What is Feed?
The “feed” is a transmitter that is implanted directly into the brain. With this technology, Titus and his friends have the whole world at their fingertips – or in their minds, rather. Imagine surfing the internet, shopping and purchasing, text messaging, and using a cell phone with your brain. These are all normal tasks for the characters in Feed. When Titus meets Violet, a girl who decides to fight the feed, she challenges everything Titus thinks is important in life.
Feed has a language of its own
Feed is not the easiest book to read. The word choice is sloppy, yet original; somewhere between “valley girl,” using the word “like” like all the time, and futuristic slang. Some of the slang is hard to pick up on at first, such as “Unit” and “Unette” meaning “boy” and “girl,” as in “oh boy!” Also something cool is “meg brag,” and boring things are called “null.” The lingo takes some getting used to.
Feed’s Titus: Love to hate him
It is really hard to get into the book with such unlikable characters. Titus is the biggest jerk of them all. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself, and the story is told through his point of view. The way he treats his girlfriend, Violet, especially when she’s on her deathbed, is just ridiculous. Throughout the entire book, you can’t help but hate the Titus, and it limits any possible positive reactions one might get from the story.
Feed’s characters just aren’t likeable
Violet is the only character in Feed that is almost likeable; however, even she fails to impress. Out of all the characters in the novel, she is the one who is able to see the mindless consumers for what they really are. She is different from the others and intelligent enough to know this, but she keeps falling for Titus. He treats her like garbage, and she always ends up forgiving him. He doesn’t stick up for her when his friends call her stupid for using big words, and it disgusts him to imagine dating her when he discovers she might die.
M.T. Anderson focuses on current issues
What is scary about Feed is a lot of the elements used in it are things we see in today’s world. The teenagers’ use of chatting over the feed, instead of normal conversation - even if they’re in the same room - are comparable to email and text messaging. Companies marketing their products over the feed, adjusting their marketing techniques to fit consumer’s personalities, are also seen today. Examples of these instances are pop-up ads on the internet and through products like the iPod, where music purchasing suggestions are made based on your listening preferences. M.T. Anderson is blatantly pointing out how technology is taking over, and if we’re not safe, we might fall victim to it.
Feed: is it worth reading?
Despite the important topics brought to attention within the novel, M.T. Anderson misses the mark. The dialogue, and more importantly, the narration makes you want to rip your hair out. The characters are just frustrating and no one learns any kind of lesson. Titus tries to look inside himself and become a better person, but fails miserably. This may be putting forth a statement about society and what we may or may not become, but it’s a painful journey to get to that point. It’s a wonder how this book earned the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among other awards.
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