Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #4)
Book
What do you get when you have an immortal Viking warrior no one can remember five minutes after he...
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
It has been over twenty years since Lois Lowry’s controversial children’s story The Giver was published and it certainly deserves its status as an essential modern classic. Jonas has grown up in the perfect world of the Community whose survival relies on strict rules and rituals. Adults are assigned spouses and children (one boy and one girl) as they take up their role within the society. At the beginning of the book Jonas is approaching then end of his eleventh year and feeling apprehensive about the Ceremony of Twelve where he will be assigned a job for him to do for the rest of his adult life. Jonas gets selected as the Receiver of Memory – a very rare position – and begins to experience memories from humans who lived a long time ago. For Jonas this is exciting until he begins to see the flaws in his perfect world.
Dystopian literature has become popular over the past few years and it would not be surprising if it were The Giver that inspired these contemporary works. Lowry claims that she did not intend for The Giver to have a sinister feel about it; she was writing an adventure story and exploring the concept of the importance of memory, but it turned out to be something much more thought provoking. As the children’s novelist Margaret Mahy (The Haunting) pointed out, up until the publication of this novel in 1993 Lowry was best known for her funny stories about Anastasia Krupnik resulting in The Giver being even more shocking and unexpected.
The Giver highlights that attempting to produce perfection can often result in the loss of good things as well as the bad. The notion of the ideal world may seem like a wonderful proposal, but in order to achieve it humans would have to do away with free choice as in ironing out the inequalities and injustices of the present world would result in everything becoming the same for each individual.
This is a difficult concept to grasp, particularly for a child. Although intended as a children’s series, The Giver and its following installments are more suitable for young adults and older. The only issue with this is that the writing style was target at a younger audience meaning that the overall story is short and lacks depth. If it were to have been written for older readers then there would have been the scope for it to become a much lengthier novel.
There are a lot of mixed reviews surrounding this book although they have changed greatly since the original publication. To begin with The Giver was banned in some areas however the dystopian theme has become accepted in today’s society. What many people comment on now is the oversimplification of such strong ideas. Then again, as already mentioned, it needs to be emphasized that this book was aimed at children, thus the language reflects the reading skills of its target audience.
The Giver is a gem of a book that not only is enjoyable but also can educate the reader on the dangers of attempting a utopian society and why it is important to retain human memories – even the bad – in order that wisdom can exist. Those who have become fans of contemporary dystopian novels, for example Divergent by Veronica Roth or Delirium by Lauren Oliver, will be sure to love this series.
Honey Daddy - Sugar Baby and Sugar Daddy Dating
Dating, Lifestyle and Social Networking
App
Honey Daddy is taking over the sugar dating scene with a unique match-based approach for connecting...
Extreme Luxury Driving - Off Road 4x4 Jeep Game 3D
Games and Entertainment
App
To become a good Off road car or jeep driver, all the necessary requirements such as completion of a...
MonstroCity: Monster Battle Rampage
Games, Entertainment and Stickers
App
Lead an army of MASSIVE monsters into epic battles and SMASH cities to the ground in the most...
Footballer: My Story
Book
All Kelly Smith ever wanted to be was a footballer. Blessed with brilliant talent which she honed...
Tender:match adult fwb singles
Lifestyle and Social Networking
App
Tender, the most interesting chat software, through Tender, you can chat with young people around...
Anna and the Apocalypse
Katharine Turner and Barry Waldo
Book
School’s out for the end of the world. Anna and the Apocalypse is a horror comedy about a...
In the Eye of the Storm (Full Circle #1)
Book
Happily married with the affection and respect of those he holds dear, Fabian Bloom finally finds...
Contemporary MM Romantic Suspense
Merrills / Mill
Games and Entertainment
App
*** IMPORTANT NOTE *** A new extened version of merrills is available for iPhone and iPad! Search...