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July Book Club Discussion ***SPOILERS ALERT****

Karen

Karen

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Okay, so for those of us that forgot or couldn't attend the chat last night (I'm still kicking myself for forgetting) Let's discuss The Giver and Matched here.

Do not proceed any further if you haven't finished the books yet so we can discuss freely... and with spoilers!

Questions to get us started:
1. Which book did you read first?
2. Which one did you enjoy more?
 
I read The Giver first then Matched. I liked The Giver better but not by much. I actually thought both books were so similar but that in The Giver the ending felt more closed than Matched. I felt like Matched just ended & I was really disappointed not to know whether she found Ky.

What do you guys think about the worlds that were created?
 
1. I read The Giver first mostly so I could fairly compare whether Matched was a copy like has been suggested. I did think there were general similarities of course, but I thought the plot was different enough that it didn't really bother me.

2. I can't decide which one I liked better, but I think I liked The Giver better. Except, I really did like the ending. I finished and was like "what just happened?" I actually had to go read Spark Notes to see what they said and they said it was supposed to be a positive ending that he found the Elsewhere, but it really felt like they died to me. The only reason I'd say they might have actually found a farm house is that he heard music and he didn't know what that was so wouldn't have been able to imagine that part.

I did enjoy Matched too and actually read the entire thing in one day which is not normal for me. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book to come out. I normally wait until all of the books are out before I'll read a series because I really hate waiting like this. :)
 
I had read the Giver back in my school days but I re-read it to freshen my mind. I read that one first and Matched second. I really enjoyed both books. I totally get the comparisons that people make between the two books, but I like the added romance element of Matched.

Alli....Matched is actually a Trilogy. Crossed comes out in November of this year and the final book comes out in November of 2012. So we will get to know what happens and if she finds Ky.
 
I didn't realize there was another book coming out for Matched. I don't know if I will read it or not. I might just to see what happens to them. lol. I felt more sadness for the citizens in the Matched book than The Giver. I felt bad the family had to move to the farmlands & leave everyone they knew behind just b/c the mom knew some secret. I felt bad about Ky's parents. I felt bad that nobody could remember b/c they took the red pills. I was curious about the Officers. I mean was their life better or not? Matched just left me with more questions than The Giver.
 
At the chat last night we all agreed that in The Giver the people seem happier because they are oblivious, except for Jonas, whereas in Matched they are repressed.
 
Did anyone ever watch the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse?? Life inside the Dollhouse is sort of what I imagined life in Matched to be like.
 
Cristina said:
At the chat last night we all agreed that in The Giver the people seem happier because they are oblivious, except for Jonas, whereas in Matched they are repressed.
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That was the feeling I got from them too. The whole scripted life in both seemed the same but I thought more went wrong in Matched than The Giver + the whole idea of them screwing with the match to begin with didn't seem like something they would have done in The Giver.
 
Brynn Marie said:
Did anyone ever watch the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse?? Life inside the Dollhouse is sort of what I imagined life in Matched to be like.
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I didn't see it but just read the summary on Wikipedia. Your right the concept seems the same.
 
We also talked about which of the two societies we'd rather live in, and why.
 
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I kind of wanted to live in the Matched society, but only because they had meals just delivered to their house and they didn't have to cook! Of course that only works in you're willing to eat whatever they serve up, but I honestly think I would be. I don't often care what I eat as long as it's fast to make and not terribly unhealthy. :)
 
:lol that's funny, Karen! I also would have picked the Matched society, but only by exclusion, because the people in The Giver seemed to have no choice, no awareness. Also, the fact that children were assigned in The Giver really disturbed me.
 
Sorry I didn't make the chat. With the boys being sick, I was in the doctor's office yesterday, so I didn't have time to finish Matched. I didn't want to spoil it. I plan on finishing up tonight, so I'll be back here tomorrow. :)
 
I liked Matched so much better than the Giver. The Giver felt flat to me and the ending just didn't feel like an ending to me, and I still can't decide if they died or found Elsewhere. Matched on the other hand had a better story and better characters. And I can't wait to read the next two books. As far as which world I would want to live in, definitely Matched. They seemed to have more choices and freedom in their lives. I didn't like how scientific and sterile all the choices were made in the Giver, for example how children were assigned instead of born into the family.
 
I have almost the exact opposite opinion to Lisa! :lol

I read them both, The Giver first. I much preferred The Giver, I spent most of my time while reading Matched noticing the similarities to other novels. It was as if the author threw a load of dystopian fiction into the blender, added a heavy dose of Hunger Games, mixed in the obligatory love triangle and out came Matched. Having said that, I will probably end up reading the next one in the series, just because I hate to leave a story unfinished :)

I felt that the plot in Matched was signposted all the way through and it just left me feeling dissatisfied. I finished The Giver and spent a lot of time thinking about the ending and all the different ways it could be interpreted, the story stayed with me for a while. After finishing Matched I just wondered how long it would take Cassia (Katnisss?!) to find Ky and become the focus of some sort of uprising.

I just picked up Gathering Blue and The Messenger to read next.
 
I read The Giver first and then Matched. I was not fond of either book. I liked the concept of the The Giver - seemed really out there to have a society like that, but I had so many questions after I finished it. (I guess that is the point, right?) Matched was too similar in concept for me to enjoy - although I liked the romance between Cassia and Ky.
 
I can't comment to compare, but I did enjoy reading The Giver as strictly entertainment. I think the way they unveiled the society, making it look so positive and healthy, and then slowly identifying the ways in which it was so broken was very well done. The idea that lack of strong emotion was required in order to promote harmony and avoid discord was interesting. So were the "lies" that people ended up having to tell in order to promote a happy little society, like the Dad saying babies went Elsewhere knowing full well he was euthanizing babies that weren't perfect, and the way he was joking as he described that little Gabe was going Elsewhere was quite chilling.

I'm glad I continued on, reading both Gathering Blue and Messenger, and although they aren't strictly part of a series, they do take place forward in time in the same "world" and the Messenger answers the question of whether Jonas and Gabe die at the end of The Giver. Of the 3 books, I liked The Giver the best. But I was hoping the next book would examine the impact of Jonas' memories becoming "known" in his community and neither did.

I'm still #6 in line for Matched at the library.
 
Well... I didn't read Matched yet. I'm still like #21 on my library's wait list.
But I did get through The Giver.

I LOVED this book. It was interesting to imagine about this other lifestyle.
Heather, I hear you about how the dad reacted to "Elsewhere".
I was truly disappointed with how short the book was though.
I felt like I just got into it... and then what?? it's over already?
 
Kate said:
I have almost the exact opposite opinion to Lisa! :lol

I read them both, The Giver first. I much preferred The Giver, I spent most of my time while reading Matched noticing the similarities to other novels. It was as if the author threw a load of dystopian fiction into the blender, added a heavy dose of Hunger Games, mixed in the obligatory love triangle and out came Matched. Having said that, I will probably end up reading the next one in the series, just because I hate to leave a story unfinished :)

I felt that the plot in Matched was signposted all the way through and it just left me feeling dissatisfied. I finished The Giver and spent a lot of time thinking about the ending and all the different ways it could be interpreted, the story stayed with me for a while. After finishing Matched I just wondered how long it would take Cassia (Katnisss?!) to find Ky and become the focus of some sort of uprising.
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^^^^ Yes this!!

I enjoyed reading both books, but The Giver is the one that will stay with me and haunt me. I really did love it.

With The Matched, all I could think of was for them to hurry up and kiss. Sometimes it's just too hard reading YA books! lol I've already ordered the next book in the series...I want to know what's going to happen.
 
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