Douglas Coupland's JPod actually made me laugh out loud. It is without doubt the first book I was excited to read that wasn't voluntary. I mean sure, I was excited to find out if Boo Radley would ever make a physical appearance in To Kill A Mocking Bird, but I didn't want to read it in the first place. It was nice to be able to enjoy a book you had to study. Yeeyee Canadian Lit!
The first couple of pages were different, that's for sure. At first I thought they were supposed to be like a commercial, then I soon realized they were e-mails, or internet adds, or spam. It was also relieving to know that you weren't going to have to read about twenty pages every so often, or at least five. This really took a damper off the five hundred-some page book. Even within the novel there were little breaks within' the story line. For instance the cartoon profiles or the letters to Ronald MacDonald (CREEPY). It was a really good way to introduce the characters and present their personalities.
The plot of the novel was a clever way of to let somebody see what drastic changes have occurred in the world. It shows how technology has changed the social world so much. You don’t have to face a person to talk to them, you don’t even have to meet them, you don’t have to go to a store to buy something, and you don’t even have to leave your house if you don’t want to, or in this case the office. Also people are much more open as a lot of issues are much more acceptable these days. Like marijuana, Ethan’s mother has a growth op in her basement and doesn’t mind discussing it. Ethan’s father is dating a girl Ethan graduated high school with and doesn’t see a problem with it. It is just in recent years that people are more accepting, which I think is a good healthy world choice.
I really enjoyed this novel, i especially enjoyed the sarcastic humour and intend to read Coupland’s new novel The Gum Theif.
The first couple of pages were different, that's for sure. At first I thought they were supposed to be like a commercial, then I soon realized they were e-mails, or internet adds, or spam. It was also relieving to know that you weren't going to have to read about twenty pages every so often, or at least five. This really took a damper off the five hundred-some page book. Even within the novel there were little breaks within' the story line. For instance the cartoon profiles or the letters to Ronald MacDonald (CREEPY). It was a really good way to introduce the characters and present their personalities.
The plot of the novel was a clever way of to let somebody see what drastic changes have occurred in the world. It shows how technology has changed the social world so much. You don’t have to face a person to talk to them, you don’t even have to meet them, you don’t have to go to a store to buy something, and you don’t even have to leave your house if you don’t want to, or in this case the office. Also people are much more open as a lot of issues are much more acceptable these days. Like marijuana, Ethan’s mother has a growth op in her basement and doesn’t mind discussing it. Ethan’s father is dating a girl Ethan graduated high school with and doesn’t see a problem with it. It is just in recent years that people are more accepting, which I think is a good healthy world choice.
I really enjoyed this novel, i especially enjoyed the sarcastic humour and intend to read Coupland’s new novel The Gum Theif.
I think you'll enjoy _The Gum Thief_!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm thrilled that you had a good time reading _JPod_. It's a really fun read and it sounds like you got a lot out of it.