Wednesday, April 25, 2007
JPod
Douglas Coupland
2006
Coupland is at the point in his career where his current writings are inevitably compared to his earlier writing, with the new work being classified as either a "departure" or "vintage Coupland." JPod is vintage Coupland. It's an updated post-millennial, post-tech bubble, google era Microserfs. Microsoft is replaced with EA, Seattle with Vancouver, and tech worker arrogance with tech worker insecurities. But, Microserfs was so sharply prophetic and futurist that net connectivity, workstation slavery, and sheer information saturation are all still the same. Life in the age of tech seems the same in 2007 as it did in 1995, minus the above mentioned changes. The information overload in our world, Coupland says, has killed our ability to be shocked. The story is fantastic and outrageous to the point of being beyond believability. Homicidal pot-growing parents, compassionate human-smuggling friends, and absurd coincidences contribute to the dark fantastical mood. Amidst the incredible circumstances that play out in the book, the characters reactions are very indifferent; they act like teenagers when their parents car gets a flat. It is a wonderful metaphor for our information saturated societies that these characters, whether hearing the news, or dealing with their own life, are never surprised by anything. The book is vintage Coupland. The usual indirect insights on modern society, the obsession with and worship/resistance of consumer culture, and the superhuman ability to apply irony to anything are all present. The characters are touching and sensitive, if unbelievable. They are a geek fantasy. Ethan and others work in a tech company making video games. Coincidence and a computer glitch has seen to it that everyone working in a particular cubicle section a last name starting with J, hence JPod. The sit around talking about the trivia of everyday 21st century life. They date a bit, and go on adventures with each other having fun comparable to teens goofing around in a mall.
I really liked the book. It wasn't my favourite, but anything Coupland puts our I am able to find quite a few connections to. I always like the get-along-gang dynamics present in these books. There is a real social utopia created when all friends absent of any other intimacy n their life forge bonds as strong as family. These bonds are what connects JPod to Generation X and Microserfs, and it's what I've always sought out when reading Coupland. Microserfs was my favourite, I think it always has been. It was also the first Coupland I ever read. I was attracted to it because of the bright red and yellow cover bearing pictures of lego figured. JPod has lego figures on the cover too.
Douglas Coupland
2006
Coupland is at the point in his career where his current writings are inevitably compared to his earlier writing, with the new work being classified as either a "departure" or "vintage Coupland." JPod is vintage Coupland. It's an updated post-millennial, post-tech bubble, google era Microserfs. Microsoft is replaced with EA, Seattle with Vancouver, and tech worker arrogance with tech worker insecurities. But, Microserfs was so sharply prophetic and futurist that net connectivity, workstation slavery, and sheer information saturation are all still the same. Life in the age of tech seems the same in 2007 as it did in 1995, minus the above mentioned changes. The information overload in our world, Coupland says, has killed our ability to be shocked. The story is fantastic and outrageous to the point of being beyond believability. Homicidal pot-growing parents, compassionate human-smuggling friends, and absurd coincidences contribute to the dark fantastical mood. Amidst the incredible circumstances that play out in the book, the characters reactions are very indifferent; they act like teenagers when their parents car gets a flat. It is a wonderful metaphor for our information saturated societies that these characters, whether hearing the news, or dealing with their own life, are never surprised by anything. The book is vintage Coupland. The usual indirect insights on modern society, the obsession with and worship/resistance of consumer culture, and the superhuman ability to apply irony to anything are all present. The characters are touching and sensitive, if unbelievable. They are a geek fantasy. Ethan and others work in a tech company making video games. Coincidence and a computer glitch has seen to it that everyone working in a particular cubicle section a last name starting with J, hence JPod. The sit around talking about the trivia of everyday 21st century life. They date a bit, and go on adventures with each other having fun comparable to teens goofing around in a mall.
I really liked the book. It wasn't my favourite, but anything Coupland puts our I am able to find quite a few connections to. I always like the get-along-gang dynamics present in these books. There is a real social utopia created when all friends absent of any other intimacy n their life forge bonds as strong as family. These bonds are what connects JPod to Generation X and Microserfs, and it's what I've always sought out when reading Coupland. Microserfs was my favourite, I think it always has been. It was also the first Coupland I ever read. I was attracted to it because of the bright red and yellow cover bearing pictures of lego figured. JPod has lego figures on the cover too.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures
Vincent Lam
2006
Touching. Beautiful. Poetic. This book won the Giller prize this year. Like David Bergen last year, Lam also has a career outside writing. He's a doctor. The book is about doctors. Interweaving stories about four or five different characters paint a vivid portrait of the life of a Toronto doctor and, it seems, Lam's life as well. The autobiographical components are hard to miss. Lam's compassion for those applying to medical school, his understanding of the chaotic nature of emergency room work, and his emotional detailing of doctor's and nurse's frantic actions during a crisis could only have been written by someone who has experienced such things first hand. Particularly poignant was the description of the medical community both coming together and fracturing amidst the Toronto SARS crisis. His characters are touching and real. None are perfect, nor are any completely antagonistic. Fitzgerald comes closest to being a dislikeable character, but he is redeemed later on as Lam divulges the pressures and demons he battles. Chen come closest to a protagonist of sorts, even exhibiting heroic qualities. Yet, he too has his qualities balanced out as Lam ends the book with Chen overstressed and difficult. While the book has a significant focus on relationships, personal drama does not overwhelm the hospital and medical stories. Ultimately, the book is about humans, both professionally and intimately. Lam places them in both their personal and professional worlds to depict not what it is like to be a doctor, but what it is like to be a thinking, feeling, living human working as a doctor. Lam's understanding and depiction of the city of Toronto is also a treat. He knows the city and is able use it not only as a backdrop, but as a part of the story that affects and adds to his characters lives.
Vincent Lam
2006
Touching. Beautiful. Poetic. This book won the Giller prize this year. Like David Bergen last year, Lam also has a career outside writing. He's a doctor. The book is about doctors. Interweaving stories about four or five different characters paint a vivid portrait of the life of a Toronto doctor and, it seems, Lam's life as well. The autobiographical components are hard to miss. Lam's compassion for those applying to medical school, his understanding of the chaotic nature of emergency room work, and his emotional detailing of doctor's and nurse's frantic actions during a crisis could only have been written by someone who has experienced such things first hand. Particularly poignant was the description of the medical community both coming together and fracturing amidst the Toronto SARS crisis. His characters are touching and real. None are perfect, nor are any completely antagonistic. Fitzgerald comes closest to being a dislikeable character, but he is redeemed later on as Lam divulges the pressures and demons he battles. Chen come closest to a protagonist of sorts, even exhibiting heroic qualities. Yet, he too has his qualities balanced out as Lam ends the book with Chen overstressed and difficult. While the book has a significant focus on relationships, personal drama does not overwhelm the hospital and medical stories. Ultimately, the book is about humans, both professionally and intimately. Lam places them in both their personal and professional worlds to depict not what it is like to be a doctor, but what it is like to be a thinking, feeling, living human working as a doctor. Lam's understanding and depiction of the city of Toronto is also a treat. He knows the city and is able use it not only as a backdrop, but as a part of the story that affects and adds to his characters lives.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Second World War: Their Finest Hour
Winston Churchill
1949
How the British people held the fort ALONE till those who hitherto had been half blind were half ready.
The Blitz refers to the unrelenting nightly air raids unleashed upon Britain every night between September and May 1941. The term derives from the German word Blitzkrieg, which literally translates as "lightening war." The strategy of lightening war was used successively against Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France. Hitler's policy of "one at a time" worked well through these four countries. He had no reason to believe that it wouldn't work a fifth time against Britain. In fact, Britain was, at times preceding the Blitz, woefully unprepared for invasion. The delay of the air attacks through the summer bought the British just enough to erect barely sufficient air defences. The defences consisted of both the Royal Air Force, ground based anti-aircraft guns, front line and reserve troops along the coast, and the million strong civilian armed home guard. Churchill insisted the he could only spare a certain amount of forces to aid Franc ea few months earlier. He was unrelenting in his commitment not to leave Britain undefended. This policy lost him much favour in France, and led to much of the resentment that spurred the actions of the French government set up in Vichy after France fell. But, had he given in, Britain would have fallen. Secure Britain, let France fall, and once strong again, return to liberate France. It was a desperate policy, horrible for France, but it was the only way, and it worked.
The Blitz dragged on. The name is in no way reflective of the actual event. There was no lighting shocking invasion. In fact, the Blitz was tedious, torturous, and routine. It became a way of life, a horrible decaying existence in which daily life went on, while nightly raids unceased. The Battle Of Britain - essentially Britain trying to withstand bombing - was won by two essential occurrences. The first was the ocean. Invading an island was an daunting complex logistical effort. The risk of losing hundreds of thousands of men in the crossing was high. Hitler couldn't invade until the RAF was shattered, which they never were. The invasion across the ocean was thus put off and Hitler abandoned his "one at a time" policy and began focusing on Russia. The second reason was the resilient perseverance of the British population. Nightly hundreds of volunteers would scout enemy planes and extinguish fires. But the real contribution was the fact that no one gave up. They endured the crowded shelters and went to work the next day. The lived through the loss of family, friends, and property and never lost courage. The kept the city and the war running and refused to have their spirit broken. And, it was just such a break in spirit that Hitler had hoped would come early. The prospect of demolishing London, or even England to ruins, was impossible. The only way to win was to make life so unendurable that the British gave in. They never gave in, they endured.
Churchill writes proudly of the British people. He inspired them with his determination, and is right to be proud. They responded powerfully. Again, as with the first volume, Churchill assumes the reader knows the story, and fills in the unseen events that took place daily in his office. His letters to presidents and generals are direct and firm, without ever straying from the utmost courtesy. It is interesting to see him write calmly and attempt to maintain composure when he is clearly frustrated.
The raids occupy the first part of the book, while the offensive action in the Mediterranean and North Africa occupy the second. It is fascinating for the reader to be shown how much the war went on despite the air raids. Often times Churchill would have to change offices or relocate to a shelter due to bombing, while not losing focus from an offensive action 1000 miles away. Though the country was under attack, the War Council knew that offensive action must not be stopped. Through the bombing and fires in London, Churchill coordinated some major action and victories in Africa. His renown comes partly from his unwavering steady focus on victory amidst chaos, and throughout late 1940, early 1941 he demonstrated why he is so deserving of this renown.
The book, again, was engrossing: deep, thick and vivid. The detail provided such a clear picture that even after the detail is forgotten, the impression left is still rich and full. He provides a one sided powerful understanding of such a major event, and methodically moves from day to day outlining the most incredible event with the same accurate, readable, and accessible prose.
Winston Churchill
1949
How the British people held the fort ALONE till those who hitherto had been half blind were half ready.
The Blitz refers to the unrelenting nightly air raids unleashed upon Britain every night between September and May 1941. The term derives from the German word Blitzkrieg, which literally translates as "lightening war." The strategy of lightening war was used successively against Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and France. Hitler's policy of "one at a time" worked well through these four countries. He had no reason to believe that it wouldn't work a fifth time against Britain. In fact, Britain was, at times preceding the Blitz, woefully unprepared for invasion. The delay of the air attacks through the summer bought the British just enough to erect barely sufficient air defences. The defences consisted of both the Royal Air Force, ground based anti-aircraft guns, front line and reserve troops along the coast, and the million strong civilian armed home guard. Churchill insisted the he could only spare a certain amount of forces to aid Franc ea few months earlier. He was unrelenting in his commitment not to leave Britain undefended. This policy lost him much favour in France, and led to much of the resentment that spurred the actions of the French government set up in Vichy after France fell. But, had he given in, Britain would have fallen. Secure Britain, let France fall, and once strong again, return to liberate France. It was a desperate policy, horrible for France, but it was the only way, and it worked.
The Blitz dragged on. The name is in no way reflective of the actual event. There was no lighting shocking invasion. In fact, the Blitz was tedious, torturous, and routine. It became a way of life, a horrible decaying existence in which daily life went on, while nightly raids unceased. The Battle Of Britain - essentially Britain trying to withstand bombing - was won by two essential occurrences. The first was the ocean. Invading an island was an daunting complex logistical effort. The risk of losing hundreds of thousands of men in the crossing was high. Hitler couldn't invade until the RAF was shattered, which they never were. The invasion across the ocean was thus put off and Hitler abandoned his "one at a time" policy and began focusing on Russia. The second reason was the resilient perseverance of the British population. Nightly hundreds of volunteers would scout enemy planes and extinguish fires. But the real contribution was the fact that no one gave up. They endured the crowded shelters and went to work the next day. The lived through the loss of family, friends, and property and never lost courage. The kept the city and the war running and refused to have their spirit broken. And, it was just such a break in spirit that Hitler had hoped would come early. The prospect of demolishing London, or even England to ruins, was impossible. The only way to win was to make life so unendurable that the British gave in. They never gave in, they endured.
Churchill writes proudly of the British people. He inspired them with his determination, and is right to be proud. They responded powerfully. Again, as with the first volume, Churchill assumes the reader knows the story, and fills in the unseen events that took place daily in his office. His letters to presidents and generals are direct and firm, without ever straying from the utmost courtesy. It is interesting to see him write calmly and attempt to maintain composure when he is clearly frustrated.
The raids occupy the first part of the book, while the offensive action in the Mediterranean and North Africa occupy the second. It is fascinating for the reader to be shown how much the war went on despite the air raids. Often times Churchill would have to change offices or relocate to a shelter due to bombing, while not losing focus from an offensive action 1000 miles away. Though the country was under attack, the War Council knew that offensive action must not be stopped. Through the bombing and fires in London, Churchill coordinated some major action and victories in Africa. His renown comes partly from his unwavering steady focus on victory amidst chaos, and throughout late 1940, early 1941 he demonstrated why he is so deserving of this renown.
The book, again, was engrossing: deep, thick and vivid. The detail provided such a clear picture that even after the detail is forgotten, the impression left is still rich and full. He provides a one sided powerful understanding of such a major event, and methodically moves from day to day outlining the most incredible event with the same accurate, readable, and accessible prose.
