Sunday, January 4, 2009

Feed by MT Anderson

I think maybe Erin recommended this book previously? Its not a difficult read--I read it in the course of this afternoon. It kind of deals with some topics that you might be familiar with from the uglies/pretties series. Anyway, I've just spent like the past 20 minutes crying, so... I liked it but it did get pretty sad. (I should be posting a review of Betwixt... I really liked that one. Maybe later.) Here is a synopsis I found on Amazon

In this chilling novel, Anderson (Burger Wuss; Thirsty) imagines a society dominated by the feed a next-generation Internet/television hybrid that is directly hardwired into the brain. Teen narrator Titus never questions his world, in which parents select their babies' attributes in the conceptionarium, corporations dominate the information stream, and kids learn to employ the feed more efficiently in School. But everything changes when he and his pals travel to the moon for spring break. There Titus meets home-schooled Violet, who thinks for herself, searches out news and asserts that "Everything we've grown up with the stories on the feed, the games, all of that it's all streamlining our personalities so we're easier to sell to." Without exposition, Anderson deftly combines elements of today's teen scene, including parties and shopping malls, with imaginative and disturbing fantasy twists. "Chats" flow privately from mind to mind; Titus flies an "upcar"; people go "mal" (short for "malfunctioning") in contraband sites that intoxicate by scrambling the feed; and, after Titus and his friends develop lesions, banner ads and sit-coms dub the lesions the newest hot trend, causing one friend to commission a fake one and another to outdo her by getting cuts all over her body. Excerpts from the feed at the close of each chapter demonstrate the blinding barrage of entertainment and temptations for conspicuous consumption. Titus proves a believably flawed hero, and ultimately the novel's greatest strength lies in his denial of and uncomfortable awakening to the truth. This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing indictment that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate- and media-dominated culture. Ages 14-up.

2 enjoyed the bouquet.:

Erin said...

I'm glad you posted about this! And I hope you post about Betwixt.

I liked Feed - thought it was really well done. Definitely sad, though. Pretty dark.

Ginger @ GReads! said...

Hmm.. not sure about this one. The synopsis seemed a little much for my taste. I am curious about this Betwixt that I keep reading about.

I ordered my new books on Amazon.. so I have to wait for the lovely mail man to deliver them to me.. hopefully sometime this week! Not sure which I'll read first (I ordered House of Night Book 1 and Tithe). In the meantime I am reading a major girly book called The Smart One and the Pretty One. It was slow getting into (its only about 300 pgs) and right now I am on page 230 something.. and it just got interesting! I put it down several times annoyed with it, but determined to finish it.