The Giver by Lois Lowry

I found this book quite disturbing on many levels, but at the same time I really enjoyed reading it. Actually, this story reminds me of The City of Embers. Both stories take place in planned communities that are run in a very methodical fashion. The City of Embers is an underground safe haven designed to save a small select part of mankind in the face of terrible disaster. Not very much unlike the futuristic community that Jonas and his friends are growing up in. When I first began to read the book I kept waiting for the hook. Lois Lowry spent several pages just introducing the reader to the community and the methodical functions carried out there. Everything was so preplanned it was a bit scary. The sameness was slowly introduced. I did not realize until late in the book that they all dressed the same. Honestly the concept of Releasing haunted me from the beginning. I knew it would be a major piece of the story but I had no idea it would stir me the way it did. Maybe for me it was the idea of what it meant. As I read Jonas watching the footage of his father euthanization the baby I suddenly felt so sad for him and all of the others. How terrible to decide who gets to live and who must die. What a terrible place. Is it really better to be safe? I felt for Jonas when he had to go home and face his parents knowing what his father had done. I could feel the anger myself and how difficult it would be to pretend not to know the truths. The part where Jonas decided to leave early was confusing until I read the part about the committee deciding to release Gabe because of sleeping issues. I sat straight up in bed and wanted to yell “run Jonas, save him”. This final piece of the story was the most symbolic to me. I think that the harsh conditions Jonas was experiencing as he increased the distance between himself and the community were actually memories being release. My heart ached as they experienced hunger, pain and when Jonas tried so hard to protect Gabe from the elements. The very last image in the book was the sled ride that was also the first memory Jonas received from the Giver. I think this represented the last of the memories being release. And sadly I think it means that Jonas and Gabriel did not survive. I have talked to many coworkers about this book today and each one had a different thought about the end.