So, The Giver showed up on my desk and I had no idea what it was. It looked short – 200 or so pages – and the cover didn’t offer up any clues. It has a black and white picture of an old guy with a beard. Very provocative, indeed. He actually reminded me of the professor from Count of Monte Cristo and made me want to go watch the movie again. Yes, yes, I know, this is about book reviews, but I actually like the movie. Come on, it has Richard Harris! Fine, fine, back to the book review.

The Giver is set in a somewhat sci-fi world that is similar to our own, if maybe a little more technologically advanced. The community that the book takes place in is a neat, orderly society where nothing is left to chance. Feelings have been eradicated through years of careful manipulation. The population is tightly controlled and children are “assigned” to families regardless of their ancestry. Citizens are placed in their roles without any personal say, although the assigners watch each individual to try to make them as happy as possible.

The only strange technology that makes The Giver feel more sci-fi is the namesake: the Giver. This individual, selected for the task by his predecessor instead of being “assigned,” is responsible for being the bearer of memories. You see, in The Giver, memories aren’t stuck in your head. The Giver can transfer memories. And, if the Giver exits the area surrounding his community, the memories that he possesses are set “free,” and the community reabsorbs them.

The main story revolves around Jonas, the newest Giver. He must go through training and learn about life by living through memories. He must take on the burden of the current Giver’s memories, so he cannot be shielded from all of the knowledge that entails. Memories of snow, sunshine, color, lust, pain, and sorrow — things that do not exist as far as his community is concerned — become his burden.

The book itself goes by pretty quick, but I did find it a little slowly paced. I don’t know if it’s because supposedly for kids or not, but I think it could have been cut down to about half the size with the same impact. Not much really happens – instead, the author tends to spend a good chunk of time explaining the society that she has manufactured. Much of it is unimportant beyond stressing exactly how orderly and “safe” it is. An inordinate amount of time seems to be spent describing bicycles. What an honor it is to ride them. How they have bike stalls everywhere, where bikes should be neatly parked. The ritual “illegal” training of underage kids to ride bikes. And so on.

Memories are something I find really interesting and the idea that you can transmit them (more directly than by storytelling) seems like a neat idea. However, I’m not really sure what the point of the book is, if there is a point. The most obvious corollary would be Orwell’s 1984 for a more juvenile audience. The Giver doesn’t do a very good job of communicating the fear and oppression that comes across so readily in 1984, so the impact isn’t really felt.

In the end, maybe it’s seen as literature for young adults for a reason. I think that if I had read this prior to 1984 and some other eye-opening works, the message would have been better received. Once my brother starts popping out kids, I’ll have to pass this one on to his children.

The Power of One did that to me.

It’s the type of book that should be assigned in high school reading classes. I think that if my classmates and I had been handed this book to read instead of say, The Scarlet Letter, our feeling on literature would have been much different. The Power of One was written in 1989, so I can understand it not having transcended to literary classic status (yet), but I think it will get there.

The book is a tale that is, basically, about a legend. It’s told from the perspective of a white Southern African boy born in the period right before World War 2. It covers his life as he faces what seems tragedy after tragedy, hardships that no little boy should have to endure. The boy, Peekay, sets a goal early on to become the welterweight champion of the world. Although that may seem like a cliche background to the dozens of athletic autobiographies out there, this one does it a little differently. I can’t go in to too much detail, because I really don’t want to spoil it. Take it from me, you want to read this book.

The thing that delights me so about this book is that it really is like a symphony in book form. On one page you will be giggling like a little schoolgirl at the pure naivety and innocence of childhood. Twenty pages down the line, you will feel a hole in your heart as if you just lost a family member. Be sure to bring a packet of Kleenex with you at all times, because you will probably be soaking them with tears – of sadness and of joy – as the characters in the book develop.

This book reminds me heavily of my all-time favorite book, Ender’s Game. The combination of physical and intellectual prowess shown in the book make me want to aspire to something more. Does Peekay seem a little too good at times? Sure. But, come on, you can’t help but root for him. It is the same way with Ender in Ender’s Game, yet the story never gets old or corny. It remains delightful and thought provoking the whole way through.

There are little nuggets of wisdom, common sense, and thoughts on the meaning of life sprinkled heavily throughout the book. Considering the fact that it takes place during World War 2, and takes place in South Africa when racial segregation was still in full swing, the issues that it tackles are not easy. However, the author has such a simple, straight forward way of wrapping these issues in the tale of Peekay that it fascinates you instead of bores you.

The Power of One has made it to my coveted top 5 list and will, I’m sure, stay there for quite awhile. I’m sure my old, beat up copy of Ender’s Game will be happy for the company on my nightstand.

Intrigued by the contents of this little section and a hearty recommendation by the professor, I picked up Better a few months later. As I was checking out, the clerk cheerily informed me that it was one of his favorite books. It turned out that he was in medical school and working at Borders part time. His other top four books included the infamous Grey’s Anatomy (no, not the TV show) and various other medical books, so it’s not a surprise that this one made the list. Better gives a brief look at what’s on the other side of the veil, at what doctors have to put up with and some issues they have to contend with. The majority of the book is, unsurprisingly, based around the medical field. It covers a range of delightful, uplifting topics such how to make doctors and nurses wash their hands more often so they don’t infect (and kill) their patients, how messed up our malpractice system is in the United States, and the doctors behind the death penalty.

Sarcasm aside, Dr. Gawande has the unique ability of interweaving statistics with his own personal story and, for good measure, some self-improvement tips. He lumps his stories together under a few categories, such as “diligence,” “doing right,” and “ingenuity,” although I have to admit that they seem sort of tacked on to the end. The afterword (“Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant”) wrap all these up in a nice tidy package, so if you’re looking for a concise summary of the book I’d suggest just reading that at your local Borders.

Overall, the book is enjoyable; doubly so if you are interested in the medical field. We all have someone in the family or a friend of a family that is a surgeon, nurse, or currently slogging through medical school. Buy it for them, then steal it back for a week and read it yourself.

A Walk in the Woods

Most of the entertainment, I must admit, comes from Bryson’s partner in crime, Katz. An overweight, recovering alcoholic who flies out from Iowa to join Bryson on his journey, Katz’s amusing character flaws make him the highlight of the trip. The first day of the trip, for instance, his frustration at the weight of his pack causes him to fling some of his possessions over a cliff – among them are cans of Spam, brown sugar, and coffee filters. Later in the book, the author credits Katz with saying something like “Fuck. My criteria for women nowadays is that they not be TOO big and that they have all four limbs. And the limbs part is negotiable, if you know what I mean.”

That quote is about as seedy as this book gets, so if you’re looking for drunken shenanigans, this book isn’t for you. However, it’s still an amusing book that manages to pack a walloping message about the lack of care given to the Appalachian Trail and the surrounding wilderness. Every chapter starts out with at least a few paragraphs on the history of the AT, the current status of it, or various other ecological issues (acid rain is, from what I can gather, the author’s pet peeve). The author’s easy-going style of writing, however, makes it more interesting than preachy and the balance between historical facts and story make it an easy read.

The other aspect of the book that I really liked is the author’s self-deprecating tone that he uses throughout the book. He’s not like the kid from Into the Wild who decides to burn his car, give away his money, and hike out into the wilderness. He’s a pretty normal guy whose love for cheeseburgers and CocaCola is surpassed only by his love for his family. He doesn’t take up the trail as a crusade against modernization or anything like that. He spends a good deal of time while on the trail looking forward to the next motel that skirts the AT, so he can get a hot meal and a cold soda. He doesn’t hold himself up as a saint, so he comes across as a humble, self-effacing guy who is somewhat out of his element.

There are some books whose words seem to fly off the page faster than you actually read them. Maybe the offending book has been recommended by a friend. Maybe you picked it up at Borders after reading the back cover and it’s been sitting patiently on your shelf – content to wait, but always ready to perk up and entertain you. This is one of those books. If, for some reason, you do decide to read a book about a guy going hiking, this one should be it – and it will be over before you know it.