I'm Feeling...Thoughtful

and why, you may wonder, do i feel thoughtful? and, more to the point, why am i bothering to share that feeling with you? well, dear readers, it is because sharing one's feelings at the end of the day is a daily routine in the world represented in the lois lowry book, The Giver, a book recommended by mira that i just finished reading. the reason i chose thoughtful is because it is truly a thought-provoking book, even when reading it as an adult. i can understand why mira and probably thousands of others who read it as a young adult consider the book a powerful read. had i started writing this blog when i only halfway through the book, i probably would've chosen the feeling of...uncomfortable. the community described in the book is very unsettling, and i wonder if perhaps it is more unsettling reading about it as an, er, old adult than it would be as a young adult. i don't want to play spoiler for the 3 or 4 of you who read this blog, and perhaps all of you have read the book--i don't know. i was squirming when i read the first half of the book; it was almost like a horror story to me, but maybe i'm a little sensitive to these issues. i knew what was going on--it's pretty easy to figure out where things are heading as an adult reader--but i was still squirming. as for the ending....well, i found it oddly uplifting despite the very deliberate amiguity on the author's part. i certainly don't hate mira the way i hated maddog for making me read my sister's keeper . even though i am normally a glass-half-full kind of guy who always looks for and generally finds the silver lining in things, my interpretation of the ending is probably the most negative one could have, and yet it still ends the book on a positive note. so, in keeping with the book, i thank mira for recommending the book, and i'm glad i read it.