Monday, June 9, 2008

The Giver


This is a great book that I just finished this weekend. Let me tell you the story.

My Dad was dating this girl that was raving about this book and then bought it for for him so he could read it. For those of you who don't know I work with my Dad and go out to lunch with him most days. One day he and I went to Togo's and he was telling me about this book and how interesting it was. At that time he was only about a 1/4 of the way through the book and was so impressed with it. All of a sudden this employee of Togo's interrupts us and says, "Excuse me, but are you talking about The Giver"? We responded in the affirmative and he continued to tell us how this book changed his life. He had read it in the 7th grade and still remembered what a great book it was. This got me thinking, ok now I have to read this book.

When I finished Lord of the Flies I started The Giver. I was totally impressed and absolutely loved this book. This is a book that takes place in a socialist community where a boy, Jonas, grew up. At age twelve he is given his assignment which will be his career for the rest of his life. Jonas is given the assignment "Receiver of Memory" which is a very prestigious job. I don't want to give anything away because I think that you all should read this book.

I love this book because it shows how important it is for us to have choices and to act according to our desires. Oh and socialism sucks!

Erin I got your message and I have already bought 1984 and will start it probably next week. Thanks for your other suggestions. Are there any other suggestions from anyone else?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I am super impressed Mike. I had no idea that you liked to read so much. May I suggest Harry Potter :) J/K Actually I just finished reading some short stories by Roald Dahl. He is a crazy author. I think you would like this book a lot!

Bek said...

Socialism doesn't suck, as long as you're living in a community that has CHOSEN to live those priniciples. Clearly, it hasn't been successfully done yet, but the ideals of socialism are noble and something I think we should strive toward.

Lindsay Cahoon said...

Hi Mike. This is Lindsay Flake. First of all, sweet blog. Secondly, I recommend the Babysitters' Club series--you won't believe the trouble those girls get themselves into!

Michael said...

Rebekah, you should read this book. When socialism is taken to the extream as it does in this book it does suck. Plus I don't like the idea of a government forcing me to live a certain way, as it happens in this book.

The Grady's said...

MIKEY!!! How are you? I discovered your blog through Kelly's blog and I hope you don't mind if I link you to my blog...so we can keep in touch. my blog address is kevinandlesliegrady.blogspot.com check us out!

Ian said...

(This is from Brittany (Palmer) Robertson btw, not Ian) I love The Giver! We read it in fourth grade and it opened my eyes to the whole world of science fiction - plus it has an amazing message about freedom and choice. Nice job picking this one to read its so amazing. Just to let you know there are two follow up books by Lois Lowry.. not quite the same but interesting none the less, "Gathering Blue" and "Messenger".