.: Book of the Week

Monday, March 5, 2012

Book of the Week

THE GIVER
(February 20, 2012)

I know I said I wouldn't read any kid books anymore for a while, but this book caught my eye while I was at the Library. I've heard this title tossed around over the years and remembered the positive feedback I heard. I think it is heavy for a children's book. I think it is sobering. I think it is thought-provoking as an adult. I think it is interesting and I have thought about the book's themes many times since reading it.

I compared the concepts in the Giver to a measure of what Christ had to experience. You'd have to read the book to understand what I am saying, but it made a little more clear to me what Christ felt as he took on the pains of the world. (SPOILER) The giver in the book takes on every memory from every person in the world that has ever lived. Good and bad. The giver starts by sharing really great memories...sledding in the snow, a boat ride, but then reveals harder memories that involve intense emotional and physical pain...and the giver feels it all.

There are two other companion novels to The Giver that I want to read, Gathering Blue, and The Messenger.

I would love to talk to someone about this book!!

1 comment:

JanelleMarch 5, 2012 at 11:42 PM
This is one of my favorite books. I read it every 2-3 years or so. I'm due for a re-read again. I love it.
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NUMBER ONE SPEECH

"Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

"There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

"Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

"Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.

"It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

"And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.

"I don't say these things because I believe in the 'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour - his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has to work his heart out in a good cause and he's exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."

--Vince Lombardi

In the Faith of Christ

Monday, March 5, 2012

Book of the Week

1 comment: