[Book] #19. Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry - Maybe We Can Make It Different

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Title: Gathering Blue
Author: Lois Lowry
Other: Second book of The Giver series. (4 books)

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This book is the second of The Giver series. If you want to read my bookreview about the first one, please click here.

#18. The Giver by Lois Lowry - To Become the Master of Your Own Life: Extremely Thrilling, and Incredibly Frightening.

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Before I dive into the review, I'll have to explain the gloomy future set in this book. The world was rebuilt after disaster-like wars. Survivers gathered around here and there, and made their own societies. Some were very advanced with high-tech science, while others were relatively primitive. They were living in the same time, but there was a big discrepancy among societies regarding standard of living, law, science technology, medical skills, etc. There were rumors about other societies, but due to societal, geographical and legal reasons they didn't know what happened in other societies.

While the first of this series, The Giver was about dystopian society with high science technology, this book describes a place rather primitive. I say they're series, but they share no characters nor space background. (The characters of the first and second book will reappear in the third and fourth book.)

Source: Goodreads

What if you have to prove yourself worthy of living constantly?

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It's a cruel world. The main character Kira knew it very well. No sooner did she come back from burying her mother than village people tried to kick her out to the forest - where beasts were believed to live in - and to squat her house themselves. If she lost the trial ruled by the Village Council, she had no choice but to leave here. When you think about it, it was quite a miracle for her to live in this town up until now, because she was born disabled; she limped. The law says clearly to throw out babies born with physical disabilities. They couldn't hunt nor farm, and therefore couldn't contribute to this society.

Kira had been living with her mother since her father was dead when she was a baby. Born with disabilities she was destined to be killed, but her father and grandfather were formidable figures in village so she was accepted as an exception. Now that her mother, not to mention her father and grandfather, was dead, it's a different story. There was no one to protect her. From the moment she was born, she had to prove herself worthy of living. She had to show others that she could too work and contribute to this society constantly. Fortunately she had special abilities in embroidery, and that kept her safe for all this time.

Her special embroidering abilities had saved her this time, too. The Council let her live in a far better place on one condition: she had to embroider the robe of The Singer. Embroidering the robe was a very special and important job because the robe was a kind of history book.

Recording history, making history

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In this society only privileged few could read. There were no books. The only chance villagers could learn the history of the world is when The Singer sang the very long song once a year. The Singer sang how human being had been living from thousands of years ago, and how the civilization had been destroyed and vanished. It took all day long to sing the whole song since it contained history of human being, but there was no written lyrics. It was all in The Singer's head; and the robe. There were tiny embroiders stitched in the robe, describing all the historic scenes from the history: tall buildings burning, mysterious-looking devices that fire something out of the long rod, ships with many people in it - all that Kira had never seen before. Kira's role was to repair the old and worn-out stitches and make new ones in the blank spaces. That is, to record and write history.

The only people she could call "friends" were a little boy Mat in the neighborhood and Thomas, who a few years older than her and carved little scenes on the big wooden staff for The Singer. The staff was also the same kind of history book that can remind The Singer of the lyrics.

With no one else to turn to, Kira felt herself lucky to be able to keep living in this town. After several mysterious incidents, however, she began to be suspicious about the Village Council. Two teenagers who had special abilities about stitches and carving wood, the two people who were responsible for the robe and the staff of The Singer, happened to become orphans for the past few years. Was that a coincidence? What ugly truth were they hiding?

That's how it's always been? No, we can make it different.

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For the greater good, for the well-being of the whole village, do we have to willingly accept sacrifice? But then, why only people in the lower class have to sacrifice themselves? Why only the high class few with wealth and power have the right to decide who should sacrifice?

What if Kira got to know that there were other societies where all people were treated equally, would she leave this place? Or would she stay behind and try to make her village happier place?

People are saying that's how it's always been. But we can make it different because it's us who record history now.

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This book rushes to the ending hurriedly and didn't elaborate how or what would happen, which can make some people annoying. In my opinion, this book is not the kind that says, "See, this is the result." This is the kind of book that suggests what would you do if you were Kira? The book is wonderful. It makes you think that those savage communities really exist somewhere in the world. Or do they?

If you love The Giver, I'd like to recommend Gathering Blue, too.

The title Gathering Blue is about blue dye, which Kira was desperately in need of. For some reason they couldn't make blue dye here. Rumor says somewhere in the world there is dye as blue as the sky. Could Kira find that blue dye?

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A Few Good Lines from the Book

1.

“Take pride in your pain,” her mother had always told her. “You are stronger than those who have none.”

2.
There was a cruel woman in the village with severe scar made by a beast. People said the pain had made her cruel. Kira thought of her own pain.

“Pain be making her cruel.”
Pain made me proud, Kira thought but didn’t say.

Pain made some cruel, pain made some proud. What has pain made you?

3.

“Why do people have to live like this?”
”It’s how it is,” he replied, frowning. “It’s always been.”
A sudden vision slid into Kira’s mind. The robe. The robe told how it had always been; and what Thomas had said was not true.

4.

“She don’t need us no more!” the woman had called.
It’s not true. I need all of you. We need each other.

5.

“We’re the ones who will fill in the blank places. Maybe we can make it different.”

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Disclaimer) There's only first part of the storyline in this review to introduce the book. No major spoiler included.

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Here are the recent 5 bookreviews that I wrote.
If you follow @bree1042, you can read many more interesting bookreviews!

#14. Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Hilarious and Sad Adolescence of a 14-year-old Boy

#15. Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee - Neither Korean Nor American

#16. Momo by Michael Ende - Momo and Beppo, who know how to listen and breathe

#17. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri - Will I Be Happy If I Change My Name?

#18. The Giver by Lois Lowry - To Become the Master of Your Own Life: Extremely Thrilling, and Incredibly Frightening.

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[Ourselves 캠페인]
셀프보팅을 하지 않고 글을 올리시고
ourselves 태그를 달아 주시면
어떤 일이 일어날까요?
긴 젓가락으로 서로 먹여주는 천국이 이뤄지지 않을까요?

<= 함께 하실 분은 위 문장을 글 하단에 꼭 넣어주세요~