I like it!
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After reading some poor reviews on this one, comparing it to Microserfs, (which for me was the only DC book I have read that disappointed) I was going to pass on JPod. However someone bought it for me as a present so with a heavy heart I reluctantly started to plough through and what do you know I LOVED it. Quirky, funny, lots of superb character analysis which I found occasionally worrying, DC's style is unique and always has characters that I would love to know in real life. And including himself in the story wasn't cheesy at all.
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JPadding
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My daughter and I are big fans of Coupland, so I bought her this for Christmas. At first glance, it looks like a substantial piece of work (~560 pages), but it's actually quite a short book (I read it in 1.5 days). The disparity arises, of course, because of all the large-font pages and lists of numbers that are inserted into the story. It's a trick that merits some consideration: the former suggest a fascination with the form of words that portrays them as artistic objects in the book, but it's hard to see any justification (artistic or otherwise) for the latter.
I found the stream-of-consciousness passages much more interesting. These are extended meditations on subjects like marketing, technology, pod life and gaming, which make extensive use of what I can only describe as the language of the web. For example, he intersperses words from adult sites ("Blondes. Bondage. Brunettes. Celebrities.") with instructions from bulletin boards ("You may not post new threads. You may not post replies."). These passages also include the smart observations that Coupland specialises in ("It's quite easy to tell which text has been typed by someone living in the Indian subcontinent because they all too frequently forget to put spaces after periods or commas. Only damaged people want good things to happen to them through visualization. If you can control your emotions, chances are you don't have too many.")
Of course, there's the story as well, but I didn't really think this was so stimulating, especially when compared to his other work. This book has been viewed by some as a sequel to his excellent "Microserfs", but at times it reads as an update, or replacement, for that book (i.e. you're intended to read one or the other, but not both). Perhaps I've become over-familiar with his work, but it felt as if he was drawing on a cast of characters (the geek, the tough but sensitive girl, the lesbian, the dysfunctional parents) and plot elements (the dead body, the romance, the marketing meeting, the Chinese sweatshop) that have become standard for him. And maybe I'm missing something, but I couldn't find anything funny or diverting in the offhand way that one of the characters became addicted to heroin, and then appeared to treat it as a good thing.
However, the story still contains moments of coruscating brilliance: my favourite comes when the hero is wondering how electrons exist in isolation, and his podmate, without even looking up, just says "Quarks, aisle three" - a gnomic putdown that combines technical detail (not that electrons and quarks have much to do with each other in reality) and cultural allusion in a way that completely sums up the breadth of Coupland's abilities and obsessions.
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who's got a big head then?
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The book is mildly entertaining and the fast pace helps you sail through it (also helped by the fact about 30-40% of the pages are a complete waste of paper - there really is no excuse for this Coupland) but oh my God, Douglas Coupland just shoves his big fat head in there and makes you wish you hadn't just added to his book sales.
Having briefly lived in Canada, I'm aware of how the country exalts it's writers, singers, hockey players, etc. Sadly this must have played a part in Coupland's ego swelling to dangerous dimensions and this seriously detracts from the book. Inserting yourself as a character is one crap gimmick that should not be repeated. Stay out of your books Coupland and they're decent reads.
NB: CBC's televsision version of JPOD looks just terrible and will only make Coupland worse. Try dramatizing Atwood instead. As far as I'm aware, she's not such a vain ego-maniac.
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JPod
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I loved this book. Some of the reviews say that this is a poor relation to Microserfs - if this is true, how good must Microserfs be?! (I have just ordered it, so will wait and see!) JPod is based around a group of techno geeks working for a computer game company. The characters are absolutely compelling - I loved Ethan and his family. The story itself should really be ridiculous - it even includes several appearances from DC himself - but in his hands each twist and turn of the story is made curiously "normal". The humour is non-stop and pleasingly dark, reminding me very much of All Families Are Psychotic. I didn't want this book to end and cannot recommend it highly enough.
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Loved this book
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This is the first Copeland novel I've read, and having worked in an environment similar to that described I found myself laughing out loud at this book more than any I've read for years. The reviews for this book are mixed, and it is true there are elements that make you groan, such as Copeland writing himself in as a 'playing himself' character in the book. I did not find that this diminished my enjoyment of the book however, just created some insight into the workings of the author. All in all this is one of the books I have most enjoyed reading in the last year, and I have read many.
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Canada