By ASHLEY BLUNT
Douglas Coupland has a way of reaching into your head, grabbing at the muddled, half-expressed thoughts, ripping them out and then springing them onto you in the midst of his wild narratives as simplistic yet profound little jewels of expression. For example, the main character of jPod explains, "What I don't like is being exposed to unfiltered social contact, like at parties or meeting, when anyone can just talk to you with no other reason than that you happen to be there." That's exactly how I feel! Or, this statement, "People who advocate simplicity have money in the bank; the money came first, not the simplicity." Or perhaps even more true: "Most anger is justifiable."My one complaint against jPod then, is that it seems like a collection of thoughts, reflections and observations on life stitched together by a loose narrative which at times seems cold and unfeeling, and other times like its in need of Ritalin. And perhaps this is the feel the book was intended to achieve: a vast swirl of colors, brand names, video game violence, the local drug trade, a very believable, not-at-all-lovey love story, typical Couplandian family dysfunction, a murder and a kidnapping, a rescue, China, your average office work day, all connected but disjointed, all leaving me with the feeling that I need to lie down for a while.
If you've never read Coupland, don't start here. Start with Generation X or, if you like a more traditional, chronological sort of story, maybe Girlfriend in a Coma. If you're a real Coupland fan, you've probably already plunged into jPod -afterall, it's been out long enough to be made into a Canadian TV flop, apparently. If you're somewhere in between, don't hesitate, just be warned: this novel is the literary equivalent of those pizzas with "all" the toppings, the ones that come with breakfast cereal sprinkled between the gorgonzola and strips of pollock. Which may or may not make you laugh, but will definitely make you think.
2 comments:
I have had Generation X on my amazon list for 2 years or so. Maybe I should get around to buying it!
Actually, you may find it kind of dated -- I am not sure. I read it years ago, and the one thing about Coupland's multitude of pop culture references is that within a year or two, they will wither and reveal themselves as the pathetic paragons of past tense that they truly are.
But I suppose if you went into it with the mindset of insta-classic, you'd still get the original feeling out of it.
When you read it, let me know.
Post a Comment