Feed, by M.T. Anderson, is the second discussion book
for English 1100. The writing for Feed is much different than Eleanor and Park.
First, Feed takes place in the future. What I find most interesting is how
Anderson portrays the future, and that it does not seem much different from
where we are today. Groups of teenagers, for example, go to the moon in the
story like they might go to Florida now. Even the reason seems the same – to have
a good time, however that is defined.
I found the chats the most fascinating. Communications
literally took place in people’s heads. Speaking out loud had become weird, and
the characters would even forget that they could speak out loud. Plus, the idea
of a feed seems to be constant news and advertising, still inside heads, to
complement the thoughts and sights of the characters. Facebook had not been
created by the time the book published, yet the interactions reminded me of
that. The difference is that the characters signed in because of a chip in
their head, so computers and people combined. Does that make these
characters human or maybe they are a society of artificial intelligence beings?
While reading Eleanor and Park, I could relate and
remember the names of the characters. In Feed, it is more one-dimensional. Maybe because she is the focus of the narrator, the only character who stands out to me is Violet. Violet’s
dad saved up for a year so she could go to the moon, and her first experience
includes an incident where there is a hacker. Violet is not rich like everyone
else, and it took longer for her to be on the Feed, too. Plus, she was taught
school at home. Violet’s home is not in its own bubble, either. Instead, her
home is with others on the same block, or maybe bigger. Violet is also the one
with ideas to mess with the Feed.
The most challenging part to reading this book is that
I want it to move faster. The language makes it difficult. I can figure out the
context of some of the words, such as “unit,” which seems to be used like “dude.” Overall, I am curious to see how the story will play out.
I like your points. Especially about the characters. They all seem the same to me. To reiterate Violet's point about the corporation grouping them into categories to make them about one and the same. Everybody but her and her father seem simplistic and identical.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I like most about this book versus Eleanor and Park is that the scene constantly changes, other than that I'm not sure what this book really has going for it yet.
ReplyDeleteI also felt like this book just needs to move FASTER. Definitely didn't read this one as fast as I read Eleanor and Park. I seriously had to reread a few things because I was confused about what the real meaning was.
ReplyDeleteI think that every character seeming the same was a deliberate choice by the author. He is writing a book about a society where the feed pushes them to conform to all be the same so that people will be ore likely to buy their products. Having very dynamic characters would undermine the point that Anderson is trying to make.
ReplyDelete"Does that make these characters human or maybe they are a society of artificial intelligence beings?" I think is a really interesting question. and you raise so many good points.
ReplyDeleteI definitely thought this book needed to move faster as well. I found myself bored and uninterested at times, because everything was moving so slowly. I hope that as we continue to read it becomes more fast paced!
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