Douglas Coupland C or D

Is anybody bothering with Generation A?

Just got it out the library. Not read it yet. Nice yellow cover though (reminds me of those old gollancz sf books).

Publishers sent me a copy in August, first time I've ever been meh-ed out by Coupland (whose cursory observations usually bring me out in hives of love but not this time).

I take it that the story is to Generation X what Jpod was to Microserfs?

i.e. a rewrite with updated references to Facebook and the like.

Argh, jPod gave me a rash, and since then each new Coupland book has been held in my hands briefly in the bookshop before I think "this will be awful" and put it back.

Bizarre thing about JPod is that the TV series was such an improvement on the book.

anybody get the custom-designed dustjacket?

Bizarre thing about JPod is that the TV series was such an improvement on the book.

Didn't the series have Alan Thicke? I think that was why I was afraid of watching it.

He was awesome in Jpod.

Generation A left me underwhelmed I have to say. Seemed to start off well and it was a good idea but it just seemed to coast a bit after the first few chapters. Also I wasn't convinced by the characters from different countries, the european guy and the Indian guy were both too stereotypical which irritated me. Fun in places, but overall a bit empty. You know, like life. Ha!

45 thoughts on the next decade:

Stupid people will be in charge, only to be replaced by ever-stupider people. You will live in a world without kings, only princes in whom our faith is shattered.

We will accept the obvious truth that we brought this upon ourselves.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/a-radical-pessimists-guide-to-the-next-10-years/article1750609/page1/

The day Copeland writes a book about the singularity, I'll cry.

Coming to the ritzier neighbourhoods of Vancouver: Coupland's V-POLES.

Operative word in the headline is "may".

I've been getting back into him. (Loved the first four books as a teenager; didn't like Polaroids or Coma and never followed him again.) Read Hey Nostradamus over the summer and just finished Generation A, liked both a lot and actually thought Generation A was great, the way all this stuff that never really added up suddenly came together in a totally unexpected way with the twist. Not a rewrite of X at all.

Been digging back into Microserfs - always thought his stuff was light fluffy reading but this is kind of a slog tbh

the european guy and the Indian guy were both too stereotypical which irritated me

I really liked Harj (who was Sri Lankan, not Indian). I'm not sure in what ways he was stereotypical, really (although I'm not sure "Vetharanayan" is a common last name; "Vethanarayan" sounds more likely to me). I really liked how he was always very conscious of the stereotypical impressions that Westerners, especially Americans, would have of him, and would manipulate or leverage these to achieve his goals. There were two major French characters and I don't really think "self-absorbed WoW addict" or "sarcastic assholish scientific genius" are dominant French stereotypes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHZJjXph4kA

Most recently updated DC thread, so for those interested, https://westvancouverartmuseum.ca/exhibitions/rabbit-lane-douglas-coupland is winding up this weekend in Vancouver, BC. Photographs inspired by his _Girlfriend in a Coma_. Ordered the show's catalog for $46 incl s&h to the US.

Was happy reading _Binge_, his latest - brief vignettes flitting around various characters, some interconnected, with his usual witty character observations.