Guru ri-Meditation

Leggere un libro di Coupland è come scaricare un aggiornamento alla vita vecchio di due anni.
Lo so, il libro è del 2006 e quindi la patch è, già di suo, temporalmente ben più vecchia, ma poco importa, avrei avuto la stessa sensazione anche se avessi letto il libro fresco di stampa. Perché Coupland fotografa l'istante, virando il tutto con un effetto seppia “anni'80", e quando mostra l'immagine questa è ormai storicizzata, anzi, vintage, come Ronald McDonald o dei playmobil fatti col lego.
Nulla nella scrittura in automatico di Coupland risulta davvero superfluo (neanche quando riempie 10 pagine di numeri casuali invitando(ci) a scoprire dove ha inserito una “o” al posto di uno “0”), proprio perché niente di quanto narrato è essenziale: i personaggi vivono in “non-luoghi” intrecciando delle “non-relazioni” e tutti i memorabili eventi che si susseguono si rivelano effimeri come delle quinte accatastate in un set televisivo abbandonato.
E tutto questo nulla brillante è reso compatto e sensato grazie alle sue abituali cifre stilistiche, l’uso dell’ironia (unita in questo caso all’autoironia demitizzante, come i numerosi inserti metanarrativi lasciano scorgere) e un sentimentalismo empatico verso chi ha smarrito il proprio ruolo nel mondo. In fondo si sa, la X generation posa da sempre le sue fondamenta sul vuoto.

*3.75
Interesting. A satirical play on life in general. The random text, the absurdity of everything that happens, and the whole book mocks life as we know it [drugs, pseudo-omniscience due to the internet, technology, etc] Lots of reviews i've read compare it to microserfs, and say it isn't great. but I enjoyed it.

Douglas Coupland rewrites Microserfs except set in a generic fictional video game/media conglomerate tech company in Vancouver and includes so wacky story elements including a nice suburban mom who is an illegal pot grower and a nicer suave foreign human trafficker. Everyone is very Canadian and polite, except for a random butch radical feminist and the quirky female developer that the twee male protagonist pines for, and gets with halfway through the book.

Gone are the compelling real world accounts of early '90s Microsoft and mid-'90s pre-Web 1.0 Netscape boom Silicon Valley, but also is gone the slightly melodramatic family drama of the Microserfs lead. Instead there is seemingly arbitrary movements of characters bereft of any actual narrative structure or cohesive rules. People are just kind of quirky without any constraints imposed on them. So is the book. There are pages of pseudorandomly-generated numbers, of spam keywords (some quite deep actually), and of Coupland himself appearing as an asshole version of himself. I have read elsewhere that the author was burnt out and bitter when he wrote this novel, and it shows, not unlike Douglas Adams' own bout of bleakness in Mostly Harmless.

All in all a more experimental and annoying book than Microserfs. Still clever, still witty, just seemingly more pointless. Definitely worth a skim if you've read the latter. Just go in with low expectations.

Recently, a new friend introduced me to the concept of biji, a Chinese form of writing roughly translated as ‘brush notes’ or ‘jottings’. This literary genre is defined by a three-part division consisting of different styles and lacking definitive structure. I sought an example of the format and was directed toward Douglas Coupland’s ‘JPod’, an off-beat story of life in a modern Vancouver office.

Meet Ethan, a 28 year old games developer who spends his days toggling between virtual world building, nicknaming co-workers, and fetching the company snack supplies. In his down time, he helps his family dispose of drug dealers, sever ties with psychotic lovers, and feed illegal immigrants squatting in his apartment.

After a ruling from new boss Steve, Ethan and his five pod mates must overhaul their current project to accommodate a turtle modelled on a reality T.V. presenter. They decide to corrupt the game with a rogue clown demon, stopping work only to deal with incestuous sexual emergencies, lesbian cult members, and the suspicious abduction of a recently appointed superior.

Obligated to undertake a rescue mission in China, Ethan fights off the threat of a viral outbreak, and begs a cantankerous author to rescue him from an early roadside death. Here, Coupland openly inserts himself into the narrative as a character that, although grumpy and not averse to sneaky blackmail, conveniently turns up to save the day.

‘JPod’ reads like a scrapbook, shifting between witty narratives, streams of consciousness in squashed or inflated text, character constructed interviews, anagram definitions, and the entire number series of Pi. The biji style is used as a visual representation of life with its interruptions and conflicting demands on attention. Instead of finding the strange digressions distracting, the reader bounces around a lively story full of entertaining, and somehow relevant tangents.

Coupland has created a modern tapestry, one I can only describe as an absolute circus. My usual enjoyment of a book lies in how much I miss it after the final page. And still, every morning at reading time, I wish Ethan and the gang were still going strong. It was the first of Coupland’s novels I read and it certainly won’t be the last.

Note: I’ve been told there is a T.V. spin-off which I’ve ordered via Amazon. Stay tuned for my thoughts

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I wasn't really sure what the point of this book was - to be honest, it just seemed like Ethan, the protagonist (?) was kind of just lazily floating through his life with no goal. Which, don't get me wrong, can be charming and fun, but this just seems like one big zinger after another, each character trying to out-funny or out-quirky each other.

It's named "JPod" because Ethan works at a game studio along with other misfits, six in total in their little "pod", and all of their last names start with J. Mmkay. They have their own WACKY characteristics but they really don't sound human at all, just like they wanted to be made into movie characters. I honestly don't think he knows how to write from a female perspective, because I don't know a single woman who acts, talks, or behaves like Kaitlyn, Bree, Carol, freedom, etc. Just my opinion.

Speaking of freedom (yep, it's a name, and it's lowercase), it seemed extremely odd for her to do a complete 180 of her beliefs. One small conversation with a man (who, albeit, is convincing) and she throws away her life's work. What a poor character downfall. Speaking of that man...

My favourite character had to be Kam Fong (the man who changed freedom's mind about all things lesbian community. I think that's because, in this literary Vancouver set, where everyone is trying to give the best one-liners that sound like they're in a movie, he literally admits he has no sense of humour. And, in that, he's actually the funniest, honest, most authentic character in the book. Shady as fuck with his "business practices", but genuine in his heart.

I also really didn't like how Coupland inserted himself into the story in an overexaggerated character way. Seemed self-aggrandizing, even though, clearly he's not *that* big of an asshole in real life.

Ein ziemlich durchgedrehter, durchgeknallter Coupland, der locker Stoff für zwei Tarantino-Filme hergibt. Ich habe ihn genossen, auch wenn er zwischendurch ein paar Längen hat.

A weird, fun read that made me laugh out loud at the reality of life in an IT pod. :)

I'd always felt Coupland was holding back his more humorous side, and it's as if he finally said, "To hell with it," and wrote a full-on comedy. Kind of like an updated "Microserfs" but really funny.

This is classic Coupland. A sequel of sorts to "Microserfs" but this is in a different league altogether. This is from that glorious period when he still had both fingers firmly on the pulse of his subjects and audience. He brilliantly demonstrates the tedious monotony of the office environment, polishing it off with crisp, punchy and hilarious dialogue. This is probably still my favourite of all his books and I have bought at least three copies for friends to read.

There's a lot to love about this book, and some things that are not so great. Coupland's use of himself as deus ex machina is a little trite, and the ending is unsatisfying to say the least. There are at least 5 plot points raised over the course of the book that are left completely unresolved. It literally just stops.

Still, if you loved Microserfs, all the world weary pop culture references and geek office camaraderie are there for you.

What I really loved about this book was the almost scary moral relativism on display (Kam Phong, Carol, Greg, Ethan's dad, Coupland) almost every character does something despicable and/or illegal at some point (murder, adultery, drug trafficking, extortion), and everyone else just kind of shrugs and or aids and abets. It's fascinating.

OK, one thing about the end annoyed the hell out of me. Without spoiling, let's just say something important happens towards the end involving digging a hole and a safe deposit box key, and no explanation is given as to why the key is needed. Irritating.

Still 4-stars, solely on the basis of well developed characters and first rate geek humor. Highly recommended if you like that sort of thing.

Tech geeks are the coolest.

Wiked. Clever. Funny. Modern. Fast read.