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From: BudNotBuddy at aol.com <BudNotBuddy>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 13:42:03 EST
In a message dated 1/17/03 11:21:10 AM Pacific Standard Time, olgy at childrencomefirst.com writes:
In a message dated 1/18/03 8:17:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, DDPattison at aol.com writes:
In 1970, during the spring of my freshman year of high school, my English teacher Marion Crane provided us a list of books from which we were to choose one for a book report.?? The powerful writing and vision of FEED has me recalling the book I chose from Marion Crane's list--DO IT: Scenarios of the Revolution by Jerry Rubin.?? I have no idea how middle-aged Marion Crane regarded that book or its author, but I will never forget reading and being permanently affected by its message:
"A dying culture destroys everything it touches. Language is one of the first things to go. Nobody really communicates with words anymore. Words have lost their emotional impact, intimacy, ability to shock and make love. Language prevents communication. CARS LOVE SHELL How can I say
"I love you" after hearing
"CARS LOVE SHELL" Does anyone understand what I mean? Nigger control is called "law and order." Stealing is called "capitalism." A "REVOLUTION" IN TOILET PAPER A "REVOLUTION" IN COMBATING MOUTH ODOR! A "REVOLUTIONARY" HOLLYWOOD MOVIE! Have the capitalists no respect?"
DO IT! also gave some people a headache. But DO IT! provided a WAKE UP!!! call to us middle-class suburban adolescents who had been brought up on self?sorbed American consumerism by our Depression Baby parents.
"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."
FEED provides a similar wake up call to today's adolescents about the corporate take over of America. In a country run by privileged oilmen who are willing to go to war to insure our right to continue squandering a ridiculously large chunk of the world's scarce resources, in a country where corporations have already taken over the administration of schools in several large cities, in a country where the culture of the Internet and MTV has already created tremendous shifts in the manner in which the average American kid strings together words, both verbally and in writing, FEED is a book that is already so close to the truth that it risks becoming obsolete before the glue dries out on the award stickers.
"This perky voice on her feed said, Hi! I'm Nina, your personal FeedTech shopping assistant! Tired of that smell in your mouth? Try FreshGorge Glottal Deodorant--your boyf will thank you bigtime! Hey, Violet Durn, what a skip kinda day you had! You go shop, girl! Here's some more great info about all the brag stuff you asked about."
But is FEED great young adult literature? The answer is absolutely! If you want to pick it apart, I'd say that besides the overwhelming importance of its theme, the vast majority of readers find its setting to be a major strength. As to the slang that annoys some adult readers, I quote a post from a different message board: "We learn so much about that society and those individuals from the way they speak and I can hear the cadences several months after reading the book."
On top of that, I was captivated by FEED's heartbreaking love story about an adolescent who is so distraught about her world that she falls for the first boy she hears accidentally using a metaphor. Young adults will recognize if not identify with the characterizations of Titus and Violet.
"I don't do too good in School???. We were back in School???, so I was reminded pretty often that I was stupid."
That Titus isn't transformed is a strength. I would have tossed my cookies if Tobin Anderson had sold out his powerful vision by having Titus suddenly morph into some articulate and enlightened young man.
FEED is a breathtakingly honest look at where we're headed. If you can't see the hold that the corporations already have over the minds of young people then you are totally not paying attention. FEED is a book that our students are going out and actually spending their own money on, based on the buzz being created by schoolmates who are characterizing it as one of the best books they've ever read. FEED is a loud wake up call, not some whimper of hopelessness. Now that I'm in Marion Crane's position, I am putting FEED on every list I can.
Richie Partington http://richiespicks.com BudNotBuddy at aol.com
Received on Sat 18 Jan 2003 12:42:03 PM CST
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2003 13:42:03 EST
In a message dated 1/17/03 11:21:10 AM Pacific Standard Time, olgy at childrencomefirst.com writes:
In a message dated 1/18/03 8:17:59 AM Pacific Standard Time, DDPattison at aol.com writes:
In 1970, during the spring of my freshman year of high school, my English teacher Marion Crane provided us a list of books from which we were to choose one for a book report.?? The powerful writing and vision of FEED has me recalling the book I chose from Marion Crane's list--DO IT: Scenarios of the Revolution by Jerry Rubin.?? I have no idea how middle-aged Marion Crane regarded that book or its author, but I will never forget reading and being permanently affected by its message:
"A dying culture destroys everything it touches. Language is one of the first things to go. Nobody really communicates with words anymore. Words have lost their emotional impact, intimacy, ability to shock and make love. Language prevents communication. CARS LOVE SHELL How can I say
"I love you" after hearing
"CARS LOVE SHELL" Does anyone understand what I mean? Nigger control is called "law and order." Stealing is called "capitalism." A "REVOLUTION" IN TOILET PAPER A "REVOLUTION" IN COMBATING MOUTH ODOR! A "REVOLUTIONARY" HOLLYWOOD MOVIE! Have the capitalists no respect?"
DO IT! also gave some people a headache. But DO IT! provided a WAKE UP!!! call to us middle-class suburban adolescents who had been brought up on self?sorbed American consumerism by our Depression Baby parents.
"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."
FEED provides a similar wake up call to today's adolescents about the corporate take over of America. In a country run by privileged oilmen who are willing to go to war to insure our right to continue squandering a ridiculously large chunk of the world's scarce resources, in a country where corporations have already taken over the administration of schools in several large cities, in a country where the culture of the Internet and MTV has already created tremendous shifts in the manner in which the average American kid strings together words, both verbally and in writing, FEED is a book that is already so close to the truth that it risks becoming obsolete before the glue dries out on the award stickers.
"This perky voice on her feed said, Hi! I'm Nina, your personal FeedTech shopping assistant! Tired of that smell in your mouth? Try FreshGorge Glottal Deodorant--your boyf will thank you bigtime! Hey, Violet Durn, what a skip kinda day you had! You go shop, girl! Here's some more great info about all the brag stuff you asked about."
But is FEED great young adult literature? The answer is absolutely! If you want to pick it apart, I'd say that besides the overwhelming importance of its theme, the vast majority of readers find its setting to be a major strength. As to the slang that annoys some adult readers, I quote a post from a different message board: "We learn so much about that society and those individuals from the way they speak and I can hear the cadences several months after reading the book."
On top of that, I was captivated by FEED's heartbreaking love story about an adolescent who is so distraught about her world that she falls for the first boy she hears accidentally using a metaphor. Young adults will recognize if not identify with the characterizations of Titus and Violet.
"I don't do too good in School???. We were back in School???, so I was reminded pretty often that I was stupid."
That Titus isn't transformed is a strength. I would have tossed my cookies if Tobin Anderson had sold out his powerful vision by having Titus suddenly morph into some articulate and enlightened young man.
FEED is a breathtakingly honest look at where we're headed. If you can't see the hold that the corporations already have over the minds of young people then you are totally not paying attention. FEED is a book that our students are going out and actually spending their own money on, based on the buzz being created by schoolmates who are characterizing it as one of the best books they've ever read. FEED is a loud wake up call, not some whimper of hopelessness. Now that I'm in Marion Crane's position, I am putting FEED on every list I can.
Richie Partington http://richiespicks.com BudNotBuddy at aol.com
Received on Sat 18 Jan 2003 12:42:03 PM CST
