Eleanor Rigby
I finished reading Douglas Coupland's new book, Eleanor Rigby, this morning. If you've read any Coupland before you're sure to enjoy this one as well, as it explores the common themes of his work: loneliness, redemption, interconnectedness, signs from the heavens. It reminded me of Girlfriend in a Coma because of some plot similarities - child born to clueless teenagers who is adopted ends up being a messenger of sorts. However, where Girlfriend in a Coma seemed to explore the interconnectedness of everyone Eleanor Rigby was all about loneliness.
One of the things I love about all of Coupland's work is this visualness of his writing. Meaning, you are reading the story it is very easy to create a picture of the characters in your head. Although a lot of the scenes I created are much more based on my own life (the cube farm I used to work in, the rooftop party I attended one night...) then they are on what Coupland imagined, I'm sure.
If I have any complaints they are regarding the timing of this book. Historically, Douglas Coupland has had an uncanny ability to write books that deal with what I'm going through in my life at that very moment. I noticed it first, and most prevalently, with Microserfs. I was 1 year out of college and 4 months past my father's open heart surgery and major stroke, and I was reading a book about a group of twenty-somethings charting out to re-start their careers and the main character's mother has a major stroke in the story. I read the second half of the book in one sitting (staying up until about 4 am), tears streaming down my face.
Girlfriend in a Coma was the other one that really hit me where it hurt. I had just moved into the original House of Swank (after a year living with the parents, where I was because I had hit rock bottom) and was thrilled with the network of friends I was developing after returning to Portland from Seattle. And here's this book about how a group of friends lives are interconnected and the end of the world comes and they are given a second chance.
So, had Douglas Coupland released this book in the summer of 2001 it might easily have trumped Microserfs as the best Coupland book ever. Because the theme of living a lonely, sparse life as the world roars on around you definitely fit my life then.
As it stands, this was a very enjoyable book and I highly recommend it to anyone who's read Coupland before. However, I would not recommend this as your first book by the author, because much of his writing might escape you if you aren't familiar with his work.
One of the things I love about all of Coupland's work is this visualness of his writing. Meaning, you are reading the story it is very easy to create a picture of the characters in your head. Although a lot of the scenes I created are much more based on my own life (the cube farm I used to work in, the rooftop party I attended one night...) then they are on what Coupland imagined, I'm sure.
If I have any complaints they are regarding the timing of this book. Historically, Douglas Coupland has had an uncanny ability to write books that deal with what I'm going through in my life at that very moment. I noticed it first, and most prevalently, with Microserfs. I was 1 year out of college and 4 months past my father's open heart surgery and major stroke, and I was reading a book about a group of twenty-somethings charting out to re-start their careers and the main character's mother has a major stroke in the story. I read the second half of the book in one sitting (staying up until about 4 am), tears streaming down my face.
Girlfriend in a Coma was the other one that really hit me where it hurt. I had just moved into the original House of Swank (after a year living with the parents, where I was because I had hit rock bottom) and was thrilled with the network of friends I was developing after returning to Portland from Seattle. And here's this book about how a group of friends lives are interconnected and the end of the world comes and they are given a second chance.
So, had Douglas Coupland released this book in the summer of 2001 it might easily have trumped Microserfs as the best Coupland book ever. Because the theme of living a lonely, sparse life as the world roars on around you definitely fit my life then.
As it stands, this was a very enjoyable book and I highly recommend it to anyone who's read Coupland before. However, I would not recommend this as your first book by the author, because much of his writing might escape you if you aren't familiar with his work.
posted by Swankette at 7:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home