I'm still trying to sort out how I feel about this book, and Douglas Coupland in general. I loved 'Life After God' when I first read it, 10 or so years ago, and I really, really, really wanted to love 'Hey, Nostradamus,' more recently. I want to go back to 'Life After God' and see how I feel about it now, but I'm scared. I'm scared because Coupland's books are full of bright-eyed, youthful ideas on the world, and I was absolutely that person 10 years ago. And it's not that I'm not that person anymore. I'm still an optimistic person, with strong morals and convictions. I just sort of understand the world now in a way that I didn't then. It's hard to explain. But Douglas Coupland, man. It's so frustrating.

Reading the end of this book, there's a scene where a major character is describing how the rest of the main characters should be. Without giving too much away, here's the quote:

"Every day for the rest of your lives, all of your living moments are to be spent making others aware of this need -- the need to probe and drill and examine and locate the words that take us to beyond ourselves. Scrape. Feel. Dig. Believe. Ask. Ask questions, no, screech questions out loud -- while kneeling in front of their electric doors at Safeway, demanding other citizens ask questions along with you -- while chewing up old textbooks and spitting the words onto downtown, sidewalks -- outside the Planet Hollywood, outside the stock exchange, and outside the Gap."

Seriously? That sounds like the worst kind of person. The solipsism of Generation X (coined by Coupland's book) and all of our artsy navel gazing gone horribly awry. And there's a lot of crap like that in this book. But there's a lot of good stuff too, to say nothing of the fact that it's named after a Smiths song, and there are countless Smith song references contained throughout the text. It's frustrating. This book represents everything I loved about myself from my early 20's, and everything from that era I hate and of which I'm deeply ashamed. So it has that going for it. Which is nice.

I bet this is one of Zach Braff's favorite books. 10 years ago, that might have been a compliment.

2018 read: Hmmm. This book gets an R --- as in arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh what, why, how did I read this! R is for -- Really great book title and Reasonably interesting concept of an aimless, middle-class, teenage friend group, coping first with a death from Leukaemia, followed by another tragedy in the group, with a girl falling into a vegetative state; you know, a coma. R - is also for the Redundant latter stages of this book which somehow meandered into a post apocalyptic quasi-ghost (I kid you not!) story with insight into how mankind's behaviours may have already destroyed the planet for ever... sorry about that I almost fell asleep finishing that sentence.

R is also for - Are there any other good things about this book? ...well yes, as ever Coupland's characterisations are well thought out and intriguing. So alas, this book almost put me into a coma; and may prove to be a lesson to up and coming writers about not giving your book a title that could be used to judge your work. :) 2 out of 12
What a difference 8 years made!!!

2010 read: A 17 year old girl, Karen thinks she sees vivid images of a dark future, and the following night she falls into a coma. This book is well described by an Amazon reviewer, who said it was like starting one book and finishing another! An eco-metaphysical fable warning mankind about its drive towards efficiency and emptiness and how it is has truly conquered the planet. What? Read this very interesting book, and you'll see what I mean. 7 out of 12.
2018 read; 2010 read

Girlfriend in A Coma by Douglas Coupland author of Microserfs, my note on the latter is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/02/... together with a few thousand other reviews

7 out of 10

Girlfriend in a Coma is placed on the list of 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read, though I do not see why, it is not on any of my lists, in the Science Fiction and Fantasy section, while Microserfs, by the same author is in the State of Nation chapter, on the same list, the latter was enjoyable for yours truly, alas, I entered a coma…

With the former, due in large part to the challenges evident from the start, the rhythm is good, only the words transport one to another world, just like some of the new ones, spread on TikTok, have changed their meaning – the word of the year (2024, people may get to this in 2342, if there is still a planet here) is…brat
Only not brat as spoiled brat (the significance I knew) but something good, Kamala was good, brat, until the cohorts of deplorables decided they want the Orange spasm, which has nominated a talk show host to be defense secretary, a guy selling soap in the shape of grenades, and throwing an ax, that could have killed a drummer…

Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/07/... explained how words change their meaning, or lose it, infamous used to be the one with origins in infamy, only with time, and misuse, it just became famous, and could no longer be used according to the Master
Demure is now handled to be, well, anything, and then we have delulu aka crazy, I think, the same thing with Girlfriend in a Coma, which starts with – ‘Part 1 All ideas

This was a pretty quick read for me. What a strange but good book! Karen falls into a coma after having somewhat of a premonition of the apocalypse. It's got a ghost and a weird plauge like occurrence. Ultimately, Karen wakes up, the world ends as she had seen it, and her and her friends need to figure out what to do with their lives. I don't want to give away the ending too much. Would recommend this!!!

First of all, sorry Kenny!

I really wanted to like this book, as I've wanted to read it for ages and when I was younger I used to LOVE Douglas Coupland, but it has become obvious now that some lovers should remain in the past. An example; around the same age as I was going through my Coupland phase, my favourite band were The Ataris. Their lyrics resounded with me. I tried listening to them again recently, and for the most part, I cringed.

What I didn't like about 'Girlfriend' was that the characters were all really annoying, I couldn't empathise with any of them. The dialogue was far too American (or Canadian?) sounding; you know when you read an old Irvine Welsh novel and your inner monologue turns into a Leith ned? Well in my head right now I have a valley girl talking at me in italics. The plot was also ridiculous and I found myself rolling my eyes quite a lot, especially at the ending which is neither inspiring nor depressing but hovering somewhere in between. In fact I get the feeling Coupland wanted to inspire, but fell short.

With The Ataris and Coupland, I feel that both were trying to capture the Holden Caulfield attitude which is so popular with the kind of teenagers like I was- the kind who avoid mainstream culture, and see an inherent wrong in the world and constantly try to challenge their role and tell everyone else to challenge theirs too.

The kind who thinks they'll never be another cog in the machine. Well kids, I've got news for you. I was one of you once and yet here I am sitting behind a desk in an office wearing a business skirt that i bought in Next! I even went into the Gap once. Take that, 15 year old me!

As a result, both the writings of Coupland and the lyrics of The Ataris now feel simply like weak tributes to JD Salinger. This makes me scared to read Catcher in the Rye again lest I cast it asunder like the rest of yesterdays lovers.

Di solito mi piace molto questo autore, sia quello che scrive sia come lo fa, stavolta, però, nonostante lo stile immutato, la storia mi ha traumato.
Il titolo spiega sicuramente la prima parte del libro, raccontata dal fidanzato della suddetta "fidanzata in coma"... solo che ad un certo punto tale fidanzata si sveglia e poi finisce il mondo, e poi il mondo ricomincia, insomma un gran casino.
E' evidente che non riesco ad essere chiara, ma non vorrei rovinarvi la sorpresa. Pur non amandolo non posso negare che resti un gran libro, quindi da leggere, ma...accidenti che botta.
Ho passato tutta la prima parte ad aspettare che lei si svegliasse e contemporaneamente che lui non riducesse la sua vita troppo uno schifo; la secondo parte a sperare che si amassero ancora e rimanessero insieme per sempre, esattamente come Shrek, e la terza ho cominciato a pensare che da qualche parte doveva esserci la fregatura e sarebbe stata veramente molto molto grossa.
Ok, io sono una romantica patologica, ma se questa è la fine dei protagonisti di generazione shampoo non poteva andare peggio, se questo è quello che ci aspetta io mi chiamo fuori da subito, non mi sento destinata a salvare il mondo, tranne che da me stessa eventualmente.
La storia mi ha lasciato dentro una sensazione di estremo disagio, come quando stai facendo un giro sui canali e vedi una scena di un film dell'orrore, ma di quelli splatter.
E' stato come prendere un pugno nello stomaco quando ti aspettavi una carezza, non ero preparata, quindi...non so che dirvi, se lo leggete poi non venitemi a cercare, io vi avevo avvertito...

Douglas Coupland can write about teenagers and young adults in a way that makes the characters' immaturity seem a dramatic resourse instead of something that would annoy. That's quite an achievement, and "Girlfriend in a Coma" is a good example of his talent. It follows a group of friends from the 70's to the end of the 90's and shows how they grow from teenagers to seasoned adults.

In the center of the story is Richard, a sympathetic "loser" character who's a typical example of a Coupland antihero. Richard's life is defined by the fact that his Girlfriend Karen slips into a coma after seeing odd visions of the future and an impending apocalypse. This keeps Richard from living his life and he turns into an alcoholic who couldn't care less about what will happen to him.

The novel uses its cast of characters well. They feel real, grounded, unheroic and easy to identify with. The true strength of the narrative comes from the examination of friendship that isn't sappy but does have a heart in it. And on top of this the structure and plot of the novel are quite innovative and daring, taking the reader to places and situations that aren't easily apparent beforehand.

And even if this novel that's a mix of themes from realism, sci-fi and fantasy sometimes feels a bit shaky because of the plot twists and out-of-nowhere developments it makes up for this by Coupland's masterful storytelling and originality.

The title is a reference to a Smiths song and bits of lyrics are sprinkled throughout. This was probably my favorite aspect of the book because it gave me a little thrill whenever I discovered one. The story has a group of friends left at the end of the world to try and figure out what went wrong and how they can survive. I found myself sucked in, and I flew through it after the half-way point, but overall I was a little disappointed. It takes on a preachy tone towards the end that rubbed me the wrong way and wraps things up in a way I expected but wasn’t hoping for.

Первые 2/3 романа — шикарнейшие и проглатываются молниеносно. Закрученный сюжет, полу-подсказки, разжигающие любопытство, моральный посыл. О людях прожигающих жизни, бегущих от жизни и скрытно, но глубоко несчастных. Развязка не такая гениальная как хотелось бы. Очень много текста и неприкрытая морализация.
Но в целом книга интересная и о важном.

The first half of this book was a really interesting and well-written novella about loss, grief, and loneliness and the rippling impact of tragedy. I was even willing to suspend disbelief to allow the title character to (against all odds) wake from her coma after seventeen years. But then the book just went off the rails. The "apocolypse" was overly preachy, simplistic, and just silly. I can hardly express how disappointed I was with the final 100 pages or so. Without giving away too much plot, I'll say that the very end was rather touching, but didn't come close to making up for the utterly ridiculous sci-fi turn that the book took.

this wasn’t what i was expecting at all- it was brilliant. a great book on questioning life when it is gone and no more. our existence is what shapes everything

Karen, the girlfriend of the title, sinks into a coma in 1979 and awakes almost 20 years later. As she recovers, the world ends. For two thirds of the book, I thoroughly enjoyed Couplands quite unusual narrative (which frequently shifts narrator) and great characters (and of course, the numerous Smiths song titles scattered all over the text). The final third of the book really goes nowhere, the author and myself obviously have very different views of the 90's, and the ending feels to hurried (which is strange, since it is a short novel and, as mentioned, the first 2/3s are really good) and is kind of disappointing.