Food for Thought

Serres is the ultimate parasite. The author of the aptly named book, The Parasite, does what he knows best; “He obtains energy and pays for it in information.” He is a parasite on us the reader. Is he not exchanging his thoughts, in the form of a book, for our money? And with that money he’ll buy food that could be ours! Serres takes our food for his thoughts. “He obtains the roast and pays for it with stories.” (36) Food for thought.

Serres too talks of leadership. “Anyone who wants to sit on the shoulders of an athlete does not want him to see well. He who likes to command can do so, but on one condition: the eyes of the producers, of the energetic and the strong, have to be poked out.” Is Serres opening our eyes to the world of parasites or merely blinding us? Reading Serres is a constant game of Marco Polo. Where exactly is it that we are being led?

In French, the word parasite also means static. Serres’ work seems to fit this alternate definition well. The text is a jumble of noise through which we, the reader, try to perceive a clear message. We are led through fragments of fables, references to philosophers, and puns on French language.

It’s easy to play the cynic though. And although there are times I wish I could tear up the book into tiny pieces and eat them, thereby turning his thoughts into my food, I restrain myself, and find his book more enjoyable to read than to eat.

(Serres rambles on about bifurcations and excluded thirds)


After all, the beauty of music isn’t in the individual melodies, but in the mixture of the parts together. A cowbell can be annoying on its own, but when put with the right melody, it fits. So too it is with Serres’ work. The weaving of philosophy, myths, and even science make it something more. The sum is greater than the whole of its parts.

At times, The Parasite pulls at the unconscious, as if there are connections just under the surface. The pieces seem to fit. But at the. Same time. Don’t.

Anyways; All hail Serres, Master of the Masters of thought.