Hello
I hope you are all enjoying life. I can say that I have had a lot of good luck lately. Of course I await a turn of fortune soon. I'll just keep an eye out for anything falling from the sky.
Being a cinephile I did catch the Golden Globes last weekend. I thought it was a fun show, less stiff than the Oscars. I thought I'd point out the literary adaptations that enjoyed awards:
Slumdog Millionaire (based on the novel Q & A)
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
True Blood (based on a series by Charlaine Harris)
John Adams
An adaptation to the screen can be a great way to bring a lesser known book to light. I had not even heard of some of these books before they reached the movie screen.
Well Onward!
Review
Generation X
In this book Coupland is given credit for creating the image of Generation X. His characterizations of main characters Dag, Andy, and Claire are straight on and compelling. Their disillusionment with society, culture, the past and the future, is a cloud that hangs over their thoughts and motivations. Rather than really a plot, Coupland sets this up as a series of vignettes that illustrates the malaise these characters exist in.
These three characters should be seen as a microcosm even at the sentence level. Coupland even takes pains to include word entries in the margins to illustrate the new vocabulary of this group. They are stuck in a world of glib hipness and empty mercenary success. I found this book a compelling read, but probably only because I can empathize with the plight of the main characters. Other readers would probably see these characters as ridiculously glum slackers. As my mom would say "these kids should quit whining and get a job." However I found that Coupland does a great job of capturing a group of characters who are lost. Their optimism, which is portrayed in their stories to each other, is just unfocused.
Coupland's literary minimalism captures the narrator's slowly putting together what he imagines is a "worthy life." I found myself cheering for these character's to find an acceptable version of success for themselves. There is a heart at the center of the book that made it an enjoyable read.
Other Reviews
San Francisco Chronicle| Seattle Times | The Times
The Reading List
Books
Brontes at Haworth
The Irregulars
Comics
Batman
Magazine
Four Four Two
Check Out Count: Recently Inflated.
Comic Pull List: Action Comics #873, Captain Britain And Mi 13 #9, Deadpool #6, Fables #80, Final Crisis #6, Green Arrow Black Canary #16, Trinity #33
Have a great week! Book Slave.
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