Thread: Douglas Coupland

If you've read any of my posts in this part of the forum, you can figure out that I love Douglas Coupland. I was wondering who else had read much by him and wheter they agree with some of the philosophy in his books. I'll also throw in some Coupland quotes I like, just for the hell of it:

"We spend our youth attaining wealth and our wealth attaining youth."

"'What do you think dying is like' Cathy says it was like you're in a store and a friend drives up to the door in a beautiful car and says 'Hop in- Let's go for a trip!' And so you go out for a spin. And once you're out on the road and having a great time, suddenly your firned turns to you and says 'Oh, by the way, you're dead.' and you realize they're right, but it doesn't matter because you're happy and this is an adventure and this is fine."

"Just imagine how surprised fish would be if they knew about all the action going on just on the other side of the water."

"I believe you've had most of you important memories by the time you're 30."

"At what point in our lives do we stop blurring? When do we become crisp individuals? What must we do in order to end these fuzzy identities- to clarify just who it is we really are?"

"Animals don't have time."

There's some quotes... Well not really quotes, but nice parts of his books. What do you think? Got anymore?

God is now here / God is nowhere / God, I snow here

Just finished Hey, Nostradamus! (enjoyed it, especially after the first third) and am working through Gen X on the side.

A pretty good writer, though I might agree with some of the critics who suggest that his fiction often takes on a cartoonish sort of feel. Still a hell of a writer. I love his Hey, N! flash thing on his website. Eerie.

Andrew

I'm a big Douglas Coupland fan. He's my favorite author. I love his style how he can blend philosophy with the plot lines.
So far I've read
Generation X
Life After God
Girlfriend in a Coma
All Families are Psychotic
Shampoo Planet
Hey Nostradamus!

There are two things I wanna share...both from Shampoo Planet.


I love the tragic flaws he writes on the bills.

YOU DISGUISE YOUR LAZINESS AS PRIDE

YOU ARE PARALYZED BY THE FACT THAT CRUELTY IS OFTEN AMUSING

YOU DEFEND OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEAS AT THE EXPENSE OF YOUR OWN

YOU STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DO WELL

YOUR FEAR OF CHANGE IS CLEARLY TOO VISIBLE IN YOUR EYES

I also really like when Tyler describes a way to die...him driving along the road "Suddenly, woosh! along comes a blast of Pacific wind, rousing the zinnias into a polen fervor and blasting me with yellowness, shake-and-baking, me with a substance I had no idea I was allergic to, and within moemts, I go into anaphylactic shock and am dead."

oh and ofcouse..The Elements in the beginning.

Douglas Coupland is great

Q: If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?

A: You already are an animal.

Shampoo Planet was the first I read and now I forget it. Time for a reread. I just read Miss Wyoming and it was so Couplandy but lacked in some newer philosophy ideas. I'm reading Polaroids of the Dead now and then I'll be done Coupland (except God Hates Japan, which is obscure). If you like Coupland check out Rick Moody. I think of him as America's Coupland. Though not as... in your face. Not as good either.

I've only read 'Hey, Nostradamus!' by him so far....I was very far from impressed, it was a bit boring and I couldn't finish it. I do still want to read 'Microserfs' though...
^v^

If you didn't like Hey Nostradamus don't attempt Microserfs. It is probably his most boring book. I still really enjoyed it a lot though...

By the way, I finished Polaroids for the Dead, thus having read everything by Dougie. Overall Polaroids wasn't exceptional. There are two amazing short stories in the middle section though:

German Reporter: I have the feeling I've read this before- it could've been in City of Glass. It was perfect though. Coupland at his best. I got about five quotes from this one story alone. If you read anything by Dougie, it should be this story.

Two Postcards from the Bahamas: This is another good story (well, really two short ones). You feel like one day, it will be you walking with Doug on the beach in the Bahamas. It also changed the way I look at people.

Anyways, I always have lots to say about Douglas Coupland...