perskaičiau labai greitai ir gal dėl to šiek tiek sunku vertinti visas idėjas, kurias buvo norėta atskleisti knygoje. Religija ir tikėjimas (šiaip viena iš mėgstamiausių temų knygose), žmogaus prigimtis ir pasirinkimo galimybės pasekmės, viltis ir jos praradimas. Viskas kažkaip susiplakė į vieną ir visumoje tapo tiesiog meh.
Knyga parašyta iš keturių perspektyvų, bet visos jos skambėjo vienodai. Jos buvo labai minimaliai susijusios viena su kita, dėl to nelabai galima apibūdinti pagrindinės knygos siužeto linijos. Kai kurie veikėjų sprendimai buvo tiesiog out of world netikroviški.

Hey Nostradamus is composed of four parts which vary considerably in length, each a first-person narrative of a character linked in some way to one central character and situation (a high school shooting tragedy). While I wasn't particularly impressed with the first character's narration, I began enjoying the book more when I was half way through the second section and progressing into the third. The final section/character consists of only a few pages but they were excellently utilised to bind the rest of the book together in an understated but emotional ending. This finale shows a character's development which is unfurled excellently throughout the eyes of the other three voices composing the novel. Sadly, the progression of this character and his own short but impacting final addition to the four sections is not enough to distract from the shortcomings seen throughout the complete work. I found the high concept use of religion in the lives and minds of the characters to be distancing and quite annoying. The repetition of the theme of the belief in God is grating and detrimental to the beginning of the story, with the insertion of prayers in the first section working in a conceptual way to perhaps hint at the location of the narrator. While a cute idea, I personally found it to remove any believability to the character. It was the development of characters away from Coupland's high concept massacre and God scenario that made the book worth reading, and while both thoughts on religion and violent acts are of obvious interest to a wide readership, it feels like a vehicle used to latch onto a sense of shock value. Disappointing, but with some excellent characters and scenes typical of Douglas Coupland.

I really liked The Gum Thief. This one was a grind. I was on point of dropping this book many times before I reached the half way mark and then there was a quick series of ridiculous developments in the Jason story and I could simply not read further.

Canadian school shootings don't really seem the same as American ones.

This missed something for me.

I knew basically nothing about this book before I started reading it. And even though the flap mentions a massacre in the high school (not a spoiler), I wasn't prepared for those details, and I as read the first part, I actually felt very scared, which was quite appropriate for what I was reading. At the end, I again felt quite emotional, for different reasons, and was impressed with what the author could do.

Crazy things happen in this book, but only one felt very unrealistic -- and that still kind of bothers me -- though I understand what the author was trying to achieve with it. I thought perhaps I'd end up giving this one less star than I did, but the themes -- the effects of such a tragedy (coupled with the effects of a community's rush to judgment); (mis)communication; extreme loneliness; and the fact that we may never know the inner life and other important things about those people we think we've figured out, or even those closest to us -- are so well done that I did end up 'really liking' this book.

Hey Nostradamus started out well and really intrigued me with an interesting idea. Then it got weird and a little unrealistic...!

Disappointing. More so for the second half of the book; which veers off in another direction, that the first. Four narrative voices make up the novel, with the theme being the aftershock of a Columbine High School style massacre. Trouble is, with something this serious and deep, Coupland doesn't really go anywhere with it. The highlight for me being two of the narrators: Young Canadian lovers Cheryl & Jason, getting hitched in Las Vegas. I mean, what's not to like about that? This feels like a big shift for the Canadian writer, as gone are the ironic posturings, pop-cultural references, and exaggerated zany characters, with something; dare I say it - more philosophical. There is a harrowing, slow-motion account of the school massacre, and we are remorselessly guided through events, interpreted by the victims as a simple firecracker prank. Couldn't help but think of Gus Van Sant's film Elephant at this point. There is a religious element to the novel too, with a Christian group called Youth Alive! But when turning an eye more in this direction, Coupland's exploration leads to the story losing its focus. What I'd read by him so far felt quite sharp, with some really impressive comic set pieces. This is less goofy and more profound, but overall it just felt rather blunt to me: this after a pretty decent start.

The characters were wonderful--real, fully-drawn people who you wanted to get to know better. And I loved the school shooting premise, which Coupland handled with grace despite it beginning such a difficult topic to broach. But the end of the book felt a bit incomplete to me. I wanted more resolution with the characters, which was not a problem in Coupland's story "Patty Hearst" (my all-time favorite) but bothered me here.

This book had moments of genius, but I didn't walk away going, "WOW!" So I can't quite rate it as more than 3.5.

There are a lot of grotesque shows of religious piety in this book, and Coupland often touches on the theme that people generally get spirituality totally wrong. But all four narrators of this story are, in some way, believers. So, I think it's a nice quality to combine the skepticism with these (generally) sympathetic characters.

I found a couple of the storylines related to Jason to be unnecessary. And every so often, some of the dialog was a little Diablo-Cody-too-quippy-to-be-true. Generally, though, Coupland is brilliant with his writing.

A nice quote to finish off with:

"...I do believe in God - I think that He created an order for the world; I believe that, in constantly bombarding Him with requests for miracles, we're also asking that He unravel the fabric of the world. A world of continuous miracles would be a cartoon, not a world."

*mild spoilers below*

I love Douglas Coupland. He just has this way of seeing through the superficialness of our culture and pulling so much depth and meaning out of it. His characters experience such tremendous growth. And he is so funny. I am always alternating between being on the verge of tears and laughing outloud. Sometimes it happens at the same time.

This story is about a girl who is killed in a school shooting and how the lives of those who love her are affected by it. The first part is told from her point of view, the next three parts from other points of view. The first part of the book is amazing. This high school girl, telling her tragic story, is so sweet and forgiving and loving. She tells it so beautifully.

The rest of the book takes place later, after the tragedy, and you get a look at the damage that it has done. It is a strange, funny look into the lives of some of the other characters, and there are some good bits in there, but I thought it was nowhere near as good as that first part of the book. If I could rate them separately, I would give part one a five and parts two through four a three. Overall, it gets a four and is definitely worth a read.

I had no idea what this book was when I started reading it so I can't say I was expecting great things, I wasn't expecting anything really.

I didn't enjoy this book. Even though it was written from different points of view which is my fav format.

I didn't like any of the characters or their opinions or what they did.

I hated Jason. He simply annoyed me the most.

And I enjoyed Part 3 with Heather chasing up Allison. That was more interesting than the entire book in general.

Easy read, didn't take me long but wished I used the time for something else.

I read the first section, at the end of which the narrator gets shot dead. It was not interesting enough to finish.