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The Recipient of Memory - a story about a world without feelings and freedom

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a world where there is no war, no crime, no fear and no pain. Everything is perfectly organized, no one has to worry about anything, even the occupation gets assigned to everyone. Jonas is to become the "recipient of memory", the revered guardian of memories. He's undergoing training, in which the current recipient of the memory passes on to him what no one else can know or feel - the memories and experiences of previous generations, he learns about pain and suffering, but also about beauty, of love and friendship, and he's beginning to understand, that his community lives in abundance and security at the cost of a total absence of feeling and choice. And with this knowledge, with the knowledge of these values, he can no longer live as before.
The book, which has sold ten million copies, has won a long list of awards, including one of America's two most prestigious awards for children's literature, the 1994 John Newbery Medal. Translation rights have been sold to 29 countries.