07 - all families are psychotic, by Douglas Coupland, 279 pages, Vintage Canada, 2001
WHY I PICKED IT: Re-read of a book by an author I really appreciate
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Good
This is my first re-read in a while... and although I really enjoy Coupland, I seem to think that he isn't as deep as he thinks he is... The story is about a family. Mom and Dad are divorced. Two adult sons are screwups and have significant others who are expecting babies, and their daughter is the overachieving astronaut...
The story is entertaining, but written with a sense of overarching ideology that I just cannot figure out. Whereas John Irving has many themes that recur in many of his novels, Coupland's books frequently involve some discussion about a belief in God, about our interaction with The Internet (as if it's this great big thing), and about one's place in the world... and this book has all three of these.
If you take the story as an escape, as a bit of entertainment, it's fine... if you want more depth, this book just doesn't have it.
This blog is a simple review of every book that I read... For all books I’ll tell you why I picked it, how long it took me to read it, and give it a rating (burn it, not good, meh, good, very good, and required reading). I ask (encourage?) all readers of my blog to post their thoughts of any of the books in my comments :). Thanks!
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