Classic Coupland doesn’t venture far

By Keiralee Friesen and ChristianWeek | November 3, 2009

Douglas Coupland's newest work, Generation A, follows the story of five young adults from around the world who appear, at first, to have only one thing in common: they have been stung by bees which, in the near-future setting of the novel, are supposed to be extinct.

The first half of the book introduces these characters individually; the last is a collection of stories, blending truth and fiction, told by the characters to each other. The stories touch on isolation and loneliness, the death of superheroes, cults, nuclear warfare and natural disasters—themes that will be familiar to anyone who has read Coupland's earlier Life after God and Hey, Nostradamus!

Once again Coupland attempts to show us how stories are necessary for our survival, how they in fact make us and even define prayer as: "a wish for the events in your life to string together to form a story—something that makes some sense of events you know have meaning."
Coupland's world is a familiar one. Nearly every moment we are deluged by information, pop-culture references and brand names.

If you like a book to be your refuge from this, don't look to Generation A.

Coupland does not seek an escape from our imperfect world but rather calls attention to it. This can be tiring, but at the same time illuminating. He writes for the disconnected, the self-satisfied, the cynical. He writes to make meaning of life for those who, like himself, were raised without religion. This book is not for the easily offended, as there are no sainted characters in sight and the angry and confused narrators are obnoxiously self-aware, but also funny, and sometimes even insightful.

In Coupland's world there is no divide between sacred and profane. One minute he is writing of the death of language due to text messaging and the next about accidentally drawing closer to the heart of God. Though raised without religion, Coupland never shies away from it. He writes about deeply flawed Christians; one of the characters moves from strict fundamentalism to a kinder, more community-centred lifestyle, a portrayal which may challenge individualistic churches.

My only wish is that his future novels will mature beyond what we have already seen of him. To anyone just getting into Coupland, Generation A is a fine starting place, but to those already familiar with his work, they may experience a little too much déjà vu.