John's review
Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
I have long been an avid Coupland fan and I first read "Hey, Nostradamus" when it was first released several years ago. It moved me to tears, which doesn't happen entirely often, and stayed and played around in my head for several days after I finished it.
I am reading it again, now. In the last sixth months, two of my very dear friends, one 27 and the other 26, were killed, one accidentally and the other murdered. They have mounted into a loss I've found I can't quite get my head around. Despite my supposed faith and deep love for the mysterious universe, I've found myself confronted with this bleak, hideously random reality and can't reconcile those things.
"Hey, Nostradamus" is unusually brutal and visceral for Coupland, and therein lies its effectiveness. Coupland spares no one and nothing. He does not allow his characters to lean against the old adage that it can't get any worse or that there's no way to go but up, as, certainly, when things look thei...more
I am reading it again, now. In the last sixth months, two of my very dear friends, one 27 and the other 26, were killed, one accidentally and the other murdered. They have mounted into a loss I've found I can't quite get my head around. Despite my supposed faith and deep love for the mysterious universe, I've found myself confronted with this bleak, hideously random reality and can't reconcile those things.
"Hey, Nostradamus" is unusually brutal and visceral for Coupland, and therein lies its effectiveness. Coupland spares no one and nothing. He does not allow his characters to lean against the old adage that it can't get any worse or that there's no way to go but up, as, certainly, when things look thei...more
