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.
# posted by mz @ 12:30 PM 
