Thoughts on Feed

This is my first, and only, post on the book Feed, because I didn’t get the chance to blog at all last week – so, I’ll try to sum up my expectations, feelings, and reflections in one post.

I was initially very excited to read this book. The premise of losing the advanced technology that defines your daily life was exciting. I was ready to connect with the main character (Titus) and watch the parallels of “the feed” and my daily need for technology. I also have always really like sci-fi books and YAL. In short, I was pumped.

My hopes were dashed immediately. I’m not being dramatic, I promise. By immediately I mean the very first sentence. “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” From that moment, I understood what M.T. Anderson was trying to do. He decided that to write a book about teenagers, he had to write like a teenager. There is no real skill or imagery in the narrative, just Titus’s perspective. Things that go unexplained really needed to be explained. But in M.T. Anderson’s mind (obviously, I’m speculating) those things are so natural to Titus that it would be unnatural to explain things. The thing that bothered me the most was the “slang” words (which reminded me of Zenon: Girl of the 21^st Century – an old Disney Channel Movie).

I do appreciate the concept Anderson tries to use here, but it just didn’t work. Every time a slang word came up, “meg,” “null,” or “unit,” to name a few, I had to stop, think about the word, and remember its context, meaning, and common use, before I could move on in the story. I usually read books to become immersed and I could not do that AT ALL with this style of writing. Also, when things weren’t explained properly (because it’s from Titus’s point of view after all) I couldn’t picture the scenes as Anderson probably wanted them. I didn’t even understand that homes are inside of some sort of protective bubble on Earth until Titus was describing Violet’s neighborhood.

I’m sure you can infer what my reflections of this book are. I didn’t like it. I understand the literary ideas put into this book, but either they were not used well or they are, frankly, crappy concepts. The actual content of the story – at least what I could understand and retain after getting through the confusing construction – was thought provoking, if a little on-the-nose, so I’m sure Anderson can actually  write, but I honestly never want to read this book ever again.

Final Thoughts on the Reality of Eleanor & Park

I can’t say I didn’t see this coming. But wow, poor Eleanor. I felt like Richie – while we knew he was volatile – wouldn’t actually want to kill her. I gave him to much the benefit of the doubt. I feel that this is far too common a reaction to seeing abuse.

When Eleanor gets to her aunt and uncles house, she overhears her uncle almost brushing off what she went through by saying “What if she isn’t telling the truth?” I can understand fear being replaced with skepticism, when the facts are explained, but in no way, NONE, was her uncle justified in trying to sweep Eleanor’s siblings under the rug by questioning the truthfulness of her story. What sixteen-year-old kid would drive all through the night to show up unannounced and proclaim she was being hunted by her stepfather just for it all to be a joke?

Of everything that happened in our last reading, Eleanor and Park’s date, their day alone, the catastrophe that is Richie, the drive to Minnesota, or Park finally driving a stick, the thing that disgusted me the most was that single line from her uncle. We knew Richie was going to happen – he was a time-bomb. We knew Park would be ready to save his love – he had already kicked Steve in the face for her. And we knew that Eleanor would try to distance herself from Park after saying good-bye – her clear refusal to say the word “love” to Park was evidence enough of that. I just never expected that the relief of being away from Richie could be ruined so quickly – from one line. I respect Rowell for that. That was artful.

I’m sad the book is over – as I am with almost every book – and I am happy the Eleanor and Park turned out ok (as far as we can tell) and I am glad that everything wasn’t just fixed with a magic wand, they still had to struggle, they had to fight for safety and that made it real.

The Currency of High School

In Eleanor & Park, you see two very different ideas about money, obviously. But not only in the sense of dollar bills, but also in the currency of popularity. We only just see Park coming to realize this at the end of our readings for the week, when he realizes he has been inadvertently leading Tina on just to keep her attention and keep himself in the “inner circle” of popularity.

This, once again, is in stark contrast to Eleanor who has no popularity “points” to spend compared to Park’s. This truly parallels with their financial situations: Park doesn’t even notice his status in the school until Eleanor, who is hyperaware of these things, points it out to him. Park, financially, didn’t really notice his (or his family’s) stability until he began to understand Eleanor better and got a look into her life.

I don’t think that Rowell used Eleanor’s jealousy of Tina – although I really don’t think “jealousy” is the right word – just to drive a wedge between the two lovebirds, but more to emphasize the differences between their ways of life. Eleanor is used to scrounging for every last cent, hyper-vigilant to make ends meet, where Park just allows things to happen around him. Eleanor is active where Park is passive. Just the same thing happens with popularity. Alina Tugend talks more about this in an article for the New York Times.

This interaction, alone, shows to me the thought behind the mentality that some people in poverty have. It’s a mindset of “They don’t even notice that they can afford groceries or gas.” And it make these people bitter – and not unfairly. In Park’s case, he truly doesn’t notice that Tina likes him until it is shoved in his face.

The Music of Eleanor & Park

 

Eleanor and Park is, so far, an interesting read. I usually trend towards more fantasy-driven stories, but as I grow up a bit, I have come to truly appreciate the relatability to my own life. Rainbow Rowell, the author, seems to have a very similar mindset as I when it comes to music – which you so rarely find in fantasy novels. Not in the sense of personal taste but the qualities music – or musical references, in this case – can impart on a story. Rainbow has built the music in this book into a literary playlist, which she breaks down from her authorial intent on her own website which I have linked below.

Park, although he certainly enjoys music, doesn’t quite look at the stories behind each song as in-depth as Eleanor does. Through this book – or at least to chapter 20, as that is as far as I have gotten – Park uses music to fill space. He asks Eleanor about The Smiths in their very first (meaningful) conversation as though he has nothing else to say.

Eleanor, on the other hand seems to think less about the song itself – although she seems to pay darn close attention to that as well – but more the story behind the song. As she looks through her father’s records looking for the perfect songs to choose for him, Eleanor doesn’t dwell on the individual songs, but how nostalgic she is of the times she could use the records before the divorce and before Richie. And how she want Park to react. Like she is composing him a playlist that has a definite beginning, middle, and end - instead of globs of music that are just kind of there.

I don’t mean to say that Park doesn’t appreciate this aspect of musical storytelling in the mixtapes he creates, but that Rainbow actively decided to emphasize this decision making process on Eleanor’s behalf, not Park’s.

Link to Rainbow Rowell’s playlist and descriptions:

http://www.rainbowrowell.com/news/eleanor-park-all-the-playlists-all-the-music

1st Post EVER

Yo, this is my blog and this is my first blogpost. Congratulations to me.