Douglas Coupland's ups and downs find their way into his novels.
We have the ups (Generation X, Life After God, Miss Wyoming, Hey Nostradamus, Eleanor Rigby) and the downs (Shampoo Planet, Girlfriend in a Coma, All Families are Psychotic). We wonder whether the guy needs medication to get out of bed.
With JPod, Douglas has either reverted to an earlier prescription or switched to something new entirely. He's perhaps more than any 'name' author today capable of surprises and reinvention and all of that schtick more typical of a rock'n'roll star.
They say:
The Independent: “I used to think Coupland was slightly too benign a novelist. Now he feels like one of the most nihilistic: a change that has improved his fiction immeasurably.”
The Observer: “JPod is without a doubt his strongest, best observed novel since Microserfs.”
The Guardian: “At the very least, it makes for a quick read because there are so many pages you can skip.”
We say:
The first thing you notice about JPod is we’re back in the land of crazy typography last seen in Microserfs.
Do a random flick through its 448 pages and you'll see text unbroken by punctuation, a page of $ signs, a page that repeats the word RAMEN NOODLES over and over again, pages of Japanese and others containing all of the three letter words allowed in Scrabble.
Many would dismiss this typographical gimcrackery as a waste of time. Others would claim Coupland is having fun. Certainly the playful angle carries through the book.
The very first line finds the residents of JPod exclaiming “I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel.” Later on the JPodders debate whether Douglas Coupland should sue Aaron Spelling, then Ethan – our narrator – meets Douglas Coupland on an aeroplane on the way to China. So far, so Bret Easton Ellis good.
As to what the book’s actually about, well, there’s a place called JPod. It’s a small games design department packed with people who's surnames begin with the letter J. Hence JPod. Clear as...
The JPodders - the aforementioned Ethan, Conrad Jesperson (called Cancer Cowboy or simply Cowboy, a skanking slutbag), Bree Jyang (also a slutbag but looking to 'get on' in the world), John Doe (formerly a mountain juniper, strives to be normal after a crazy upbringing), Brandon Mark Jackson (so straight the rest of JPod start to call him Evil Mark) and Kaitlin Anna Boyd Joyce (new to the pod, hates the geeks) - are in the middle of designing a skateboard game. Which everyone screws with.
In the outside world, Ethan's mother kills a business rival, has an affair and dallies with lesbianism and cannabis. Ethan's father struggles to find a break into the acting world while idling away the hours ballroom dancing with Kam Fong who is a people smuggling friend of Ethan's brother Greg. Phew, is that all?
It’s a marriage of Microserfs and All Families are Psychotic but, by introducing himself into the great scheme of things, Coupland manages to add a new twist for fans and newbies alike.
For all its typographical fireworks, JPod doesn't feel quite as revolutionary as Hey Nostradamus did. But it’s fun, makes you laugh, makes you think and makes you gaze disconcertingly into the empty maw of modern life.
AUTHOR
Douglas Coupland
POSTED...
Sun 30 Jul 2006 at 9:54am
