The Giver

By: Lois Lowry

Narrated by: Ron Rifkin

Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

December is the time of the annual Ceremony at which each twelve-year-old receives a life assignment determined by the Elders. Jonas watches his friend Fiona named Caretaker of the Old and his cheerful pal Asher labeled the Assistant Director of Recreation. But Jonas has been chosen for something special. When his selection leads him to an unnamed man, the man called only the Giver, he begins to sense the dark secrets that underlie the fragile perfection of his world.

Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

©1993 Lois Lowry (P)1993 Random House, Inc., Listening Library, An Imprint Of Random House Audio Publishing Group

Critic reviews

Newbery Medal Winner, 1994

"This is a compelling prospect for family listening. Initially Rifkin's voice seems too regional to portray the characters of this utopian/dystopian world, but he convincingly conveys the anticipation of the coming-of-age ceremony of Jonas and his friends. As the meaning of Jonas’ selection as “Receiver of Memory” unfolds, Rifkin’s characterizations become more powerful. Although the story drives the presentation, Rifkin’s juxtaposition of the young boy and the old Giver has tremendous effect. His voice for the Giver becomes increasingly weary and strained while Jonas' gains strength. Sharing this audiobook in a family or a classroom offers a valuable opportunity to respond to and discuss Lowry’s moving novel." (AudioFile magazine)

"A powerful and provocative novel." (The New York Times)
"Lowry is once again in top form...unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers." (Publishers Weekly)
"The author makes real abstract concepts, such as the meaning of a life in which there are virtually no choices to be made and no experiences with deep feelings. This tightly plotted story and its believable characters will stay with readers for a long time." (School Library Journal)

Good book; not great quality

This recording would have been better without the music! It was too loud and there wasn’t a need for it.

Appreciative reading

I feel this book helps one appreciate the simple things in life. Love this book! I’m attach n read it every two years or so. This my 1st time doing it with audio and I appreciated even more.

disembodied music and spit swallowing ruin this

constant spit wallowing by the narrator and oddly timed music ruin this iteration of a decent book

Great book

Why the music it gets rid of the eerie feel of the book the giver

Interesting

The story was ok, why is this book given to teenagers? This utopia is interesting

Speed read (listen)

Listening to this at 2x speed made the Narration pretty good. At normal speed it was too slow to capture my attention. The music is obnoxious and plays at the end of each chapter making it hard to hear what is being said. Storyline was decent and made you want to keep going, but I didn’t care for the ending. My 12 year old son is reading this in school so I wanted to get ahead of his questions.

Good, but not the best.

The music took over the narration and was a bit harder for me to hear it when there was music. Other than that, great job!

Such good teachings

Seeing what happens when there are no emotions is such a good teaching for everyone no matter their age!

Review

I loved the hole thing there was not one thing that made me waver in my perfect choice to pay for this book but then again this is my favourite book so if I could I’d rate it 100/5 a hundred out of five

Truly amazing!

This book is very important. It explores topics that are not often discussed in children’s books. But it is still VERY entertaining. Lois lowery mixes hard ideas with interesting characters, learning, and wanting more. I personally think that this book ended well. It is a “cliff hanger” but it lets the reader decide how they think this story ends. If you did not like the ending I would recommend reading the other books in the series.