Ronnie G. (frenchgiant) reviewed on + 22 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
You drive to work as cars speed by you, the vast majority of their drivers texting their friends or reading their work emails on their PDAs to get a jump start on a busy workday. The radio never plays much music anymore and you're forced to listen to commercial after commercial as you breeze down a highway that is peppered with a variety of electronic billboards. You arrive at work, sit in your cubicle, and waste a vast majority of your day surfing the web; reading the latest news headlines (Global Warming, Corporate greed, Warring Nations, etc), updating your Facebook status, and searching for great bargains on those hot new must have items that you really don't need. Your day ends, you drive home, eat dinner, and enjoy some TV before bed (Damn those incessant commercials!). As soon as your head hits the pillow your alarm goes off. Repeat. This is the world we live in.
Fast forward to an undetermined year in the future where Titus, the main character in "Feed", lives. A world ravaged by global warming and pollution. A world in which humans are fitted with "feeds" that attach to their brains and keep them connected to the Web 24/7. A world in which humans can "chat" with their friends via their feeds without every having to open their mouth and mutter a syllable. A world in which humans no longer know how to read (why would you need to when you're force fed everything through your feed?) and the thought of writing anything is considered outlandish by the masses.
Crazy right? That was my initial thought as I began to read this book however the deeper I got into it the more startled I was by the similarities to our present day. Think about it - When is the last time you've sat down and wrote a letter to someone with a pen & paper? As cell phones advance haven't you been talking to people over the phone less and less...to the point where actually talking to someone can seem a bit tiresome when texting is do darn simple? Can you remember the last day that you didn't once log online or use your cell phone? And on that horrendous day did you feel completely disconnected from everything?
I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about "Feed" before starting to read it. Many reviews on here have noted readers' frustration with the jargon used in this book. Yes, the book is told through the eyes of a teenager, and yes some of the jargon can be a bit confusing at first, but the simple use of context clues resolves this concern. Additionally I don't typically read Young Adult books (I'm 30...sigh) but I believe the subject matter is pertinent and translates well for us old-timers. So put down your iPhone, turn off Fox News, log out of Twitter, and give "Feed" a chance.
Fast forward to an undetermined year in the future where Titus, the main character in "Feed", lives. A world ravaged by global warming and pollution. A world in which humans are fitted with "feeds" that attach to their brains and keep them connected to the Web 24/7. A world in which humans can "chat" with their friends via their feeds without every having to open their mouth and mutter a syllable. A world in which humans no longer know how to read (why would you need to when you're force fed everything through your feed?) and the thought of writing anything is considered outlandish by the masses.
Crazy right? That was my initial thought as I began to read this book however the deeper I got into it the more startled I was by the similarities to our present day. Think about it - When is the last time you've sat down and wrote a letter to someone with a pen & paper? As cell phones advance haven't you been talking to people over the phone less and less...to the point where actually talking to someone can seem a bit tiresome when texting is do darn simple? Can you remember the last day that you didn't once log online or use your cell phone? And on that horrendous day did you feel completely disconnected from everything?
I'll admit that I was a bit skeptical about "Feed" before starting to read it. Many reviews on here have noted readers' frustration with the jargon used in this book. Yes, the book is told through the eyes of a teenager, and yes some of the jargon can be a bit confusing at first, but the simple use of context clues resolves this concern. Additionally I don't typically read Young Adult books (I'm 30...sigh) but I believe the subject matter is pertinent and translates well for us old-timers. So put down your iPhone, turn off Fox News, log out of Twitter, and give "Feed" a chance.
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