All Families are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
Comparing it to 'Hey Nostradamus' is like debating the difference between the sun and the moon, where in 'Hey...' Coupeland was full of nitty gritt seriousness, social commentary, deepness of character, while here in 'All Families are Psychotic' Coupeland tries his hand on a more comical satirical way of writing, which produces a mixed feeling from me.
In 'All Families are Psychotic' as always you might find in a Coupeland book, the characters are funny, charming with a totally hip and fast paced narrative that flows smoothly and pleasurably.
But in doing so, it became like an Elmore Leonard novel where everything and all of a sudden coincides with each other, as to make more hilarious situations, as much as heavy burden the character gets ( HIV infection, being broke, good for nothing existence, disfigured physical features etc. ) you can hardly see any burden, its like the characters are all holed up in this make believe land when anything is possible and will happen just to provide humor.
Well i appreciate the humor, that's where my mixed feelings comes in, as i remember this is fiction, in fiction you dint calculate the possibilities of something happening, right? you go on with the story, hell million of people enjoyed Stephen King and Neil Gaiman's novels, but problem is Coupeland belongs to a genre although its still fiction, readers like me are expecting a conduit between the characters and ourselves.
I appreciate the good and fun moments of this book, but at the same time i end up questioning the reactions or the mindset of the characters, the countless coincidences ( although it made up a riotous setting ) still, i find myself not comfortable with events happening with great connections to each other, like 'life is like a blanket' ( from 'i heart huckabees' ).
Or maybe i was expecting too much after 'Hey Nostradamus'
Well Douglas Coupland is no doubt a talented writer, he is entitled to write a funny and more mainstream book, and this one is the result of that 'hopefully temporary experiment'.
If you were a fan of Douglas Coupland, chances are you already read 'Generation X' and 'Girlfriend in a Coma' to name a few, then maybe you will be left a bit disappointed with this book.
But if you're a book reader that just want to have a good experience reading a humorous tale about a portrayal of the breakdown of a modern family unit then you might find this book appealing.
Guess what? after writing down all my complaints about this book, thinking also about its 750.00 price tag at fully booked, guess somehow i never regret buying and reading it.
Its just that there is one thing lacking in it, the true Douglas Coupland style, the dark side? maybe...well as i said, any writer needs some temporary relief to their style...lets just hope Dan Brown will change his also...but please not Coupland, we love you already back then no need to go mainstream. 'Generation X' is more mainstream than you could ever get.
Its hard when you are the writer who wrote the book that defined a generation ('Generation X' ) and other savvy novels like 'Microserfs' and 'Girlfriend in a Coma' which may come darker and deeper than most novels.
In 'All Families are Psychotic' as always you might find in a Coupeland book, the characters are funny, charming with a totally hip and fast paced narrative that flows smoothly and pleasurably.
But in doing so, it became like an Elmore Leonard novel where everything and all of a sudden coincides with each other, as to make more hilarious situations, as much as heavy burden the character gets ( HIV infection, being broke, good for nothing existence, disfigured physical features etc. ) you can hardly see any burden, its like the characters are all holed up in this make believe land when anything is possible and will happen just to provide humor.
Well i appreciate the humor, that's where my mixed feelings comes in, as i remember this is fiction, in fiction you dint calculate the possibilities of something happening, right? you go on with the story, hell million of people enjoyed Stephen King and Neil Gaiman's novels, but problem is Coupeland belongs to a genre although its still fiction, readers like me are expecting a conduit between the characters and ourselves.
I appreciate the good and fun moments of this book, but at the same time i end up questioning the reactions or the mindset of the characters, the countless coincidences ( although it made up a riotous setting ) still, i find myself not comfortable with events happening with great connections to each other, like 'life is like a blanket' ( from 'i heart huckabees' ).
Or maybe i was expecting too much after 'Hey Nostradamus'
Well Douglas Coupland is no doubt a talented writer, he is entitled to write a funny and more mainstream book, and this one is the result of that 'hopefully temporary experiment'.
If you were a fan of Douglas Coupland, chances are you already read 'Generation X' and 'Girlfriend in a Coma' to name a few, then maybe you will be left a bit disappointed with this book.
But if you're a book reader that just want to have a good experience reading a humorous tale about a portrayal of the breakdown of a modern family unit then you might find this book appealing.
Guess what? after writing down all my complaints about this book, thinking also about its 750.00 price tag at fully booked, guess somehow i never regret buying and reading it.
Its just that there is one thing lacking in it, the true Douglas Coupland style, the dark side? maybe...well as i said, any writer needs some temporary relief to their style...lets just hope Dan Brown will change his also...but please not Coupland, we love you already back then no need to go mainstream. 'Generation X' is more mainstream than you could ever get.
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