/lit/ - Literature

Why is this book required for school reading?

Pic related: It's an annoying book in general with lots of subjective problems but Lois Lowry just didn't do her fucking math.

The book clearly establishes that only a small fraction (not specified but strongly implied it's significantly less than half) of girls are selected as birth mothers, and they each have 3 kids. This is the only source of children in the community, and they have a perfect replacement birth rate with 2 kids per couple.

Someone better at math can work out the specifics here but obviously you'd have to have something like 2/3rds of women giving birth to 3 children to keep those numbers up, yet this is clearly not the case. It's made even worse by the fact that it is mentioned that there was a protest to allow all families to have a third child and make each birth mother have a fourth child to all for this, which doesn't work out mathematically at any percentage. Adding one child for each couple by adding one child per birth mother only makes sense if every single woman was a birth mother, but the target number is 3 and they already had 3 each and are talking about adding a 4th to get 3.

This isn't some tiny screwup for autists to sperg out about, it is a basic problem in the structure of 'le ebil communist society xD' that much of the plot and message of the book relies on. It's fucking retarded and makes no sense if you think about it for 1 second like I did when I when I was forced to read it in 7th grade. The fact that I've never heard this mentioned tells me that most people who claim to love this book did not think about it at all.

What are some /lit/ YA novels?

It was alright. I mean, it's basic, but for kids in highschool reading about a highschool aged kid in a situation they might see themselves works. Hell of a lot more enjoyable than The Giver. That shit's fuckin' trash.

Glad I read this as a kid, it is what sparked my interest in reading.

This book made me become a reader of books.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The ending to this book remains one of my all time favorites.

Have you ever related to someone from the Giver, like Jonas? Why or why not?

>>9474999
Grew up reading as a kid. First series of books that got me hooked were "A to Z Mysteries" and "Junie B. Jones". Never read the Harry Potter books though, too meme. I loved spending long times browsing books all alone during the book fair. Then in middle school I read "Redwall" and "Swiss Family Robinson" and some other great books that I've unfortunately forgotten about.

But the one book that truly solidified me as a bookworm was "The Giver". Truly amazing book. I felt a well of emotions after I finished it, and some sense of religioisity. At the end, I wanted the story to continue, I wanted to stay with these characters and learn what happens after they reach the city. But another part of me felt I was just fine leaving it as is. I distinctly remember the warmth of my feet while I was in the passenger's seat and my Dad was driving the family somewhere I done remember. It was pitch black outside, the darkness enhanced by the car light that allowed me to finish reading "The Giver". I remember how I just closed the book and felt mesmerized.

I should give it a reread some time.

Let's have a comfy novel thread. Pic related.

What is the moust profound book you have ever read? Or a book that really touched you and stayed with you. For me it has to be this gem right here. I basically have it memorized.

>>7762374
I have yet to find a perfect book, and honestly I don't think I ever will. I love Redwall, Catcher in the Rye and Fallen Angels, but they are very different novels. I love A Bridge Too Far, but does that even count as literature, if it is non-fiction? If I ever do find a perfect book, I don't think I could describe it. It would be good in too many ways to nail down. People have spent their entire lives analyzing famous works of art and still can't say why something is perfect. They can give many reasons, but no one can give a simple explanation of why, say, Hamlet is a great play, or why All Quiet on the Western Front is a great book. They can give very long explanations, and they can give short versions of specific aspects, but no one can describe the whole thing. Why?

Because if something is perfect, the best description is the work itself.


But its pic related.