with my son and was pretty disappointed as well. It just didn't provide enough mental stimulation. I also read Bridge to Teribithia with him and found it much more enjoyable. It's hard to know which ones will work.
Lori wrote: "Excellent review even though it wasn't your cup of tea. It's been quite long time since I've read a YA novel and I understand your disappointment."I generally steer clear of YA. At least they are short and easy.
Candi wrote: "Sara, I read this several years ago with my son and was pretty disappointed as well. It just didn't provide enough mental stimulation. I also read Bridge to Teribithia with him and found it much mo..."Glad to know it isn't just me. So many of my friends seemed to find this one excellent. I think Terrabithia would work better for me because it is grounded in a realistic, not sci-fi, story. I have seen the movie, which would be a bit of a spoiler, but it has been a long time and I mainly remember liking it quite a lot.
Excellent review. I had to read this in my Children’s (kiddie lit) Literature Class.
That and The Story of Mankind were the two I preferred for that spot Sara, but was going to read The Giver for the same reason. I'm glad I saw your review before I got to it!
Andrea AKA Catsos Person wrote: "Excellent review. I had to read this in my Children’s (kiddie lit) Literature Class."I'm not sure how I missed this when the grandchildren were young, but it never came onto my radar.
Sue wrote: "That and The Story of Mankind were the two I preferred for that spot Sara, but was going to read The Giver for the same reason. I'm glad I saw your review before I got to it!"I do think you could make a better choice, Sue, but some people seem to love it. On the other hand, most of those appear to have read it first when they were younger--which might make the difference.
I absolutely loved this book. Then again I often read it with my middle school classes so I received a new view of it every time.
I'm pretty sure that is what it takes, Marialyce. This book was meant for middle school and I would thoroughly enjoy sitting in on a discussion between kids of that age. I'm sure it would have been a better read for me if I had read it back in the day with my granddaughter.
Thank you - agree with your review. I read it as an adult and found it too simplistic with a clear line between the good and bad. That left little space for a discussion on a deeper level unless you diverge from the novel itself and talk about the themes it touches.
It is hard to rate and review a book for which you know you are not the intended audience. I hate to criticize based on its not being adult enough or complicated enough, when I knew going in that it was for children, but there you have it.
