(read in 1998)

I generally like Mr. Coupland and will continue to read his books but this was not my favourite. What draws me to his work is always the interesting characters which this book still offers but some of the scenes are poorly written. The scene when she *spoiler* wakes up from the coma is so entirely unrealistic and dull (she was in a coma for 17 years people!!) I had to read it again. Nope, still bad. And the morph at the end from a possibly intriguing idea to a poorly written cliche apocalypse story with the "deep thoughts" spelled out for the reader in painful detail is painful. I was expecting a Noah's Ark remake after a while but then this was turned on its head when it because a lesson about evangelism with religion cut out.

Эта книга напоминает мне примеры, которые я решила в школе, классе 9-10. Вот дают тебе огромный, просто нереально огромный и страшный пример с кучей косинусов, синусов и прочей гадостью и говорят: упрости или реши. И вот ты решаешь, очень долго, перебираешь кучу формул, думаешь какие из них использовать, а потом в итоге, после часов мучений, исписанных десятков листков, получаешь в ответе ноль. "=0". Мне всегда выносило это мозг.
Так вот, эта книга примерно такая же, хотя, конечно, она не вводит в тоску и печаль, наоборот, вполне интересная книга.

This book went somewhere I never expected it to go, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I started reading this book a few years ago, got around halfway through, and for some unknown reason never picked it up again until now. I was enjoying it at the time, so it's strange that I stopped reading, but I've finally got back to it now.

The story focuses around a group of friends and their lives growing up in a world that keeps progressing while they feel their lives are stagnant. On the 15th of December 1979, Richard's girlfriend Karen takes two valium and promptly falls into a coma that lasts around 16 years. While she is suspended in another world, the others have to try and get by without her, and later deal with her return in a new and scary world.

I was really enjoying the first two sections of this book for the most part, and then it got to the third and final section. Things just got very very weird very quickly, almost a little too quickly for my liking. Although it was a really interesting concept, and one I did not expect to happen whatsoever, I just felt it was a little jarring. What also became more and more apparent in the latter part of the book was the agenda that Coupland appeared to be pushing, which frankly began to grate on me a bit. I don't like overly preachy books, and although I can't be sure if this was Coupland's own opinions of the world and life, it came across a bit too strongly for my liking. I found the ending to be a bit meh and disappointing.

Overall this is probably my favourite Coupland book I've read, but his books always feel like they are a little lacking in places. I'm not sure what this is. Maybe it's his often unemotional style of writing (a little less strong here) or his habit of depicting people with lives which are seemingly going nowhere, but I find it hard to warm to him. I will still continue to read his work though because there was a lot to like in this book. I just didn't love where it ended up.

I loved the basic plot and the over-arching theme about why the world ended was interesting. The end was a little moving so on some level I cared about the characters and what happened to them.

While some of this was compelling, there were other parts that were very dull and dragged. If you split this book into three parts, they seemed disjointed. It just didn't rise to the level of the original premise.

It was simply forgettable and slightly disappointing. I am not sure who would enjoy this book so I don't recommend it. I feel like people may like some, but not all of this.

Girlfriend in a Coma was my first taste of Canadian author Douglas Coupland's work, and I must admit that I selected it just for its title, being a huge fan of The Smiths. It sounded fascinating, and I was quite intrigued by the first chapter, which was narrated by a 'ghost' named Jared. The following initial section of the book is told by Richard, a character whom I did not find particularly interesting; the story which he relates, however, does have quite a lot of depth to it.

Whilst the concept within Girlfriend in a Coma is undoubtedly of interest, I did not feel as though the novel was quite as well realised as it could have been. The first section was engaging, but the second, which used the third person perspective, was not at all. The characters largely did not feel realistic, and it did get a little silly in places. Regardless, my first foray into Coupland's work hasn't made me write him off; I would like to read another of his books, but hope that the magical realism, and ridiculous decisions which characters make, doesn't get too in the way of what could be an incredibly good and well thought out story.

I suppose I was pretty much destined to not like this book very much. The message just doesn't do it for me, pretty much rings false, and induces a serious eyeroll. Maybe it would have been different ten years ago when the book came out. Maybe it would have been different if I was younger when I read it. But such as it is, I found it a pretty insipid book.

I'm never going to like a story that focuses on high school friends years after high school. There is just something terribly repulsive for me about people who never grow beyond high school, but even so I think I could have gotten over that personal prejudice if either 1. the characters were developed and interesting, or 2. the post apocalyptic story didn't suck so hard.

I know a few people who love this, but sadly it wasn’t for me.

It’s an interesting book that explores loss, grief, mourning and I was reading it at a time of loss, grief and mourning. But that wasn’t really the issue. He main issue was that it was full of metaphysical, supernatural, existential shite that I couldn’t be arsed with.

Girlfriend in a Coma, by Douglas Coupland tells the story about a teenager named Richard and his girlfriend, Karen. Like the title, the novel talks about Richard’s girlfriend falling into a coma. I find the overall concept for the novel to be quite intriguing; even so, I think how Coupland develops his ideas and concepts are ineffective and confusing.

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After seventeen years, Karen miraculously wakes up from her coma. Not only is this a rare case in society, but to add to that, Karen wakes up with a premonition. The idea of human waking from a coma with a prophecy is extremely interesting. To me, this aspect is quite fascinating as a thought experiment; in other words, I think missing seventeen years of my life and waking up to a new world would be a mix of excitement and curiosity—what would I miss? When Karen first awakes from her coma she notices various changes when the narrator states, “She notices the absence of a mirror in the room. Her hair has fallen into her face tells her she has gone gray,” (Coupland 119). Generally, Coupland’s general concept of the novel is effectual in raising my interest which is an important aspect of any good read.

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On the contrary, I think that Coupland does not successfully develop his overall concept and idea. Coupland creates a fragmented narrative; he attempts to use various genres but is unable to in an organized manner. Firstly, he begins the book using genres such as romance and melodrama. Suddenly, without seeming motivation, Coupland jumps to the genre of tragedy and soon after contrasts it with science fiction. When Karen wakes up from her coma, she has a prophecy which is definitely an aspect of science fiction. This occurs when Karen says, “And it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen here,” (Coupland 163). In my opinion, Coupland’s mixing of genres is an ineffective way to develop his ideas. Personally, I see no purpose in the use of the contrasting genres. It makes the novel confusing in the sense that Coupland makes it hard to focus on certain aspects of the story. Coupland attempts to create progression for the characters but it is impossible because the dissimilar genres prevent me from enjoying the novel as a cohesive whole. Although Coupland has various creative ideas, his refusal to use one consistent genre results in a poorly developed premise which in the beginning was interesting; however, by the end of the novel, just became frustrating and virtually incomprehensible.

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Overall, I believe that the negative definitely outweighed the positive. The idea of the novel was initially interesting; nonetheless, the manner Coupland used to develop the novel is not efficient. The mixing of the genres prevented me from seeing a central theme. This essentially made me feel like the novel was pointless. In the end, I truthfully can say that Coupland has wonderland innovative ideas, but I seriously do not recommend this book to anyone.

I find there is something comforting about reading Coupland. Maybe it’s because he is Canadian as well? I do appreciate his Canadiana—especially after a recent trip to Vancouver. It was fascinating reflecting upon the characters’ experience of Vancouver between ‘79 to ‘99; before one bedrooms rented for $3 K a month.

This book reminded me of the experience of reading R.L. Stines’ teen vampire series. It’s a meandering read for a lazy day, not especially complicated, but engaging. There is something nostalgic about it and it made me reflect upon my youth and being in my twenties. Did I learn a lot? I’d say no, but I did enjoy the characters’ aimlessness and philosophizing (however surfacy it may be).

I can recognize that this book is not for everyone. The plot is kind of strange and the characters not especially admirable. Most of the characters remind me of people I knew who peaked in highschool and partied hard way past their prime. Overall, I found this book to be really pleasant to read.

My reaction after finishing the book:

I would like the three hours I spent reading this back.