Feed : A Brilliant Satire for the Next Generation
What if our brains were constantly connected to the internet via a micro-chip implant? This satire depicts the nature of humanity and its ominous connection with technology. Have we become too close? Here is a story that interweaves concepts from Huxley’s “Brave New World”, with coming of age novels like “Star Girl” and “Catcher in the Rye.” The pacing of this novel is quick and engaging. The dumbed down language of the teenagers can be confusing at first, but after the first few chapters, you being to understand all the made up slang words. This novel is STARKINGLY close to a not too distance future. This prophetic story exposes a dark undertone of what society would look like if we become too dependent on the internet and what truths could be exposed by those that rebel against THE FEED…
This book has become a hit at Canton High School, where I teach Remedial Reading classes. Student’s love reading this book and I believe it should be incorporated into the English Curriculum. It’s a modern day coming of age novel following one boy, Titus, and his attraction to a girl who is fighting THE FEED. Violet, is a smart, sassy, beautiful girl who challenges Titus to try to think for himself. He doesn’t change much throughout the story, which I liked because it made it more believable for the time period, rather than have the cheesy “girl saves boy” kind of ending. The kids enjoy this because the language veers closely to text language and the pacing of the story is engaging and captivates the reader. The satire style along with the prophetic and political undertones make the story exciting to even the most reluctant reader!
INSPIRATION!!
Here is a poem I wrote after reading “Feed”…
Question the Feed
So caught up inside the feed-
I think I forgot how to plant a seed.
Screamin’, shoutin’
all day reactin’
makin’ my ears bleepin’ bleed.
Think it’s too much?
Are you tired enough?
Sick of the arson’s aching need?
Sick of stalkin’, hauntin’, tauntin’?
Facebook, I-Tunes, cyber games, email
Where and when?
Such a lonesome trail?
Campfires, home cookin’ and scary ghost tales-
real rock heroes that didn’t involve
a spaced out kid by the TV set-
cradling a placebo guitar
with multi-colored buttons
disguised as a fret?
Art shows, writing letters in fountain pen-
not typing all alone in the dingy old den?
Manual cameras and film in the park?
Developing pictures,
enjoying the mysterious room of the dark?
Picture hues manifesting so natural and true.
Now with “photo-shop” art,
little Johnny can tell you
just where to start.
So remember where you came from
next time, you’re cruisin’ the net,
’cause just ya never know when your
mind gets spent.!?
Click here to purchase book:
http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Expressions-Time-For-Us/dp/146623668X
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