Jan van den Berg

j11g.com

Tag: douglas coupland

  • Glove Pond – Roger Thorpe

    Roger Thorpe is just as good a writer as Douglas Coupland is. As a matter of fact, he is also as real as a Douglas Coupland character. Glove Pond is his first novel.

    Glove Pond – Roger Thorpe (2007) – 91 pages

    I got this book bundled with The Gum Thief, and I was thrown off guard by the high praises on the backcover by Coupland himself. How come I had never heard of this writer? But as soon as I started reading there was the unmistakable Coupland prose and cadence!

    This book is the result of the work of the main character from the Gum Thief. Interestingly the main character in Glove Pond also deals with another author who also writes a book. Because, of course he is.

    The book has a couple of interesting — and classic Coupland — ideas. E.g. what would happen to the world if everyone’s IQ dropped 50 points, or the other way around, if everyone all of a sudden would become a genius. Entertaining, hilarious and sometimes frightening thought experiments. And exactly what I like about Coupland.

  • Generation X – Douglas Coupland

    I am a Douglas Coupland fan. And I think his debut Generation X still holds up as one of his best novels. I probably read it for the first time over ten years ago. And I have since then read several other Coupland novels. (I also reviewed jPod extensively in 2007 on my Dutch blog). So I am quite familiar with his unique style, which is a large part of the attraction. However rereading this book was quite the revelation.

    Generation X – Douglas Coupland (1991) – 253 pages

    First, to my own shock, I barely seemed to remember the main story (sure, three friends in a desert town, but that was about it). This might be fuel for an entire blogpost on this subject (“What good is reading when you forget? Does this depend on the story or author? etc.”).

    But second, when I was reading I had to double check when this book was written — yes, really 1991! The story also takes place around that time. Sure, there a few outdated references, but mainly it struck me how relevant, fresh and on-point Coupland already was in describing and predicting modern society (our society) and our relationships — with each other or technology — which is a main Coupland theme throughout all of his work. Remember this book was written pre-www (pre-grunge!). So it was definitely a different time. But the characters and their stories hold up well, because it is mainly about human interaction. And the struggle these Generation X characters face in their search for meaning, might be even more relevant today.

    So rereading this book left me with even more respect for Coupland as an astute and perceptive writer.