Challenge Corner discussion

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community.

Ch 1
(view spoiler)[ I don’t like the way they’re talking about’releasing’ that little boy..
Creepy the way they all talk about their emotions! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 2
(view spoiler)[ can you imagine that much conformity? At 8 everyone has to give in their ‘comfort’ object; at 9, everyone gets a cycle… (hide spoiler)]

Ch 5
(view spoiler)[ it’s quite sinister really knocking all signs of sexual feeling out of the entire population. Very effective population control.
This is like Brave New World. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 8
(view spoiler)[ I can’t blame Jonah for being unenthusiastic- receiver of memory- absorbing pain- needing courage- none of it sounds appealing! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 9
(view spoiler)[ OMG that would totally do my head in!: the paranoia- are you the only one allowed to lie OR has everyone received the same instructions?! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 12
(view spoiler)[ imagine having sunshine or colour taken away? Different colour skins no longer exist, so what colour are people? Overtones of Pleasantville! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 16
(view spoiler)[ no love! (hide spoiler)]

Ch 20 (view spoiler)[ ah that’s sad that it was his own daughter (hide spoiler)]

Finished.
Loved it!

Ch 8 (view spoiler)[I have to revisit this one for a college class on children's literature and despite trying my hardest to remain open-minded to it, all I can see are the flaws I recognized when I was 10, except I now have more words and background knowledge to identify my disinterest in it.

As a dystopia, and especially knowing how the third book turns out (because for some reason I read the whole trilogy, back when it was just a trilogy), I just feel like this book takes itself too seriously as a potential future. There's a lot that doesn't make sense about the world in The Giver even as science fiction. I thought I'd be more comfortable with these differences now that I've had ten years of reading other science fiction and dystopia under my belt, but there's still a lot I fail to wrap my head around here. (hide spoiler)]

Celia wrote: "Ch 8 I have to revisit this one for a college class on children's literature and despite trying my hardest to remain open-minded to it, all I can see are the flaws I recognized when I was 10, excep..."

That’s funny that my reading experience was so different to yours! I didn’t really question the plausibility in scientific terms but I thought it was an excellent piece of Dystopia 101 for children. The follow up books have very patchy reviews but I may read the second one.

50% (view spoiler)[Okay, maybe this isn't as bad as I remember. (hide spoiler)]

75% (view spoiler)[I think part of the problem is that I didn't have anywhere near the knowledge of the world, including satire and sarcasm, that I do now when I was ten. There's a lot I wouldn't expect your average teenager to get without explicit instruction. (hide spoiler)]

FINISHED (view spoiler)[Okay, my rating has gone up significantly. That said, there is no way this book is ending up in my future classroom, even if I do end up teaching fifth grade for some god knows why reason. (hide spoiler)]

Celia wrote: "50% [spoilers removed]

75% [spoilers removed]

FINISHED [spoilers removed]"

I’m glad it improved with age - yours and the book’s!