Stephen R. (srhen) - , reviewed on 10/30/2011 + 10 more book reviews

Coupland's best novel to date. The themes are distinctly his; dealing with the tension of needing to belong a group and yet at the same time be an individual. This novel is distinctly different from all his previous works where the protagonist eventually finds his membership in a cultural group to be unfulfilling and superficial. In Generation A Coupland creates an anti-culture in which his characters share no common beliefs and find a need to create them

His first venture into speculative fiction Coupland has much more freedom to to create an environment for characters. His disturbing parallel universe examines ideas like what happens to a culture when people don't believe in anything Cultures are held together through common shared beliefs, what happens to these cultures in the absence of beliefs. These beliefs can be nothing more than the value of stock options or the importance of selecting the appropriate hair care product.

Coupland also looks a the role of language and shared stories in the development of common belief systems and how an individual's view of the future effects his beliefs. But, this review is far already longer than I intended and you will just have to read the book if you want to know more.

Don't get the wrong idea that this work is either dry or preachy. These ideas are developed and expressed via good story telling and a wonderful plot line.

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