Friday, April 4, 2014

The Giver

So I just saw the first trailer for The Giver film based on Lois Lowry's internationally-acclaimed book.
I'm a torn-up mess right now.
First off, you must understand the role this book had in my life:
I grew up in a house full of books with a father who was constantly urging me to read books beyond the usual Sweet Valley chapter book I was devouring at the time. And sometimes I did read the books he recommended, but I didn't always understand them. I was perfectly content in my ignorant world of aesthetically-immaculate blond, Californian twins.
Skill-wise, I was capable of reading anything--I was very a good reader. But mentally, I wasn't ready for more. I couldn't properly understand more complex books yet.
In Grade 7, I was terribly bullied. I went through months of physical abuse from older boys, and verbal abuse from female peers. This partially assisted in an eventual alcoholism and depression in my teen years.On an especially difficult day in grade 7, I hid in an empty spare room during recess to avoid my tormentors, and cracked open a book I had snatched from the school library based on it's title.
The Giver sounded like something I could use.
I remember huddling in the corner of the room, devouring this book.
It was like the clouds had parted and the sun had begun to shine. I was seeing the bright, red apple with Jonas in a monochrome world.

The trailer looks amazing, don't get me wrong, but it is difficult to see someone else's interpretation of a book that means so much to me.
What do you think?

No comments:

Post a Comment