The Giver

By: Lois Lowry

Narrated by: Ron Rifkin

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)

Excellent story that unfolds before your eyes

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I liked Ron Rifkin as The Giver but not as Jonas, a little too whiny at times with his voice.

Any additional comments?

The book was amazing at bringing you along for the ride, the most sad part was Jonas seeing what the 'release' was. Really good character development and would recommend to anyone. As with others, the cheesy music was really bad and sometimes made it tough to hear the story.

Absolutely Fabulous

I found this book in the library one day, and couldn't put it down. The Giver is a fascinating story, and Lowry draws you in. Even though the wold is completely foriegn, you understand it completely, and it doesn't confuse you. Soon after finishing it, I devoured the two sequels. Lowry is a wonderful author, and I completely recomend all of her books, especially this one.

Loved the Book

I absolutely loved the novel itself. The recording was a little dull, but the voices and music helped greatly. Emphasized key moments well.

It was ok

I guess I was expecting more because of all the great reviews and things people have said about this book. It's a short book and I did enjoy it. I purchased the book on the 3/2 trilogy sale and will read the next 2 in the series.

Intriguing Vision of a Twisted Future

The Giver offers a vision of the future that is grim and weird, but always intriguing. In books like The Hunger Games or Feed, it is easy to see how current trends lead into the strange future worlds of those stories, but The Giver is less clear. Why family and community life is so regimented and twisted in this world is never fully explained; was there a great war or the rise of a dictator or what? Also, how big is this world -- are we only reading about one city-state? Are the other communities (like the one on the other side of the river) much different than this one? These ommissions don't harm the story, as it remains highly readable and consistent, but they do muddy the waters when it comes to figuring out what inferences we should draw and what moral the story is driving at.

But hey, I loved the story, and I thought the narrator did a superb job. I plan to get the next books in this series.

Why the music?

I loved the story and the narration was great. I just disliked the periodic music.

Where's the rest of it?

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I didn't enjoy it. It felt really short and I hated the ending.

If you’ve listened to books by Lois Lowry before, how does this one compare?

NA

How could the performance have been better?

It could have been edited for the extra sounds like breathing and swallowing. It was distracting.

Did The Giver inspire you to do anything?

Maybe to look into writing my own dystopian novel. It also inspired me not to see the movie.

It's a great book!!😃

I definitely met my expectations my favorite part was when Jonas left with Gabriel for the journey and the narrator made me feel like I was there watch the story happen.

awesome cool boring exciting crazy

Such a good book at the end I was crying.And I had left my book at school and we are reading it in class and so I just listened to it on here and now I am ahead of everyone in my 6th grade class.

Not quite as good as I remember...

...but still well worth the listen. Great performance by Rifkin as well.