Some pun about the future... (Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Hey Nostradamus! - Douglas Coupland
Date:	30/07/04 (502 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good ideas, Interesting to read

Disadvantages: Too much like other Coupland stuff, Too many loose ends

Douglas Coupland is a hip writer. If you want to be hip, you have to read Douglas Coupland. At least, that's what I was told, and who am I to ignore all those nice people who say such nice things about Mr Coupland on the backs of his books? I know that hip isn't a word we use these days, but hip is the kind of word that you might find this author using, albeit in a modern, ironic way.

I'm not particularly fashionable, but I do enjoy some of Douglas Coupland's work. Not all of it, mind! This is the fifth of his books I have read and I think I was equally split in my opinion of his writing until now. I?m caught between loving two and, well, not exactly hating two, but being underwhelmed by them. This was recommended to me by someone who was aware of my feelings about Coupland, so I had high hopes for the book.

'Hey Nostradamus!' is a tale told by four people, all of whom share some sort of connection. Cheryl Anway is forever seventeen, murdered in a high school massacre before she can tell anyone about her secret marriage to Jason Klaasen, and before news of her pregnancy is leaked.

Eleven years later, Jason is ambling through life, still affected by the incidents at high school, the untold secrets and the subsequent fallout which managed to paint him as hero and villain at the same time by the media and gossiping community.

Heather, Jason's current girlfriend tells her part of the story, trying to piece together the mystery of Jason, and his hidden and tortured inner self as well as find clues to his actions over their recent past.

Finally the baton falls to Reg, Jason's impossibly religious (and possibly quite insane) father who is suddenly realising that his religion hasn't actually brought him any happiness and it has just resulted in Reg's family removing themselves from him.

The tale is told over the course of fifteen years from 1988 through to 2003. While it's not
a continual tale over the fifteen years (you only get a snapshot of each character in the time line), you're kept up to speed with what you need to know, despite the large gaps in the characters' histories. With the story being told in chronological order rather than jumping around, confusion is further eliminated.

'Hey Nostradamus!' is supposedly meant to be Coupland branching out from the style of his previous work, but I thought that the book seemed a mixture of bits and pieces of his earlier work ? some characters reminded me of 'Shampoo Planet' or 'Generation X' (both of which underwhelmed me), but I also saw signs of 'Girlfriend in a Coma' (which I adored) in other situations and plot devices.

All four characters have very different personalities and views of the world, and while it is possible to see the differences, it's also possible to see the similarities (presumably due to Coupland's writing style) not only with each other, but to other Coupland characters. They carry the tale along speaking mainly about themselves, their experiences and their close friends and family. As such, it's a very character driven book and they are the things I remember from the book rather than the settings or the situations.

Coupland's previous work has been criticised for not being particularly good at characterisation ? often the characters in his books are only there to be hip and spout ideas about consumerism or religion in the modern world. To be honest, I didn't think 'Hey Nostradamus!' was too much of a departure from his previous work in terms of characterisation. I'd seen evidence that Coupland was starting to become a more rounded writer in his book 'Girlfriend in a Coma' which was better than say, 'Generation X', but it's more of an evolution than something totally new. The lack of characterisation is not necessarily a minus point for me ? the cha
racters were fleshed out enough to be able to associate with them, get angry at them or sympathise with them wherever the story took them to where they needed to go. It's hard to believe that a book which is all about the four characters (and a very small supporting character list) isn't regarded as a masterpiece in character development, but I feel that most of the problem is that Coupland's characters aren't meant to be particularly deep anyway.

I enjoyed the story, and the tale did keep me out of trouble until I'd finished it, but I also felt that, at the end, there were too many loose ends to the story. It's not that I don't like loose ends ? I've read plenty of books/stories and watched plenty of movies where you have to accept that there are deliberate gaps in the story or your knowledge. The good ones leave you feeling that there's more to the story and a touch of disappointment that you'll never find out what it is. The bad ones leave you feeling frustrated, and I did feel a twinge of frustration at the end.

I have to be totally honest here. I don't think that Coupland's writing is that great. He writes well enough to tell whatever story he wishes to, but no more than that. Where I think Coupland really stands out though is in his ideas. Even in those books that didn't particularly impress me, I still thought that there were some amazing ideas put forward. It's for this reason that I'll always give a Coupland book a chance, even if the balance has now tipped in favour of me being underwhelmed so far.

If you've read Coupland before then you'll probably already know whether you wish to read this or not. If you've never encountered Coupland before, then perhaps you might want to try one of his earlier (and better) books. My two favourites are 'Microserfs' and 'Girlfriend in a Coma', although his first book, 'Generation X' isn't too bad.


ISBN: 0007162510

Summary: