Review: Gathering Blue

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So this was the first "companion to The Giver"...

The world here, while apparently the same as in the first book, is absolutely different. I've been wondering if, maybe, after the Ruin, the ancestors of Jonas' Community settled with their technological advances and dreams of a better world - and kicked out all the a**holes and sociopaths in the process. Those outcasts, then, must have founded the village where Kira lives. Here, people are noisy, dirty, and very egoistic. Anybody who is of no use is condemned to death, children are treated like the greatest nuisance in the world, and everybody is very aggressive on principle.
While this was made very clear by the author, the village itself wasn't well described. There's the Council Edifice, which must have been a church before the Ruin, although the description of the inside doesn't sound like a church, except for the Worship Object (a cross). Other than that, there's not much to go on, and apparently even Kira, who grew up there, doesn't know many of the other villagers, or anything about the politics.

It was difficult to find a way into this world as the reader, thanks to spiritless writing (is my guess). And some things were just weird, e.g. Kira meeting Jamison after her trial inside the Council Edifice and being taken to her new quarters - as far as I know by walking down a long corridor, or at least by staying inside the building. Nevertheless, she later has to ask if it is possible to get from the big hall to her quarters. How come she didn't know about that? And, can someone draw me a picture of chairs in front of the stage, facing the audience, from which you can watch the proceedings on the stage? I assumed that maybe the moment when they were turned, or when the children were re-seated was missing, but at some point in the performance, it's again mentioned that they are facing the audience while watching the stage. I don't get it.

Kira seemed a nice enough girl, but the characters lacked so much depth it was impossible to actually related to them or care for them. Jonas, in The Giver, now he had enough time to learn and grow, and it was well enough described for the reader to learn with him. Kira, in Gathering Blue, on the other hand, was at least in the same place, getting to know everything, for a few months, but... what did actually happen there? It feels like there wasn't really a story, no development, just words that I quickly read in two days, with maybe an interesting idea what the human future could look like, after the Ruin, but without any connection, any suspense, anything to spike my interest. It was nice to hear that probably Jonas is still alive somewhere, but other than that I was disappointed.

View all my reviews

Review: The Giver

The Giver by Lois Lowry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read the German version of The Giver (Hüter der Erinnerung) many years ago, and apparently liked it enough to take the book with me when I moved out. More recently, I happened to watch the movie that was made out of it, and then also read my copy of the book again. I still enjoyed it, but remembered that I never really understood the ending. So I went online to learn more about that, and found that there's three more books from the same universe. Obviously, I went right ahead and bought the whole The Giver Quartet in English. Now, about The Giver...

This novel takes place in a utopian/dystopian community that has converted to Sameness. Sameness means that there are no different skin tones (though they still have different hair and eye colours, apparently), no changes in climate/weather, and no hills. The people in communities with Sameness have also lost their ability to see colours, and can only have shallow feelings. Age is only important until you are 12, and all children become a year older at the December Ceremony, regardless of their actual date of birth (which is always 50 children per year, by the way). Sameness! Different genders and character traits are still allowed, though, and adults applying for a spouse will be matched meticulously, just like the Twelves are matched with their future assignments.
An Eleven boy called Jonas is the main character of the book. He is chosen to become the next Receiver of Memory - a very high honour, but most people don't actually know what the Receiver does. That's because he (or she, but he in this case) is the only one who carries the memories of the past, of the days before Sameness. And there is no way to describe to the Community what colours or death or real feelings are. Therefore, the Receiver is honoured, but also lonely and suffering from the knowledge the rest of the Community doesn't want to suffer from.

The ideas of The Giver are certainly interesting, and it's fascinating to get to know the way of life in Sameness. I can imagine that genetic engineering for this could be possible some day. Things get a bit weird at some point, though, when you're looking at the book scientifically. Jonas being able to see colours? Hmm, fine, could be a mutation or something. Transmission of memories from the past by the touch of hands on backs? Huh. And the ending? I still don't get that at all.

In the end, I'll just have to accept that this is not only scifi, but also a bit magic - a strange mix, and unexpected when you first start reading the book. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to reading Gathering Blue next.

View all my reviews

Review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: This is not the first play I have read.

I really enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Of course it was different from the Harry Potter novels, lacking J.K. Rowling's writing style, the wonderful descriptions, and the length that comes with this. It was a play, and I believe it would be awesome to see it played out.

I didn't know anything about the story before I started reading (thanks for keeping the spoilers to a minimum!) so I'm not going to spoil it for anybody else.
The plot surprised me, obviously, even though I had no specific expectations. It was well thought out, leaving almost no questions open (just for one thing, my imagination did not suffice). It kept me reading, being quite fast paced (but then, having only dialogue to read can save you a lot of time) and containing many interesting turns of events.
Yes, there were also some things I believe the play could have done without. But these were smaller things that got drowned out in the overall story arch.

I hope I'll get to see the play at some point.

View all my reviews