For Spring Break, Titus and his buddies take a trip, meet some girls, and get into a bit of trouble.
There’s nothing new about that storyline; but M. T. Anderson’s Feed is much more than the stereotypical teen tale. It is an excursion into the not too distant future—and oddly, also deep into the present.
One might ask: “How can a book be both?” The answer is simple.
In one way, Feed is a sci-fi, fantasy book that paints a picture of life as it has not actually become.
In a Dickensian way, it is “Christmas Yet To Come.”
Yet, because of its outstanding writing and character development, it is also a candid, revealing reflection of the human spirit—an essence that is timeless.
The book takes place, after the citizens of Earth have essentially destroyed her. In a technological sense, most of the kids have a plethora of sophisticated toys. In fact, they, themselves, are basically technological toys. Almost all of them have an embedded, computerized “feed.” Not unlike today, the people with more financial resources are equipped with more bells and whistles.
In order to keep the feeds up and running, the physicians are essentially computer technicians. Again, those with more resources are able to afford better technical support; and those without adequate resources are simply out of luck. Unfortunately, Violet, the girl that Titus met on the moon, falls into the latter category.
Because of ecological problems, everyone has health issues—the lesions, for example—are beyond treatment. But there seems to be little concern about the skin lesions. Everyone has them—they have become the fashion rage.
The plot, to this point, is basically futuristic science fiction. Yet, the characters are not at all futuristic.
The boys, who travel to the moon, are just teen boys. They horse around and do silly things. At times, the kids are insensitive and callous; but that is certainly not something new. When they showed up in their ripped and shredded Riot clothes, I immediately thought of the $100 destroyed Abercrombie jeans—that line my son’s closet. While it is a bit shocking, the sporting of the lesions is much the same type of fashion-reaction.
Some of the girls have actually cut themselves and accentuated their lesions. That seems especially appalling; but most women today have similarly “cut” into themselves to accommodate pierced earrings. In some cultures, human scarification and piercings have persisted since antiquity.
The book takes place in the future; but it is a reflection of people—who always have been.
Superficially, the book is shocking; but on closer inspection, it is not.
I was appalled that Violet was allowed to desist—simply because she could not pay for technical support; but the scenario is actually not all that far-fetched.
Recently, I mortgaged my soul and bought what appeared would be my dream computer system.
Unfortunately, the dream didn’t last long. I seem to have bought a lemon—and none of my problems are covered—without my continuously paying for live support, to adjust this or that. Just last week, I had to totally scrub my computer and start over. Certainly, I was not dying; but I felt as though I was.
Like almost everyone else, I am much too busy to stop and deal with computer problems. Further, in scrubbing my computer, I lost more than time—I lost pictures, digital art, flash documents, business transactions, music, tomes of research, my own writing, and much of who I actually am.
My computer is not embedded inside my body; I don’t even wear it like a backpack—but it is very much a part of me. When my computer is "down," I am cast into panic. When my computer dies, part of me dies, as well. That, in itself, is a little scary.
In final analysis, I would have to say that Feed is a fantasy book, that is more real than not.
The thing that most shocks me about Feed is that it truly does not shock me at all.
