Shampoo Planet
by Douglas Coupland
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Read in January, 2008
I tried to read Generation X when I was 13 or so and, frankly, I just didn't get it. I don't think at that age we can truly grasp the bleak future that is a never ending parade of strip malls and McJobs shrouded in a neon disposable culture. Unfortunately another 5 to 10 years make these realities seem all too possible. I'm sure I would get a lot more out of it now, but instead I moved on to Douglas Coupland's sophomore effort Shampoo Planet.
Like all great Canadians, Coupland has a mu...more
Like all great Canadians, Coupland has a mu...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
Gen X'ers
I was looking for something totally different than what I usually read, and found it!
Coupland writes for the generation before mine, his stories full of witticisms that seem dry now that they're over a decade old. I think the generational gap was too close for my comfort - the things that were ironic and sarcastically funny are now too true, imbedded deeply into the fabric of our national consciousness/experience. This makes them not funny anymore, but rather tragic and frightening. It wa...more
Coupland writes for the generation before mine, his stories full of witticisms that seem dry now that they're over a decade old. I think the generational gap was too close for my comfort - the things that were ironic and sarcastically funny are now too true, imbedded deeply into the fabric of our national consciousness/experience. This makes them not funny anymore, but rather tragic and frightening. It wa...more
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Coupland had some on-mark passages and way of using words that makes you want to read paragraphs again and again....
"my memories begin with ronald regan - thoughts and ideas and remembrances like an explosion of white birds released on the coronation of the king. of the times before regan i remember little fleeting, ghostly webs of images, the strange undeniably dreamlike phantasms of a grey era. rocks as pets...underwear you ate...rings that told you how you felt. i must have been as...more
"my memories begin with ronald regan - thoughts and ideas and remembrances like an explosion of white birds released on the coronation of the king. of the times before regan i remember little fleeting, ghostly webs of images, the strange undeniably dreamlike phantasms of a grey era. rocks as pets...underwear you ate...rings that told you how you felt. i must have been as...more
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Read in January, 2007
An early Coupland (his second novel), I probably didn't pick the best time to read this as a lot of it deals with money worries. In fact, there's a whole 'Down and Out in L.A.' section and—yeah. Bit close to home, that. I don't know if it's the result of my trying to subconsciously distance myself, but this book didn't reach me as much as some of his others; there were sequences I loved, like the bits about 20-year-old protagonist Tyler's trip to Paris, and his visit to Père Lachaise Cemetery...more
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i am rereading this right now.
i find it to be doug's much-maligned novel. or at least it was before he switched publishers and began writing books that none of his fans liked. (miss wyoming. *sigh*.) but back in the late nineties, when you asked a douglas coupland fan what their favourite and least favourite books were, chances were the person would pick 'life after god' or 'microserfs' as their favourite, and 'shampoo planet' as their least favourite.
'shampoo planet' was my favourite f...more
i find it to be doug's much-maligned novel. or at least it was before he switched publishers and began writing books that none of his fans liked. (miss wyoming. *sigh*.) but back in the late nineties, when you asked a douglas coupland fan what their favourite and least favourite books were, chances were the person would pick 'life after god' or 'microserfs' as their favourite, and 'shampoo planet' as their least favourite.
'shampoo planet' was my favourite f...more
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Read in July, 2008
This Coupland book was like comfort food for me. Others have commented on his writing, and I have to agree that there are some excellent passages in the book--there were several chunks that I had to read aloud to my wife because I enjoyed them so much.
Really, though, I enjoyed the growth and interaction of characters most. I appreciate the way he blends the sort of hyper-consumerism of his characters with personality traits to make them likable hypocrites. Flawed, but not hated. You get ...more
Really, though, I enjoyed the growth and interaction of characters most. I appreciate the way he blends the sort of hyper-consumerism of his characters with personality traits to make them likable hypocrites. Flawed, but not hated. You get ...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Anyone
Coupland's second novel and the first I read by him, it still sticks in mind as probably the best book I've ever read.Its basically summed up as just another teen novel plotwise. Its everyday formalities, family, friends ,girlfriend(s), but looked at in Tyler Johnson's skewed perspective. It deals with the simple issues such as what haircare product to choose and more difficult ones such as trying to find an identity in the modern world. Like all of couplands work it explores the good and bad si...more
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
people looking for a fun read and a sweet story
While Microserfs remains my favorite, this novel follws suit of telling the tales of growing gen-x-ers disovering truths about life. That sounds sappy, but it's not. He accurately describes a culture that is more and more becoming a thing of the past. In short it is a story about a man struggling with the big question "what should I do with my life" while relating to his colorful family and love interests. A really touching point is at the end of the book. It really sweetly describ...more
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recommends it for:
anyone born in the eighties
Douglas Coupland is best known for his book "Generation X" and is famous for naming my generation (born last 70's early 80's).
I read Shampoo Planet in a book club I belong to. One of his reviews says that he has his finger on the pulse of this generation (20 and 30 somethings). I would agree. The book club had people younger than me (I'm 27) to some much older than me. Really, you aren't going to appreciate this book unless you are a Generation X'er. And you are going to think this ...more
I read Shampoo Planet in a book club I belong to. One of his reviews says that he has his finger on the pulse of this generation (20 and 30 somethings). I would agree. The book club had people younger than me (I'm 27) to some much older than me. Really, you aren't going to appreciate this book unless you are a Generation X'er. And you are going to think this ...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Katherine by:
Gillian
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It took me a while to get into but the second half part is great and I love the ending! Anyway, it's a very easy read book and it was a great light book to read after reading lots of non-fiction. I'm not sure whether I've decided I like the author's style yet. For example, I'm not running to get another book of his to read right now. But I do recommend this one! I was also surprised how long ago this book was written. I felt it could have been written thi...more
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Read in December, 2007
This one still took me a bit longer to get into that his later books, but I enjoyed it more than GENERATION X and I see glimmers of his future brilliance. Not that this one isn't brilliant, but I just didn't fall in love with it like I have with his later stuff, like ELEANOR RIGBY or J-POD. I just picked up his latest book, THE GUM THIEF, at the library, but I'm going to sandwich at least one non-Coupland book in between this one and that one. If I can control myself, which I probably can't!
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Read in January, 1993
I was probably younger than I should've been when I first read this book. It remains, however, my favorite book. I know that probably sounds lame, especially since some of Douglas Coupland's other books are better. However, the fact remains, if someone asks me what my favorite book is, I will say "Shampoo Planet." Perhaps I was too young and thought better of it, and the nostalgia of that is what leads me to continue to love it, but whatever. I don't really care if you agree with me.
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
nobody
I read Miss Wyoming a few months ago and loved it (original, well-written, gripping...), so asap I bought Shampoo Planet.
What a disappointment. I started reading this week and did what I almost never do - I gave up without finishing it. Read about half and was just bored, bored, bored.
It feels dated, ordinary, the writing is nothing special. The characters don't grab me. I just felt life is too short to waste time on this blah.
What a disappointment. I started reading this week and did what I almost never do - I gave up without finishing it. Read about half and was just bored, bored, bored.
It feels dated, ordinary, the writing is nothing special. The characters don't grab me. I just felt life is too short to waste time on this blah.
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if you like martin amis, and you like michel houellebecq you'll like douglas coupland too. coupland is canadian and his novels are mostly set in canada and the north west of america and like houellebecq's are a relentless parody of our contemporary ills. beautifully written, insightful, and funny. the biggest difference between coupland and houellebecq is that with coupland you don't have to look under the stones to find his humanity.
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Read in January, 2001
Read it in college. Basically a book full of humorous, breezy, non-chalent dialogue about ridalin, prozac, anorexia, disfunctional family units. It had fresh resonace in my life when it came out, but I suspect now it's shelf life is over. I also suspect that I would find it either i) whiney ii) insulting or iii) no longer resonent to my life.
Besides, "Garden State" does a better job as a retospect on our generation.
Besides, "Garden State" does a better job as a retospect on our generation.
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my friend damon once commented that coupland's earlier books had really great endings. and it's true. really beautiful final scenes in all of them. this one included. until "girlfriend in a coma" when instead of the beauty of life you got a bunch of post-apocolyptic weirdness. not to give that ending away or anything... i think that book kinda sucked anyway. or at leat wasn't really so good. but this one is great!
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I was supposed to have read this for my Nature/Technology class this past week. I didn't (oops). After listening to the class discussions, though, I am definitely intrigued. Certain passages have a very American Psycho quality to them (the obsession with possessions...not the crazy murderer stuff). Sounds interesting, seems like a good read, so I'm looking forward to it!
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Gen Xers
20-something Tyler is a broke college kid living in a nothing town who dreams of escaping to a better life. He somehow finds a way to spend a summer in Europe, which futher spurs his desire. I loved his hippie mom (whom he always refers to as "Jasmine", never "Mom") and his encounter with his strung-out hippie dad who has apparently two "wives" and about 10 kids.
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Read in January, 2003
recommends it for:
NO ONE
In this novel the author attempts to evoke a post-modern hipness that ends up being just a sad attempt. The flow of the book is dogged and the characters thin. It ends up being a bit like watching a dog chase his tail (you just know the poor thing is going to fail). Sadly, unlike in a few of the authors other works he does just that. He fails.
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Read in May, 2007
recommends it for:
teenagers
Eh, I guess I just don't really like Douglas Coupland's writing. It feels too joke-y to me and I can't get into the characters or storylines because of it. (There's one line in this book about how a character feels like "nothing ever happens," and I totally agreed. Nothing major felt at stake.) That said, this was better than JPod.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.50 (1479 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.51 (1183 ratings) number of reviews: 73popular shelves
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"It was pivotal in making you but you don't remember it. Or do you? Do we understand the events that make us who we are? Do we understand the factors that make us do the things we do?"
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