- this book was a wild ride lmao i really enjoyed all of the characters and how absolutely ridiculous they all were, even ethan the main character, who is almost the most normal person in the book but has his quirks about him too. i think my favourite character either had to be kam the crazy chinese businessman who somehow befriends everyone he meets or ethan’s eccentric drug dealer mom who is so typical but is also always getting into trouble.

- definitely reminds me of chuck palahniuk’s writing mixed with a bit of arrested development with the random ass situations and humour.

- there wasn’t really a plot per say, but i did enjoy how it kind of went through ethan’s life as a game developer and how everyone is super fucking weird and strange. i also liked how the story broke the fourth wall and it made it seem like the evil author stole ethan’s computer and wrote a book about his life. the random “computer parts” throughout the book were a bit strange (minus the evil mcdonalds part). were they part of ethan’s computer and coupland decided to include them? very strange

- the ending also seemed a little rushed and i would have liked to see more of conclusion to the story. but i guess their crazy lives just go on!

Extremely wild to me that Coupland was already working the “everyone is autistic” angle this hard back in 2007

"JPod" by Douglas Coupland is a contemporary novel that takes a satirical and intriguing look at the digital world and the chaos of pop culture. The story revolves around Ethan Jarlewski, a young video game developer trapped in a chaotic and bizarre reality. Ethan finds himself working in the so-called "JPod," a department in his company dedicated to video game development. Here, he is surrounded by equally eccentric colleagues, including a ninja mother, a pathological narcissist, and an Asian artist who practices telepathic communication.

The novel explores themes like digital alienation, obsession with pop culture, creativity in the technological age, and the challenges of human relationships in an always-connected world. Coupland offers a ruthless, yet affectionate, look at how technology influences our daily lives and relationships. What makes "JPod" so engaging is Coupland's sharp humor and his ability to portray eccentric but surprisingly real characters. "JPod" is a smart and entertaining read that captures the absurd and surreal side of the digital world and contemporary culture.

Juvenile, disconnected, not-funny, stupid actually. Not for me.

I still don't know how I feel

I feel like Douglas Coupland is wanking off in my face. It's uncomfortable and awkward and sticky, and a lot of it gets into my hair, yet I allow him to continue to indulge himself, if not simply because his wank just... well, it just goes down so damn smooth. I can chug gallons of his wank in an hour. It's just that I think I'm coming to a point where I realize, whether through maturity or education, that his wank doesn't really have a lot of substance to it despite its density, and leaves me rather emaciated.

When he was a youth a kindly friend once told him "don't ever change, Doug", and he took it to heart, because he's still basically where he was more than a decade ago. He still loves dogs and irony and hates pollution and yuppies. His characters are still all bland cut-outs with interchangeable "quirky" dialogue and interchangeable "quirky" malaise. He still doesn't know how to characterize his characters through their actions so takes creative steps to avoid ever having to - this time around resorting to writing literal "character sheets" for each of his new homunculi. His observations, once poignant, crisp, feel redundant now. Perhaps this is all part of the All-Important Point as the first line of the novel is a character describing how they feel like a "character in a Douglas Coupland novel". *coughs up a lug of wank*

I always thought, back when I was a Gen-X loving teen, that the characters in Coupland's novels were meant to be despised as they were navel-gazing, pretentious tossers. More and more I realize that that isn't the case, and Coupland is just doing self-portraiture.

When I think of the word zeitgeist, no one fits the description more than Douglas Coupland. After all, the term 'Generation X,' which is a label given to individuals belonging to the demographic sandwiched between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials, came from the author himself. Prior to reading this book, I checked out the reviews and saw disdain and rejection from seasoned Coupland fans by giving this a harsh one-star verdict saying that this work was a reflection of an author whose works has devolved from deeply insightful and poignant into self-absorbed and shallow consumerist crap. I suppose that criticism was drawn from the author's attempt at starring at a cameo role in this book which personally I found interesting and gave the novel a fun twist. He even poked fun at himself by depicting himself as a superiority-complex asshole and by having the book's characters hate him.

JPod is a more upbeat and less-serious, hipster version of its predecessor, Microserfs. After all, consumerism becomes more rampant from generation to generation. His novels are a good example on the evolution of consumerism among generations. This Coupland novel is devoid of its trademark quality- the life-changing, deus-ex-machina intervention that always carry a eureka moment in the end. Instead, characters ride their corporate-riddled fate out while creating diversions and channeling those frustrations and anxieties into their craft which in this narrative is through a computer game whose concept is also decided by the upper management. The quirks are still there, people still share a common ennui and hate their jobs while constantly worrying about the future. Not your typical Coupland novel, but enjoyable with sarcastic and offbeat humor without taking this too seriously.

This book contains two kinds of material:

1. The parts that are just like Microserfs
2. The parts that are not as good as Microserfs

The similarities are so pervasive and unlikely that it’s hard to know what to make of it. There are some fun moments here; Coupland is still good at chronicling the garbagey undertow of our culture. At one point, for example, a character presents a revolting list of nonspecific flavors like “ranch” and “arctic,” and you realize how many products use these. But you could eventually make out a plot in Microserfs, and here there is just an ever-expanding muddle that, for all the ways Coupland tries to shock the reader, never feels like it has much of an effect on anyone.

I think Microserfs actually had something to say about technology, malaise, and growing up, and I suspect that JPod ultimately doesn’t. If reading Microserfs is an exercise in self-pity, reading JPod is an exercise in self-loathing.

Here's what I've noticed. People that have read extensive Coupland novels view this book more negatively. People who have never/barely read Coupland love this book.

It is my opinion that this is a very good book. It's sarcastic, witty, satirical, and outlandish. This didn't come from the same Coupland that wrote Generation X, Microserfs, Shampoo Planet and all those 90's classics that Couplanders want to hang on to so badly. This is a funny book that can be taken lightly with great humor. In those 90's he focused much more on the frustrations and anxieties of his characters. In this book he's almost making those anxieties into absurd hyperbole. For God sakes he inserts himself into the book as a pretentious arrogant asshole that is hated (at first) by everybody in Jpod.

If you've never read Coupland before, Read This. If you've read some or lot's of him before, try and laugh. Not every book needs a profound moral of a story. Sometimes you can have some fun reading too.

Douglas Coupland tunnetaan vuonna 1995 ilmestyneestä kirjastaan Micro-orjat. Aikansa koodarinörttejä kuvannut kirja on saavuttanut jonkinlaista kulttiklassikon mainetta. Nyt Coupland on päivittänyt kirjan 2000-luvulle: kanadalaiseen pelifirmaan sijoittuva jPod on monin tavoin sama tarina, mutta nykyaikaisessa muodossa.

Kirjan juonenkäänteet ovat parhaimmillaan herkullisen absurdeja, henkilöhahmot taas liioiteltuja karikatyyrejä — parhaimmillaan sentään oikein hauskoja. Henkilöistä ei välitä, mutta yllättävät käänteet, joihin Coupland heidät heittää kerta toisensa jälkeen jaksavat viehättää. Coupland esiintyy itsekin romaanissa olennaisena sivuhenkilönä. Kirjan Coupland ei ole mikään mukava tyyppi, mutta tehokeinona kirjailijan esiintyminen kirjassa tuntuu vähän tönköltä.

Tehokeinoista puheen ollen: kirja on täynnä sivuja, joilla on satunnaista tajunnanvirtaa valtavan kokoisin kirjaimin. Tämän kaoottisen sekamelskan merkitys jäi vähän hämäräksi. Lisäksi kirjassa listataan pariin otteeseen pitkiä numerosarjoja — kaikki alkuluvut tuhannen ja sadantuhannen välillä, piin 100 000 ensimmäistä desimaalia, 20 sivua satunnaislukuja — joille oli vaikea keksiä tarkoitusta. Kenties Couplandilla oli sopimuksessa minimisivumäärä ja ideat vähissä?

Turhaa kikkailua, jota ilman kirja olisi parempi, sanon minä. jPod jätti vähän ristiriitaisen fiiliksen, osa kirjasta ärsytti ja osa taas miellytti. Jos ei ole allerginen teennäiselle kikkailulle, jPod on huvittava tarina absurdien tapahtumien keskelle joutuvista pelinkehittäjistä. (26.1.2010)

I dropped this book in a bog in the Peak District - the illegible soaking wet pages were some of my favourite.
This was sort of funny for the first few pages, then it became basically shit. I found this book because it was referenced in an essay I was reading and the summary the writer gave of it made it seem interesting. It isn't. This is the book I picked up when If Not Now, When? If Not Now, When? got too grim to keep reading, and this is the reason I currently have so many books I'm reading at the same time, because for as grim as If not Now When? is, this book's attempt at humour is painful. The author's decision to refer to himself throughout the book is just weird. The whole book is annoying and feels completely out of touch and a bit condescending. He clearly thinks he’s funny but he’s really not. Don't bother reading it.

I never quite know what to do with a Douglas Coupland book - read it, hang it on the wall, or give it to a newcomer as a guide to Vancouver. Nevertheless, this one was fun.