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Bit Rot
In Bit Rot, Douglas Coupland explores the different ways in which twentieth-century notions of the future are being shredded, and creates a gem of the digital age. Reading the stories and essays in Bit Rot is like bingeing on Netflix . . . you can't stop with just one.
‘Bit rot’ is a term used in digital archiving to describe the way digital files can spontaneously and quickly decompose. As Coupland writes, ‘bit rot also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones’.
Bit Rot the book explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland’s legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pattern recognition has powered his fiction, and his phrase-making. Every page of Bit Rot is full of wit, surprise and delight.
‘Bit rot’ is a term used in digital archiving to describe the way digital files can spontaneously and quickly decompose. As Coupland writes, ‘bit rot also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones’.
Bit Rot the book explores the ways humanity tries to make sense of our shifting consciousness. Coupland, just like the Internet, mixes forms to achieve his ends. Short fiction is interspersed with essays on all aspects of modern life. The result is addictively satisfying for Coupland’s legion of fans hungry for his observations about our world. For almost three decades, his unique pattern recognition has powered his fiction, and his phrase-making. Every page of Bit Rot is full of wit, surprise and delight.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
About the author
Douglas Coupland
112 books4,725 followersDouglas Coupland is Canadian, born on a Canadian Air Force base near Baden-Baden, Germany, on December 30, 1961. In 1965 his family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he continues to live and work. Coupland has studied art and design in Vancouver, Canada, Milan, Italy and Sapporo, Japan. His first novel, Generation X, was published in March of 1991. Since then he has published nine novels and several non-fiction books in 35 languages and most countries on earth. He has written and performed for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford, England, and in 2001 resumed his practice as a visual artist, with exhibitions in spaces in North America, Europe and Asia. 2006 marks the premiere of the feature film Everything's Gone Green, his first story written specifically for the screen and not adapted from any previous work. A TV series (13 one-hour episodes) based on his novel, jPod premieres on the CBC in January, 2008.
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Retrieved 07:55, May 15, 2008, from http://www.coupland.com/coupland_bio....
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Retrieved 07:55, May 15, 2008, from http://www.coupland.com/coupland_bio....
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
October 22, 2016
As usual Douglas Coupland does not disappoint. This collection of slightly random short stories were very well written and unique. The general theme of the collection appeared to concern technology and the future. A few stories hit somewhat close to home, but Coupland's dark wit made it bearable.
This was not a full five stars for me due to Coupland's occasional pretentiousness, and the constant referral to Detroit as a rock full of monkeys with nothing to do all day...which felt rather racist. I mean that sounds racist right, it's not just me being overly sensitive?
Either way despite the monkey awkwardness I did enjoy most of the stories. They were thought provoking and humorous and really quick to get through. It should be noted that many of the stories included in this collection have been previously published, with majority coming from Coupland's novel Generation A. So if you have read that you may want to skip this.
Overall though I found this to be a great collection of stories by an intelligent and humorous writer.
Buy, Borrow or Bin Verdict: Buy
Check out more of my reviews here
Note: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
March 3, 2017
Here Douglas Coupland goes again, trying to break our brains and our library cataloguing systems. Is Bit Rot fiction or non-fiction? It’s a collection of both! Oh noes! It contains short stories, including some previously published in
Generation A
(which I read almost 7 years ago, so I have zero recollection of any of it), and essays and assorted musings. In general, this is Coupland’s most up-to-date published writing on how we’re dealing with the rapid pace of technological progress.
I’m not going to talk about many of the specific entries in this collection, because there are so many. And, to be honest, they tend to blur together. As anyone who is familiar with Coupland’s work knows, his writing has a smooth quality to it: a little bit of prognostication, a little bit of paranoia, a little sideways weirdness. His voice and his ideas are always compelling. I think where he and I part ways, and where I often find myself disappointed, especially in his fiction, is our viewpoints on what constitutes a story or a novel. Coupland has a much looser, much more experimental attitude towards narrative—and that’s fine and valid if that’s what he likes. But it means that when his stories depart from the more conventional modes of storytelling that I enjoy, my brain has to work harder. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
Before I talk about a few of the high points, I’ll take issue with one particular contention. This is quoted on the back of the Random House hardcover I read and comes from the essay “3 1/2 Fingers” (read it here). Coupland describes his feelings and sensations around having to rewire a handwritten-trained brain to first type on keyboards and then use touchscreen, smartphone keyboards:
Although I understand the sensation he’s identify, I have to disagree with the assertion that exchanging handwriting for Comic Sans is in any way a “bad deal”. Yes, I know it is cool to hate on Comic Sans, and I used to be one of those people. But I’ve learned that a lot of people anecdotally like Comic Sans for its readability. And more broadly, what we have gained is not just Comic Sans per se but the ability, with the touch of a button, to alter the display of any piece of writing on our screen—to change its typeface, its size, its line-, letter-, and word-spacing, etc. That’s a superpower! And to do that, all we had to exchange was handwriting? My handwriting sucks! I’m down with that.
Fortunately, there is plenty in this book that doesn’t cause typographical arguments with the reader. One of my favourite stories is the longer entry “Temp”, quite understandably about a temp, Shannon, and her involvement with a company under negotiations to be bought by Chinese investors. I just love Coupland’s portrayal of Shannon, as well as the other characters. It reminded me a lot of his novels like JPod, and it has some great lines in it, such as, “It was a Quentin Tarantino standoff, where everyone holds a gun on everyone else, except there weren’t guns, just words and emotions.” Plus, it has a genuinely upbeat ending. Many of the essays and stories in this collection, while interesting, are not things I’d like to reread. “Temp”, on the other hand, is something I could see myself revisiting.
I also very much enjoyed Coupland’s musings on the economic angle of technology. Some of his writing about paper money and “flushing out” old money is a little absurd. But “World War $”, which you can read in its original form on the Financial Times website, is a succinct summary of how digital capitalism has broken money:
Coupland is talking with reference to the 2008 financial crisis, and he is absolutely right here. Traders have hacked money to make more … well, money … and now this house of cards is crashing down. We shored it up 8 years ago, but that doesn’t mean we made the structure any less fragile.
In at least two instances, Coupland also belies our desire to perceive technology as alien or Other. He reminds us that technology, being by definition a creation of humans, is itself an expression of our humanity—all of it, the good and the bad qualities. So technology is not alien but instead one of the most human things in existence. I really like this perspective and this reminder, since it is very tempting to view technology as a black box or a dehumanizing force.
This is perhaps why I continue to return to Coupland as a writer despite occasionally finding his novels bizarre or less than enjoyable. Unlike some technology writers, Coupland does not evangelize, nor does his condemn. Coupland is not sounding the warning bells, but he hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid either. He is just a tourist in the 21st century—like a man woken from cryogenic sleep being introduced to new ideas far ahead of his time. Coupland possesses a refreshing mixture of cynicism and optimism that makes his analysis feel very genuine and thought-provoking.
I received access to a copy of this from NetGalley, because apparently Blue Rider Press is publishing this on March 7. However, it has been out in hardcover already (in Canada, at least) for a while, and I received a physical copy for Christmas (thanks, Dad!). So I actually read the physical copy. But I appreciate the ARC, if that’s what you would call it, as well!
I’m not going to talk about many of the specific entries in this collection, because there are so many. And, to be honest, they tend to blur together. As anyone who is familiar with Coupland’s work knows, his writing has a smooth quality to it: a little bit of prognostication, a little bit of paranoia, a little sideways weirdness. His voice and his ideas are always compelling. I think where he and I part ways, and where I often find myself disappointed, especially in his fiction, is our viewpoints on what constitutes a story or a novel. Coupland has a much looser, much more experimental attitude towards narrative—and that’s fine and valid if that’s what he likes. But it means that when his stories depart from the more conventional modes of storytelling that I enjoy, my brain has to work harder. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?
Before I talk about a few of the high points, I’ll take issue with one particular contention. This is quoted on the back of the Random House hardcover I read and comes from the essay “3 1/2 Fingers” (read it here). Coupland describes his feelings and sensations around having to rewire a handwritten-trained brain to first type on keyboards and then use touchscreen, smartphone keyboards:
But I can see that our species’ entire relationship with words, and their mode of construction, is clearly undergoing a massive rewiring. I bridge an era straddling handwriting and heavy smartphone usage. Young people like my friend’s daughter with her emoticons and rampant acronyms are blessed in having no cursive script to unlearn – with the bonus of having no sense of something having been lost. That’s a kind of freedom, and I’m jealous. Part of accepting the future is acknowledging that some things must be forgotten, and it’s always an insult because it’s always the things you love. We lost handwriting and got Comic Sans in return. That’s a very bad deal.
Although I understand the sensation he’s identify, I have to disagree with the assertion that exchanging handwriting for Comic Sans is in any way a “bad deal”. Yes, I know it is cool to hate on Comic Sans, and I used to be one of those people. But I’ve learned that a lot of people anecdotally like Comic Sans for its readability. And more broadly, what we have gained is not just Comic Sans per se but the ability, with the touch of a button, to alter the display of any piece of writing on our screen—to change its typeface, its size, its line-, letter-, and word-spacing, etc. That’s a superpower! And to do that, all we had to exchange was handwriting? My handwriting sucks! I’m down with that.
Fortunately, there is plenty in this book that doesn’t cause typographical arguments with the reader. One of my favourite stories is the longer entry “Temp”, quite understandably about a temp, Shannon, and her involvement with a company under negotiations to be bought by Chinese investors. I just love Coupland’s portrayal of Shannon, as well as the other characters. It reminded me a lot of his novels like JPod, and it has some great lines in it, such as, “It was a Quentin Tarantino standoff, where everyone holds a gun on everyone else, except there weren’t guns, just words and emotions.” Plus, it has a genuinely upbeat ending. Many of the essays and stories in this collection, while interesting, are not things I’d like to reread. “Temp”, on the other hand, is something I could see myself revisiting.
I also very much enjoyed Coupland’s musings on the economic angle of technology. Some of his writing about paper money and “flushing out” old money is a little absurd. But “World War $”, which you can read in its original form on the Financial Times website, is a succinct summary of how digital capitalism has broken money:
How is money damaged? It is damaged because me having photons faster than yours by a few millionths of a second is enough to make me appallingly rich – again, for doing absolutely nothing except hacking into money itself. It’s hard to have respect for this kind of system. Often the latency issue is presented to the public as a “Wow, isn’t this cool!” moment when, in fact, it’s sickening, and is partially why the world began to feel one-percent-ish five years ago. Reasonably smart people inhabiting the Age of Latency are milking those still stuck in the pre-latent era.
Coupland is talking with reference to the 2008 financial crisis, and he is absolutely right here. Traders have hacked money to make more … well, money … and now this house of cards is crashing down. We shored it up 8 years ago, but that doesn’t mean we made the structure any less fragile.
In at least two instances, Coupland also belies our desire to perceive technology as alien or Other. He reminds us that technology, being by definition a creation of humans, is itself an expression of our humanity—all of it, the good and the bad qualities. So technology is not alien but instead one of the most human things in existence. I really like this perspective and this reminder, since it is very tempting to view technology as a black box or a dehumanizing force.
This is perhaps why I continue to return to Coupland as a writer despite occasionally finding his novels bizarre or less than enjoyable. Unlike some technology writers, Coupland does not evangelize, nor does his condemn. Coupland is not sounding the warning bells, but he hasn’t drunk the Kool-Aid either. He is just a tourist in the 21st century—like a man woken from cryogenic sleep being introduced to new ideas far ahead of his time. Coupland possesses a refreshing mixture of cynicism and optimism that makes his analysis feel very genuine and thought-provoking.
I received access to a copy of this from NetGalley, because apparently Blue Rider Press is publishing this on March 7. However, it has been out in hardcover already (in Canada, at least) for a while, and I received a physical copy for Christmas (thanks, Dad!). So I actually read the physical copy. But I appreciate the ARC, if that’s what you would call it, as well!
April 12, 2017
Coupland's collection hangs together nicely, mirroring the digital disruption in our lives, while maintaining our collective humanity. In some ways this book felt like a new genre, a new way of accessing the authorial voice in book form in the digital age. The combination of essays, random reviews of questions asked search engines, fanciful short stories, and musings about how technology impacts our lives felt like a very satisfying romp through Coupland's head. He is constantly reminding us that technology is a human invention and that as a human invention, technology is a very human thing. We forget the humanity of of our technology and Coupland is here to remind us.
December 15, 2024
Безперечно неймовірно Коуплендівська есеїстика (в перемішку з казками по-Коуплендовські) на тему нових технологій і їхнього впливу на наше життя. Серед оповідань звісно є ті які зайшли менше і ті, які зайшли більше. Сподобалися ті, де автор описує події зі свого дитинства і юності і майстерно міксує це в тематику і ідею певної технологічної теми.
Звісно, це "снепшот" на момент 2015 року і багато що з тодішніх новинок вже є нашим повсякденням, а щось взагалі пройшло повз і зникло.
Але все одно людська природа залишається людською природою, якими б технологіями ми не послуговувалися.
Що б там не казали, Коупленд молодець.
Мені дуже сподобалося.
Звісно, це "снепшот" на момент 2015 року і багато що з тодішніх новинок вже є нашим повсякденням, а щось взагалі пройшло повз і зникло.
Але все одно людська природа залишається людською природою, якими б технологіями ми не послуговувалися.
Що б там не казали, Коупленд молодець.
Мені дуже сподобалося.
March 20, 2020
In one of Coupland's novels - Player One, I think - there's a glossary of new and useful terms, including 'fictive snack': the small amount of reading that people who need to do a small amount of reading before they go to sleep do before they go to sleep. There are many fine fictive snacks in this volume, and non-fictive ones too. I loved his article on Stuff (I have too much Stuff), and also Temp, a fun fictional romp through temping at a doomed company (I have been a Temp).
December 12, 2018
This book was so bad I wondered why it got published. Not really sure who Douglas Copeland even is but the way he speaks about the internet and modern society makes me CRINGE... let’s get some writing on the table by people who actually USE the internet rather than look at it from a distance...
July 24, 2020
Bit Rot is a sporadic and disorganized stream-of-thought on life in the 21st century. A mix of fiction & non-fiction, Coupland provides personal insight into the realities of living in the modern world. Loved every minute. Added to favorites.
February 27, 2017
I love Douglas Coupland's work. Well, I love some of his work. On the fiction side: Microserfs (best), Jpod, Life After God .. I guess that's it (the rest of it is generally a little too angsty and melancholic). But where Coupland really shines for me is his non-fiction, his essays and musings and revelations and bon mot about technology and our lives - or, in some ways, just our lives. I thought Shopping in Jail: Ideas, Essays and Stories for an Increasingly Real Twenty-First Century was fantastic.
This is why I was so delighted when I received an advance review copy from Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Blue Rider Press & Plume (thank you!) of bit rot. bit rot contains a collection of both fiction and non-fiction from Coupland. He talks about his art, his childhood, technology (of course), money, fear .. all the good stuff. His non-fiction continues to be my favourite aspect of his work, and I can't wait to go back and reread these pieces. Coupland is not only a deep-thinker but a startlingly clear writer. This is one of my favourite things about his work - his concepts and ideas are rich and complex, but to access them, via language, you don't have to have a PhD in semiotics. I like that is writings are so accessible (even if the underlying concepts require an extra think or two - as it should be!).
I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed most of his fiction as well. There were a couple of pieces that were more interesting in the concept rather than the execution ("George Washington's Extreme Makeover" in particular) - but for the most part, I enjoyed them - and they made me think in the same way his non-fiction does. And also occasionally made me a little sad and melancholy (typical Coupland :) ).
bit rot is excellent. I know it's been said many times but Coupland is the McLuhan of our age - bit rot ensures his place on that pedestal. If you're a Coupland fan, you'll enjoy this - and if you've only ever read his fiction or his non-fiction - bit rot is the perfect collection to introduce you to his other side.
This is why I was so delighted when I received an advance review copy from Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Blue Rider Press & Plume (thank you!) of bit rot. bit rot contains a collection of both fiction and non-fiction from Coupland. He talks about his art, his childhood, technology (of course), money, fear .. all the good stuff. His non-fiction continues to be my favourite aspect of his work, and I can't wait to go back and reread these pieces. Coupland is not only a deep-thinker but a startlingly clear writer. This is one of my favourite things about his work - his concepts and ideas are rich and complex, but to access them, via language, you don't have to have a PhD in semiotics. I like that is writings are so accessible (even if the underlying concepts require an extra think or two - as it should be!).
I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed most of his fiction as well. There were a couple of pieces that were more interesting in the concept rather than the execution ("George Washington's Extreme Makeover" in particular) - but for the most part, I enjoyed them - and they made me think in the same way his non-fiction does. And also occasionally made me a little sad and melancholy (typical Coupland :) ).
bit rot is excellent. I know it's been said many times but Coupland is the McLuhan of our age - bit rot ensures his place on that pedestal. If you're a Coupland fan, you'll enjoy this - and if you've only ever read his fiction or his non-fiction - bit rot is the perfect collection to introduce you to his other side.
March 31, 2017
He's still got it!
October 24, 2026
I have a soft spot for Doug Coupland. He birthed a generational label, and how does somebody follow up on something so profound yet flukey? I was happy to read this collection of short pieces - mostly non-fiction, with a fair serving of short stories. Coupland is most interesting to me when he's in ponder mode - drawing lines between ideas that seem obvious only after he points them out. He's smart, playful and so likeable, you're glad to follow him wherever his artist/pragmatist brain goes.
His short fiction is less interesting to me. His novels are good, so my take is that he needs the space of a long narrative to articulate his characters and ideas in a meaningful, satisfying way. The short stories are too dense. They come across as character types doing and mouthing representative concepts, which feels forced, artificial and oddly humorless.
Still, overall this collection is a brain tickling treat.
His short fiction is less interesting to me. His novels are good, so my take is that he needs the space of a long narrative to articulate his characters and ideas in a meaningful, satisfying way. The short stories are too dense. They come across as character types doing and mouthing representative concepts, which feels forced, artificial and oddly humorless.
Still, overall this collection is a brain tickling treat.
Read
May 26, 2021It was OK (some of it was cringey).
I'm in the process of filling in my physical book collection (early retirement is very much on my radar). So I'm going thru all my favorite authors and filling in the gaps. I own most of Mr. Coupland's books, this will not be one of them.
I just scored the Canadian TV series "jPod" on DVD (based on his book). Heard good things, looking forward to checking that out.
I'm in the process of filling in my physical book collection (early retirement is very much on my radar). So I'm going thru all my favorite authors and filling in the gaps. I own most of Mr. Coupland's books, this will not be one of them.
I just scored the Canadian TV series "jPod" on DVD (based on his book). Heard good things, looking forward to checking that out.
February 27, 2017
There are very few things as fascinating as seeing the world trough the eyes of an artist, and that's what this book is about. I didn't like the short stories so much, but that's my own problem with short stories, but the little essays were mostly jewels.
Ci sono poche cose affascinanti come guardare il mondo attraverso gli occhi di un artista, ed é piú o meno il riassunto di questo libro. I racconti non mi hanno fatto impazzire, ma questo é dovuto al mio problema con le storie brevi, ma i piccoli saggi sono dei gioiellini.
Ci sono poche cose affascinanti come guardare il mondo attraverso gli occhi di un artista, ed é piú o meno il riassunto di questo libro. I racconti non mi hanno fatto impazzire, ma questo é dovuto al mio problema con le storie brevi, ma i piccoli saggi sono dei gioiellini.
October 4, 2017
Yet again has Douglas Coupland written a book that seems to be stitched from things I have been thinking, current events that recur as if in loop and make the past appear as the future, and short stories that I wish were novels (see "Temp.") Did he hear all those times I expounded on the superiority of airport floors above all other floors? Does he know the only shows I watch are about hoarders? And how about the repeated mentions of my employer? Though if you're reading this, Doug, you should know that expats in Dubai don't live in compounds. We don't have compounds; we have suburbs.
September 15, 2016
Disclaimer: I received a galley proof from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.
What can I say? Douglas Coupland is a master wordsmith, an observer of the absurd, and one of my favourite authors.
This essays in this collection are unrelated, but connected in that Coupland way that can reduce scenarios and ideas to their basic elements.
Don't miss Fear of Shine (notes on art) or Notes on Twenty-First Century Relationships. Actually, don't miss any of these.
Highly recommended
What can I say? Douglas Coupland is a master wordsmith, an observer of the absurd, and one of my favourite authors.
This essays in this collection are unrelated, but connected in that Coupland way that can reduce scenarios and ideas to their basic elements.
Don't miss Fear of Shine (notes on art) or Notes on Twenty-First Century Relationships. Actually, don't miss any of these.
Highly recommended
August 16, 2021
This book is the perfect reminder that I will never be as cool as Douglas Coupland.
It's also a great reminder that, whatever happens next, we'll still be human. And I mean that in the best way possible.
It's also a great reminder that, whatever happens next, we'll still be human. And I mean that in the best way possible.
December 15, 2016
Original, fun, engaging and relevant short stories and essays.
April 26, 2019
Douglas Couplands ironic view of life was a tonic to read each night after the usual daily onslaught of tragic political news.
March 6, 2017
Bit Rot: stories + essays by Douglas Coupland is a very highly recommended thought provoking eclectic collection of over 65 essays and stories. "'Bit Rot' is a term used in digital archiving that describes the way digital files of any sort spontaneously (and quickly) decompose. It also describes the way my brain has been feeling since 2000, as I shed older and weaker neurons and connections and enhance new and unexpected ones."
I enjoyed the intermingling of the essays and the stories in this very diverse and satisfying collection. The pieces range from insightful to personal to witty to hilarious, and include a level of perception and depth along with technological and cultural observations. I will admit that I liked the essays more than the short stories, but a few of the fictional pieces stood out. Almost all of the essays were winners (with the exception being the Google searches, although it was interesting).
Anyone familiar with Copeland's writing knows that he has an exceptional way with words and a unique way of observing the world. It is all evident here. Normally I try to avoid including quotes from review copies, but these pieces are finished and previously published. The quotes will give you a taste of what Copeland has served up in this collection:
A common question I ask people whenever film discussions come up is, "What is the movie that scared the shit out of you when you were eleven or twelve - the film that you were probably too young to watch, but you watched it anyway, and it totally screwed you up for the rest of your life?" Everyone’s got one. Mine was Lord of the Flies, but other common answers are The Exorcist and Event Horizon. The point is that we all know that magic window in time when one is most susceptible to fear."
(This is a great question to ask people. I know my older brother took me to a movie...)
Last summer in Reykjavik, I learned that one in ten Icelanders will write a novel in their lifetime. This is impressive, but the downside of this is that each novel gets only nine readers. In a weird way, our world is turning into a world of Icelandic novelists, except substitute blog, vlog or website for novel - and there we are: in Reykjavik. (As a long-time blogger, I actually laughed aloud over this.)
It turns out that smell is a vector, and for every smell there exists an anti- smell, and the anti- smell of human death is artificial cinnamon. You learn something new every day, and this is what you learned today.
The slowness and cluelessness of some Starbucks staff drive me insane. I want a brewed coffee, here’s two dollars, so come on, just pour the damn thing. Starbucks needs an express lane. Do they ever count how many customers leave because they don’t want to wait for ten minutes behind useless people ordering complicated, useless beverages? I think they must.
I don’t know if it’s me or what, but having to speak to college students is like having to address a crowd of work- shirking entitlement robots whose only passion, aside from making excuses as to why they didn’t do their assignments, is lying in wait, ready to pounce upon the tiniest of PC infractions. (This translates to employees that are students too.)
Worrying about money is one of the worst worries.... Worrying about money is anger-inducing because it makes you think about time: how many dollars per hour, how much salary per year, how many years until retirement. (oh yeah.)
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/0...
I enjoyed the intermingling of the essays and the stories in this very diverse and satisfying collection. The pieces range from insightful to personal to witty to hilarious, and include a level of perception and depth along with technological and cultural observations. I will admit that I liked the essays more than the short stories, but a few of the fictional pieces stood out. Almost all of the essays were winners (with the exception being the Google searches, although it was interesting).
Anyone familiar with Copeland's writing knows that he has an exceptional way with words and a unique way of observing the world. It is all evident here. Normally I try to avoid including quotes from review copies, but these pieces are finished and previously published. The quotes will give you a taste of what Copeland has served up in this collection:
A common question I ask people whenever film discussions come up is, "What is the movie that scared the shit out of you when you were eleven or twelve - the film that you were probably too young to watch, but you watched it anyway, and it totally screwed you up for the rest of your life?" Everyone’s got one. Mine was Lord of the Flies, but other common answers are The Exorcist and Event Horizon. The point is that we all know that magic window in time when one is most susceptible to fear."
(This is a great question to ask people. I know my older brother took me to a movie...)
Last summer in Reykjavik, I learned that one in ten Icelanders will write a novel in their lifetime. This is impressive, but the downside of this is that each novel gets only nine readers. In a weird way, our world is turning into a world of Icelandic novelists, except substitute blog, vlog or website for novel - and there we are: in Reykjavik. (As a long-time blogger, I actually laughed aloud over this.)
It turns out that smell is a vector, and for every smell there exists an anti- smell, and the anti- smell of human death is artificial cinnamon. You learn something new every day, and this is what you learned today.
The slowness and cluelessness of some Starbucks staff drive me insane. I want a brewed coffee, here’s two dollars, so come on, just pour the damn thing. Starbucks needs an express lane. Do they ever count how many customers leave because they don’t want to wait for ten minutes behind useless people ordering complicated, useless beverages? I think they must.
I don’t know if it’s me or what, but having to speak to college students is like having to address a crowd of work- shirking entitlement robots whose only passion, aside from making excuses as to why they didn’t do their assignments, is lying in wait, ready to pounce upon the tiniest of PC infractions. (This translates to employees that are students too.)
Worrying about money is one of the worst worries.... Worrying about money is anger-inducing because it makes you think about time: how many dollars per hour, how much salary per year, how many years until retirement. (oh yeah.)
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the Penguin Publishing Group.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/0...
February 15, 2022
First extended interaction with any of Coupland’s work. It’s interesting to see the ways he’s out of sync with certain more dominant cultural ideas (compare his assertion we’re now permanently in the future, as opposed to the useful though tiring hauntological take that we’re all robbed of future and past), his intense desire to “name” things that most often already have language ascribed to them (I get it I get it he had a big hit with the whole X thing but maybe learn to recognize what’s luck and what’s your actual talent), and his complete inability to “get out” of any essay or story with any grace, punchline, or transcendental bit. Was also disappointed that his essaying often includes completely inaccurate information. This was also w a y too long, and the stories that have sentences either pithily expressing what entire essays say or have 1:1 reproductions of those essay sentiments in their tedious asides could’ve happily been cut to keep this a reasonable length (and avoid such frustrating redundancy). Ultimately Coupland’s most disappointing trait is the way he, boomer boomering boomerily, is so infatuated with the middle-class, to see that his imagination does sometimes thrive in his fiction, but that ultimately this guy doesn’t have that many total unique ideas. Hard to see something this sloppy getting published without an established artistic reputation. Not sure if I’m interested in more of his work at this point, especially considering just how d a t e d this feels even though it’s just a few years old yet (and not just because the internet supposedly ‘moves fast,’ like, this all feels like aughts material). Anyhow, “interesting” “prescient” “Canadian” “artist” sounded too good to be true and turned out to be, so why am I surprised?!?!
September 16, 2018
I hadn't read any Douglas Coupland in about 7 years, until I saw this anthology at the Public Library used book store for a steal of 50 cents.
I just love Douglas Coupland. He's witty, sarcastic, and teases out interesting insights about people and technology. This collection of short stories, anecdotes, essays, and other media was a page-turner, easy to digest (in its small pieces - average piece length was about 4 pages), and consistently funny and insightful.
Reading this is going to prompt me to read some other Coupland that's been sitting, neglected on our bookshelves.
I just love Douglas Coupland. He's witty, sarcastic, and teases out interesting insights about people and technology. This collection of short stories, anecdotes, essays, and other media was a page-turner, easy to digest (in its small pieces - average piece length was about 4 pages), and consistently funny and insightful.
Reading this is going to prompt me to read some other Coupland that's been sitting, neglected on our bookshelves.
April 7, 2017
Imagine taking a clever articulate well travelled guy who was interested in art, science, tech, ecology, current affairs and the minutiae of everyday existence and you could put all his thoughts, whims, story ideas on shuffle. The end result would be a book like this. I suppose for the ultimate experience you should read the ebook on shuffle. As always though, he does have thought provoking ideas.
November 1, 2017
"Of course I could look up who actually said it, and where and when. But this blurring of memory entries, this set of subjective data, is precisely what makes up our inner landscape, our mind and, as such, who we are and what we do."
March 23, 2017
It's no surprise that I love Douglas Coupland. Generation X was assigned to me in college and I fell in love. This books has a mix of non-fiction and fiction. Lots of writing on the future, technology and what ifs. Living Big and The Ones That Got Away were two of my favorite essays.
April 27, 2018
A timely collection of essays and stories from Vancouver based author and artist Douglas Coupland.
August 21, 2017
I'm not sure how to review this book. This isn't my genre, I'm going to go ahead and say I'm not sure what this genre is.
Some editorial/opinion pieces and some fiction stories...essays and short stories. If that's a genre, that's what this was.
Some I liked, some I didn't. There was a lot of repeated story components, so much so, that I often thought I accidentally was re-reading something.
I really enjoyed his pace and sense of humor. Frequently, I would laugh out loud as his "voice" is quite humorous and so relate-able.
All in all, happy I read it.
Some editorial/opinion pieces and some fiction stories...essays and short stories. If that's a genre, that's what this was.
Some I liked, some I didn't. There was a lot of repeated story components, so much so, that I often thought I accidentally was re-reading something.
I really enjoyed his pace and sense of humor. Frequently, I would laugh out loud as his "voice" is quite humorous and so relate-able.
All in all, happy I read it.
August 24, 2016
"...but sunglasses got Jackie O through the last three decades of her life."
-from "Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Brown"
I purchased "Bit Rot" with no other expectation than that it would expose me to some imaginative, cutting-edge writing. All of the columns and the short stories, including the witty novella "Temp," made really gripping reads with Coupland's humorous-smart takes on where technology and "modern" lifestyles will lead us. It did not, however, provide much insight into the eponymous exhibition, which also looks just awesome. I began to recognize turns-of-phrases and narratives arc by the end of the book, so reading got a little less exhilarating. Still, as a writer, I can say that I learned a few very useful tricks from Coupland!
-from "Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Brown"
I purchased "Bit Rot" with no other expectation than that it would expose me to some imaginative, cutting-edge writing. All of the columns and the short stories, including the witty novella "Temp," made really gripping reads with Coupland's humorous-smart takes on where technology and "modern" lifestyles will lead us. It did not, however, provide much insight into the eponymous exhibition, which also looks just awesome. I began to recognize turns-of-phrases and narratives arc by the end of the book, so reading got a little less exhilarating. Still, as a writer, I can say that I learned a few very useful tricks from Coupland!
July 3, 2017
Enjoyed the nonfiction, more essayish aspects a lot more than the fiction, which was often unsubtle. Made lots of interesting, terrifying points about the world and technology. Well worth a read.
April 11, 2021
doug at his most lib’d out
February 12, 2018
“The sick thing about prisons is that, to a point, incarcerated people are very good for the economy: prison jobs, legal fees, construction contracts and political pork. As a bonus, when a government criminalises you, they then have a permanent, excellent tool for controlling you. From an evil point of view, criminalising as many people as possible is good for capitalism and for those in power. Until it unravels.”
You probably knew that bakeries are put into supermarkets, because the smell of baking bread is the one smell that is more likely to make you buy than anything else, but did you know that the anti-smell of human death is artificial cinnamon?...I certainly didn’t. Coupland has plenty of random trivia like this, all throughout this collection which keeps things interesting.
I still have many fond memories of when Coupland, along with the likes of Palahniuk and Easton Ellis, were producing some great fiction from the 90s and even into the mid-decade of the 2000s. Clever and cool, cutting edge works of fiction that really got under your skin and spoke to you in meaningful ways. These were bold, daring, controversial and exciting books that you couldn’t wait to buy and devour. Like his contemporaries, he has gone off the boil over the last ten years or so, producing work that doesn’t seem as focused or as convincing. Coupland’s ability and skills have never been in doubt, his lack of application and effort have more been the problem. He has largely been distracted by other art forms elsewhere, and it often showed in his books, many which were lethargic, inconsistent and left you disappointed.
The vast majority of the material in here, has appeared elsewhere, in one form or another. In particular a large number were in “Generation A”. Yes there is filler in this compilation, some of the short stories, such as “Nine Point Zero” and “666!”, to name only two, read like the literary equivalent of demo tracks or pedestrian instrumentals. Thankfully the good and great outweigh the poor and mediocre and there are many magical moments in here that reminds you why Coupland can be such a wonderful writer. His way of seeing the seemingly normal, every-day, in such a sublime way, he can take that surface banality and elevate it into a cinematic and profound moment, with just the twist of a phrase or the turn of a word. It’s literary origami. It’s this gift that makes him such a lively and inventive writer who keeps you turning the pages in heightened anticipation to see what else he’s going to pull out of the hat.
At its best it largely has the tone of catching up with an excitable old friend down the pub, after a long time, and listening to his many quirky but likeable stories and original thoughts on life with some genuinely compelling insights. Coupland has never been one to hide his love of technology and there is a strong emphasis in here, in particular the internet. He seems incredibly pre-occupied by wi-fi and forever frets over the speed and connection available. He also has a profound love for the dominant search engine, gushing over it and seemingly namedropping it at any opportunity, but he appears suspiciously naïve and uncritical of its many dark sides, like it’s sinister surveillance techniques, it’s chronic tax avoidance and it’s shameless bid for controlling monopolies, which I found a bit disappointing.
He also covers many other topics, from pollution, drones, minimum wage, legalising marijuana, hoarding (When does it become more than just collecting?). We learn of his struggle with chronic, seasonal depression, that seems to have been cured by a light box. It was also interesting to hear him talk about some problems he developed with his hearing. One of the many amusing anecdotes, recalls the time when he was supposed to interview Martin Amis in Vancouver. The pair decided against it and instead Coupland took him to his friend to score some weed instead.
So this was a really enjoyable collection that sees Coupland on buoyant and expansive form, showing his strengths and qualities in their best light. He clearly shows that he can tackle and excel in the shorter forms of writing, most of these short essays run for around 4 pages. Whilst still being able to conjure up a great story or two as well.
January 17, 2018
Hij kan het nog en hij heeft het nog steeds! Good old Douglas.
Na zijn ietwat teleurstellende 'Worst. Person. Ever' was het voor mij een plezier en een genoegen om deze korte stukjes, fijne pralines als het ware, tot mij te nemen. En net zoals bij pralines was het moeilijk om mij tot één stukje te beperken. Voor je het weet is de hele doos leeg (en is het boek uit).
Het was letterlijk een prettig weerzien - aangezien een 15-tal verhalen reeds in Generation A gepubliceerd werden.
Waarom zijn we fan? Coupland is grappig én intelligent én visionair én geëngageerd. Maar dus vooral echt intelligent grappig en dat is een literaire kwaliteit die je niet vaak tegenkomt.
Wanneer je Bit Rot achter de kiezen hebt, weet je dat je voeling aan de pols met wat onze huidige maatschappij leeft op technologisch vlak weer wat steviger is. Nee, dit is geen oplijsting van hypes, maar scherpt je inzicht aan in hoe technologie in ons leven verankerd zit en hoe menselijk we als mensen daar toch bij blijven. Heel interessant en boeiend maar vooral bovenmaats leuk en amusing.
Oja, toemaatje, ik leerde dat Amerikanen/Canadezen naast 'kindergarten' ook 'kaput' en 'verklempt' in hun taalgebruik assimileerden. Ganz toll, lieber Doug!
Na zijn ietwat teleurstellende 'Worst. Person. Ever' was het voor mij een plezier en een genoegen om deze korte stukjes, fijne pralines als het ware, tot mij te nemen. En net zoals bij pralines was het moeilijk om mij tot één stukje te beperken. Voor je het weet is de hele doos leeg (en is het boek uit).
Het was letterlijk een prettig weerzien - aangezien een 15-tal verhalen reeds in Generation A gepubliceerd werden.
Waarom zijn we fan? Coupland is grappig én intelligent én visionair én geëngageerd. Maar dus vooral echt intelligent grappig en dat is een literaire kwaliteit die je niet vaak tegenkomt.
Wanneer je Bit Rot achter de kiezen hebt, weet je dat je voeling aan de pols met wat onze huidige maatschappij leeft op technologisch vlak weer wat steviger is. Nee, dit is geen oplijsting van hypes, maar scherpt je inzicht aan in hoe technologie in ons leven verankerd zit en hoe menselijk we als mensen daar toch bij blijven. Heel interessant en boeiend maar vooral bovenmaats leuk en amusing.
Oja, toemaatje, ik leerde dat Amerikanen/Canadezen naast 'kindergarten' ook 'kaput' en 'verklempt' in hun taalgebruik assimileerden. Ganz toll, lieber Doug!
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