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  • The Giver

  • Written by: Lois Lowry
  • Narrated by: Ron Rifkin
  • Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (293 ratings)

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The Giver

Written by: Lois Lowry
Narrated by: Ron Rifkin
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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

What the critics say

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

What listeners say about The Giver

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The musical interludes ruined the book

Love the story, but the narrator is only so-so. The worst part of this audiobook is the musical segments they randomly inserted overtop of the reading. It's so distracting and adds nothing to the story. This would be 1000 times better if the music clips were removed.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Music

This audiobook contains small amounts of music. The music is low quality and feels out of place.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pretty Good

The book itself was quite good. For those of you saying the ending was a let down I understand but there are three more books after The Giver that explain the rest of the story. The narrator was quite good and easy to follow but the music was unnecessary and distracting. It was my second time reading this and it really hit different.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

pas bon

musique dérangeante au début de chaque chapitre , histoire plein de potentiel avec une fin bof...

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thought-provoking

I've loved this book since I was a kid. There's something very captivating about the world-building, the gentle crescendo, the deliberate and intentional word choice, given more light by the main character's own attention to precision of language. With each description, I can feel the writer's true meaning. She is truly a master at painting a mental picture, whether of terrible grief and misery or the profound delights of life. By opening up the world to Jonas in this gradual manner, we are able to see all the beautiful things in our own world that we take for granted every day, like music, colour, and the beauty of variety. The freedom of choices. Reading The Giver always reminds me that there is so much joy to be obtained in this world, and that the pain of everything else can be borne so much easier if we are all bearing it together. It speaks of the blessing of unity, of love, of the terrible, wonderful depths of human emotion.
In my opinion, The Giver is a masterpiece. Concise, razor-sharp, and full of depth and meaning. It is not overbearing in its length. It tells you what you need to know, and leaves you wanting.
The narrator was very good, with the kind of precise speech one would want from a book of this nature. The only thing I didn't like was the music constantly interrupting his narration. I was drawn in enough by his fantastic performance.
A book that makes you reflect and be grateful. A masterwork to be sure.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

good until the end

The end was such a let down. Just felt like it ended out nowhere. The rest of the story was great though!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book

I love the story and I have read all in the series. My one complaint is the music that is added. It detracts form the story I found it harder to pay attention with the music at times was so very loud.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Adult reader tries to sound like a child

The high pitched, somewhat whiney, quality of the child's dialogue was so annoying that i couldn't finish the book. Readers don't have to try to act to give the experience of the novel. A neutral voice is better than bad acting. I hope this review helps with direction for future recordings. This novel was highly recommended to me. I'll have to go back to old-fashioned reading though.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

Could not put it down, Lois use of language is so colourful, enchanting. There are so many layers to this story - so enjoyable

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story different than expected

My classes never read this book, it was in most classrooms but the cover to me looked ugly and the description didn’t sound interesting so I never read. I finally listened to it because of the US banning it in many states.
The story was very good, reminded me of 1984.
As others pointed out there was parts in the audio with odd music that can be distracting or can help you refocus so that could be a positive or a negative

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  • Nikki Cole
  • 2012-07-09

This guy's mouth makes some serious noises...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend they read the actual book and skip the audio version. The story is okay, but the quality of the audiobook is not.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Rosemary. She was very brave and noble and I like the mystery behind her past.

What didn’t you like about Ron Rifkin’s performance?

Many of the sentences trailed off rather than ending strong and clear. He also made noises with his mouth. I assume this happens often with actors, but that stuff is usually edited out.

Could you see The Giver being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

I guess I could see it. I am not invested enough to guess the cast though.

Any additional comments?

The background music was HORRIBLE! They blasted you out with tacky synth music for EVERY SINGLE significant moment! It took me out of the moment because I was rolling my eyes.

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106 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Beth
  • 2012-09-08

Great Story but...

I had read this book as a teenager. I thought I would enjoy it on audio. However, the narration is poor. The whiny voice of Jonas was totally grating and the the narrator did not even bother to read with the inflection when the tone of voice was described with adjectives. Even more annoying, possibly, was the music. I don't even know how I got through this one...if it weren't for my nostalgia, I wouldn't have.

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97 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • far_to_go
  • 2013-07-18

Annoying music

Would you listen to The Giver again? Why?

I'm not planning to listen to this again. I've read the book before and like the story very much, but it was interrupted by strange music at inopportune moments. A great book, but not a very good listening experience.

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92 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Alires
  • 2004-01-03

Going to extremes

This is a great book about going to extremes on many different levels. Like Ender's game and Snow Crash, the youth of today have much to teach us about how to live. This book is simply written with observations about society and the implications of our choices and desires for a perfection. Any age will love this book. My 5th grade little sister recommeded this to me, and I have completed graduate school. I have recommeded this book to my friends of all ages.

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42 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Andrea
  • 2004-03-25

Listen as a family

The Giver is a great introduction to utopian novels. It was very interesting listening to the book with my 10 and 11 year olds. Their innocence saw the ending in a completly different way then I did. We had some wonderful family discussions about what a perfect world is or should be. As a family we highly recommend this book for its entertainment value and the discussions it will prompt.

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Ethan
  • 2013-05-03

Great story but the music is very distracting!

Any additional comments?

The music kills me. It randomly comes in for a few minutes then goes away. It's it's loud and distracting. It would be a 5 out of 5 if it didn't have the music.

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34 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • adam jensen
  • 2019-01-02

Music. ugggg

The book is good. but the music.,............ why is there random music every 10 mins. It is not even good music. but it takes you away from the story when it happeneds. i want to speak to the person that put that in and find out why they thought it was a good idea. then i would like to fire them. Just read the book and skip the audio book. it will annoy you.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Claudia H
  • 2015-08-03

A blast from the past

I read this book when I was in elementary school and I got the audiobook to listen to with my niece. I loved this book when I was little and I was hoping that she would to.

In retrospect, I wish I had just given her the book because I felt the narration lacked something. I remember being very moved by the book and I didn't get that feeling from this. It might have been a combination of the Rifkin's narration and the weird musical interludes.

The Giver is best left to hard copy if you truly want to savor this classic story.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Hector
  • 2007-06-16

The Best Book I Ever Read

Nobel Prize winner "The Giver", was like that book they make you read in high school that you dread to actually read. It was my english class read. I flipped through it and did my homework trying to skip as much as could and still pass the class; but towards the end of the class I got hooked into it. There are ideas, questions, and answers in this book that just fascinated me as a teenager. Things I sorta flew by trying to do my homework that made me think everytime.

Now, I am a pretty intuitive, highly artistic mind, and once I discovered the real heart behind "The Giver" I swear it was like a door opened to me. I loved every second of it. I remember finishing a chapter and walking around school looking at the other students, teachers, and their responsibilites in a total different light. It was almost as if I was part of a society much like the one in this book where we all wait to know what we are supposed to do, and if you don't keep up you're "released" ... But as the book suggests, and I found out as I grew, being released from the machine might not be all that terrible in the end.

I alarmingly recommend this amazing read for kids and adults alike. I have wondered for ages why are there film versions of "Spiderman", "Jerry Springer", and "The Devil Wears Prada" and not one of this book... Makes one wonder where priorities and film industry goals lie. Anyhow! Listen to this! Will make feel free!

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Deanna
  • 2013-01-20

High Hopes Left Me Disappointed

I had really high hopes for this book. I am a big fan of YA Dystopian novels, and I'd heard this book was really one of the important ones in the genre.

I felt like the beginning of this book was really good, I liked where it was going, it had an interesting setting...but about 3/4 through it felt like the author gave up and just wanted it to end. It left way too many loose ends, and just sort of ended.

I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator, but he did not bother me.

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20 people found this helpful