Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland

Hey, Nostradamus! I could use some words of advice. We are on the night of the election and I seem to have misplaced my liberal country. I know it is around here somewhere just a minute ago. Perhaps it will turn up but let me know if you see any of this in your cards... we could use some guidance. Actually, it isn’t as bad as all that, it could have been a Conservative majority government. Mind you, I will have to double check the standing before I post this and perhaps update later if that statement becomes untrue. Can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

As for this week’s review, it took me forever to sit down and write this up. Finished the book Thursday and have been busy ever since. Isn’t it funny how things have a tendency to come out of left field and mess up perfectly good days?

Hey Nostradamus! was written by Douglas Coupland, one of Canada’s premiere pop-authors and this is the third of his books that I’ve read. I enjoyed Microserfs because it was about my people. The geeks of the world shall unite! Or at least get computer jobs at Microsoft and spend loads of time in front of glowy screens. Oh, how I know that life... The second, Miss Wyoming, was not exactly a favorite of mine. Interesting but I didn’t care of any of the characters, they were all light, flaky Hollywood types. It had sort of felt like someone was trying to write in Coupland’s style and it wasn’t him at all behind the words.

This book made up for that one. And that is saying a lot considering that I when I heard what the story was about, I really hated the premise. Basically, a Vancouver suburban high school is the scene of a Columbine-esque massacre and how the ripples of that event affect the future which made me feel that the story was really unnecessary. Do we really need to rehash something like that over and over again? I like that I can say that I stand corrected.

The story is broken in four parts. First is the story of Cheryl, the last victim of the shootings and perhaps prophet? GOD IS NOWHERE / GOD IS NOW HERE. She sets the stage for the world we are about to enter and introduces the main character of this story, Jason, who takes center stage in part two. Ten years later, he never got over losing Cheryl and for awhile was wrongly considered the mastermind behind the killings that day. The third part is dedicated to Heather, the woman Jason meets and tries to make a life with. The last part is a look at Reg, Jason’s religious fanatical father, and considered bad guy for most of the story.

All is written in the form of confessional letters, from characters trying to find meaning in life and discovering they can’t hold onto those they love no matter how hard they try. The story is about something unexpected and deeper than I ever expected.