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Quick Review: The Giver

The Giver is an unarguably a classic piece of young adult literature. It is also something that has to be viewed through the lens of time to be properly enjoyed. Although I tried to see this as it probably was,  a transformative part of what we now know as YA, I was still ultimately unimpressed with the quality of writing and story. I was actually a little surprised by my dislike for "The Giver" as I am, after all, the target audience of the book. I read it for school, which may have contributed to some of my dislike of the book. (It's hard to enjoy something that you're being forced to read, and even harder so when you must dissect every line for quasi meaningful messages.) If you haven't heard of The Giver, it's about a boy named Jonas who lives in a perfect society.

My first issue with the book was my own description. (Lifted from the flap and online description.) By the end of the first chapter, it is painfully apparent that the society is not a utopia. Firstly, they don't use conjunctions. As we all know, a world without "conjunction junction" must be a dystopia. Seriously, though, that's one of my writing pet peeves.

My second issue was the lack of description. Although describing color is hard, I wish more of an effort had been put in. I didn't understand that there was no color in the world until I was three quarters of the way through it. I also felt like there wasn't enough description in general. We have no picture of Jonas' world, no way of comparing it to our own. (Visually, at least.)

Lastly, my real issue was Jonas himself. For someone supposed to be so perceptive, I found him quite stupid. Perhaps because I don't live in the giver's society, the meaning of 'release,' death, was very transparent to me. I don't see how he wouldn't at least have had questions about it. In addition, (Serious spoilers ahead) when the true nature of his family was revealed and his father was about to hurt Gabriel, his thought process was extremely convoluted. He immediately moves to save Gabe, not his equally innocent sister. Although she had been indoctrinated, Jonas not taking the medicine would make him able to feel love. I assume that he would love his sister, as is indicated by his love for his father. (Or at least respect/ trust that can be broken.) To me, it seems that the clear choice is to kidnap her. Of course, in my opinion, almost everyone in the society is innocent, having no way to see through societal constraints. It was annoying that he didn't even consider any of this before running away, and then regretted nothing. The ending was too open to be of much significance, although I've heard it was biblical which might be why I didn't grasp the meaning.

Overall, The Giver offers a sort of tired view on society with self insert characters (Although I would be distraught if I was Jonas.) and a pretty interesting plot that falls apart at the end.
2.5 stars.

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