Today Caramel reviews a book he read in school: The Giver, by Lois Lowry. Published originally in 1993, the book has already become a classic, read by many students across the United States; it has also won the Newberry Medal in 1994. Sprinkles, who has not had the chance to read the book yet, is asking questions and taking notes.
Sprinkles: So Caramel, today we are talking about The Giver, a book you have read and discussed in school over the course of a few weeks.
Caramel: Yup.
S: So let us start at the beginning. Can you tell our readers what the book is about?
C: Yes, sure. This book is about Jonas, a boy that lives in a community that controls the lives of those that live in the community.
S: I see. In what ways are they controlled? Can you give some examples?
C: They are not able to decide who they marry or choose their jobs. Even their death is controlled! The leaders get to choose who dies and when. They also choose the names of the newborn children. So the world of those who live in the community is very controlled, and they basically have no choice in anything.
S: Oh my goodness! When you first began with people not getting to choose who they marry or what their jobs should be, I was going to say that that has been the case in many societies throughout history, but then things got even more and more restrictive. No wonder this book is classified as a dystopian novel. Which according to my trusty dictionary means “an imagined state or society where there is great suffering or injustice.”
C: Yup, it sure does make sense, doesn’t it? But there is more. The people are also taking drugs to not have any emotions. Color is also taken from their lives, so at least they are not racist. But seriously, they are supposedly doing all this so everyone is equal, but it is pretty depressing.
S: Wow! That is really disturbing. Marshmallow had read and reviewed Brave New World where the people also had access to a drug called soma but there the drug was to just make them not feel bad things. That was also bad, of course, and it numbed them and made them more complacent, but forcing people not to have any emotions, and not to even see color, sounds really terrible.
C: This is kind of a next level of control from Brave New World, even Nineteen Eighty-Four, I think. I mean I have not yet read those books, but from what Marshmallow wrote in her reviews, I have got a pretty good idea of what is going on.
S: Well, it seems you did understand them well enough. And of course you should read them at some point, too. But you are making a good comparison, Caramel. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, maybe there they do not mess with feelings in the same way; rather they break people who have attachments to other people and make them love the Big Brother only.
C: In The Giver, too, they have a Big Brother-like leadership group. So for example, if you speak out against them once, you are “released.” Or injected with a deadly poison. The same happens with twins: one is kept, and the other is killed.
S: Alright so in this dystopian world, what is going on? You told us the setting. Now tell us the plot, the events.
C: Sure. So in the beginning, Jonas, the main character, starts to notice some weird things, For example, he starts to see some color. Like he has an apple and it for a moment becomes red. And then his friend Fiona is in color, too. But remember they could not see color before.
S: It must be shocking to start seeing things in color if you had never seen color before. I remember the first color TV I saw, and I was so excited. But I could at least see color outside a TV screen before.
C: Yep, it made him think that he was going crazy.
S: I bet! So then he starts asking questions and trying to understand what is going on with him and with his community and learns some really big secrets?
C: Hey, I was just going to say that! You stole my line Sprinkles.
S: Well, I have read my fair share of dystopian novels.
C: That is probably true. I have not read as many books as you.
S: Well, you are still a very little bunny. And so you have many years to catch up. I bet you will catch up and pass me in just a few years…
C: Maybe, just maybe.
S: Anyways, so what did you think? Did you enjoy reading this book?
C: Yep, it was a good book, except for chapters 11-13. I thought those were a bit too mushy, so I only skimmed through them. I am not sure I missed much.
S: I am guessing you are using mushy the same way Marshmallow uses it so some close romantic relationships were involved?
C; Yeah, but it really did get a bit too mushy for me.
S: Okay, I understand. So I would expect that there was some character development and such in those sections, so you probably did miss some things like that. But that’s alright. About the main setting and the story though, did things feel a bit too tense for you while you were reading it? Too depressing? It feels like it is a really oppressive world.
C: Yeah, it is really oppressive. So I did not enjoy it like fun and games because it is about a very harsh world, but the story is very interesting, so I kept on reading. Also I had to read it. It was for school, remember?
S: Yes, true that. But for example, do you think I should read the book, too? Do you think other young bunnies should read it?
C: It is probably better suited, I suppose, for those bunnies that are not too young, but somewhere in the tweens or teens, everyone over ten or something should find it an interesting book, too. So yes, Sprinkles, you should definitely read it!
S: Hmm, my last dystopian novels were the Hunger Games books that I read after Marshmallow recommended them. I guess I should look into this one, too. Did you know that there are apparently three other books from the same author that take place in the same world as The Giver? Do you think we should look into getting a copy of one of those for you?
C: Maybe, but I think that this is kind of conclusive, and works really well as its own thing.
S: Oh, so no cliffhangers. That is great! And maybe you can take a break and look at some other worlds and stories for a bit.
C: I’d like that. Maybe I will get to read a totally different type of book next week. We might at some point come back and revisit Jonas’s world though. I could like that, too.
S: Sounds good. This might be a good place to wrap up this review Caramel. What do you want to tell our readers?
C: Stay tuned for more book bunny reviews!
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