Awesome
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This is one of those books that I have wanted to review for a while, but was unsure of how to approach it. I love the book and have read it over a half dozen times in less than two years. Yet it is such an atypical book that it is difficult to review. I can just be blunt and state that the book will grab you and draw you back in again and again.
The book is published as fiction, yet rumors have it that Coupland will admit that it is at least partially autobiographical. It is a collection of recollections, thoughts, memories and drawings by Coupland. It is the recount a man's life, and as we find out he is telling the story to find out how his life got to where it is. He wants a record for his daughter so that maybe she will understand him better. My favorite of the individual entries is:
"Now -- here is my secret:
I tell it to you with an openness of heart I doubt I shall ever achieve again, so I pray that you are in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God - that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I no longer seem capable of giving; to help me to be kind, as I no longer seem capable of kindness; to help me love, as I seem beyond able to love." p.359
Every time I pick up this book, I get something more out of it. Sometimes I read it from beginning to end, and then at other times I just pick it up and read at random. This book deals with many of the 'big' questions all of us will have to deal with in our lives. Questions like: How do we deal with Loneliness? Anxiety? Failed relationships? How can we find quiet in our lives? It also deals with the question of being raised without a religion or belief system and how, as we age, we end up struggling with spiritual questions.
If you can track down the first edition hardcover it is worth it. It is in a different format and shape. With the dust jacket off, it looks like a prayer book or bible. If you read it without the jacket in public places people will often ask you what you are reading. This was intentional and the shape and design of this book are part of the art of the book, and part of the complexity Coupland has woven into it. The front cover of the hardback also has an outline of a hand, like a tracing of a child's hand. As we are all reaching out beyond ourselves in search of some greater meaning in life, we are reaching out like a child in search of a parent.
My hat is off to Coupland and this amazing work of art - on all the levels that it is art of the deepest level. Coupland has created a masterpiece that will become a classic, which will survive through the ages.
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Though provoking
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Coupland takes us on a journey that succeedes in making emotional contact again and again. Told in a series of short recollections, impressions and observations the story is related by an ordinary, dysfunctional individual slowly coming apart as he questions growing up and contemporary life in America. Reading, I found myself drawn into the central character's life, the experiences described resonating as though my own. Life after god is a book that I thoroughly recommend and one which I shall dip into repeatedly.
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One of the few books that made me believe in modern fiction
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The character's in Coupland's novel are beautifully drawn out and explored even in the brief amount of literary time they are given. No book I have read carves out our modern existence in the last fifteen years in a more humouress and heartfelt way, as Coupland brilliantly etches out the routine that is day to day life, from an acquinatance at motel to the need to believe in something spiritually higher then us. Having read almost all of Coupland's books it's now wonder that he told Now magazine that this is his personal favorite so far, this is one of the most developed statements from the writer who had his fingertips on the pulse of the ninties. This book is truly a treasure and to misquote Tyler from another one of Coupland's fine literary works, thank god he didn't keep it to himself.
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beautiful. very moving
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a beautifully written, deeply moving collection of poignant little vignettes. coupland's writing is touching even when discussing the mundane, and the disjointed nature is actually very satisfying - it's incredibly thought provoking, and instead of spoonfeeding emotions to the reader, we are left with a head full of our own thoughts triggered off by the stories. brilliant.
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referred as my Bible
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"Bye Bye fishes." "Make sure you two stay together. You're the only chance that either of you is ever going to get." i could quote half the book and make another 1000 fans like me. his thoughts penned down will talk to you like a personal friend, who knows what you are thinking exactly, without you saying anything. i have never read a book with this inexplicable closeness. for those who could spare moments to connect yourself with the profound, the thoughts buried by reality should surface with this book. take a step back, and realise that we are so small yet special. his fears are able to make you nod in agreement and find common grounds. take some time to see life from a different angle. you will find much is blinded by useless issues that world cry, fought... about.
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