Douglas Coupland seems to be
an author, much like Bret Easton Ellis and Jay McInerney, whose books will
always be tied to a certain time period, in this case the 80’s and 90’s. While
Ellis has gained success past the time period he began to write (although he
will always be known culturally as being an 80’s writer) and McInerney has
continued to publish books that go beyond 80’s decadence, I think Coupland will
always be known for coining the term “Generation X”. Since that book, he seems
to be trying to cash in on any counter-culture taboo subject that he looks at
through his thoughtful yet detached eye. And in his novel Hey Nostradamus, he
turns that eye toward school shootings, coming of the heels of the Columbine
Massacre. But while I like this sub genre of fiction, with it producing such
books as Project X by Jim Shepard and We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel
Shriver, this is not one of those books. Divided into four chapters, each with
a school shooting that causes the death of the first chapters narrator as a
focal point, we learn about the lasting affects of a single moment of violence.
Jason, the central character of the book, was secretly married to the deceased
narrator, Cheryl, walks through life in the shadow of that incident and his
overly religious parents, letting down Heather the one person whose trust he
has gained since the shooting, as he disappears. It ends with a heartfelt
gesture by his overbearing father, but it is truly a book that is nothing
special. It focus too much on style and never really develops a since of
independence from that style, and at best, it is cute and quirky, two words
that really don’t make me recommend any book.
Rating: 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment