Douglas Coupland's Eleanor Rigby

My friend TR gave me a copy of Douglas Coupland's latest novel, Eleanor Rigby for Christmas and I finished it last night. This is a miracle for me, the girl who hasn't completed a book for non-academic purposes since the summer. I'm still reading Miss Wyoming, another Coupland novel, which I started way back in 2003. I don't read as many books as I should, I usually vear towards magazines for "professional development" reasons, but I was immediately drawn to Eleanor Rigby's main character and voice of the novel, Liz Dunn, a 37-year-old loner/wallflower/cynic.

I've only read Generation X (in addition to two-thirds of Miss Wyoming) but I can say that I like Coupland's writing (his non-fiction work annoys me) despite some flaws. The characters, except for maybe Liz, are one-dimensional and things seem to happen too easily. But I enjoyed Eleanor Rigby for the same reasons I enjoyed Generation X. It's not so much about the plot--the ending is abrupt and predictable--but I love his observations on human character, thought and in this case, loneliness.

"I fill my days fighting a constant battle to keep my dignity. Loneliness is my curse—our species' curse—it's the gun that shoots the bullets that make us dance on a saloon floor and humiliate ourselves in front of strangers."

I secretly know exactly what she's talking about and it's these moments that make a Coupland novel worth reading. Now, back to Miss Wyoming...

Comments

[sarah]

really? I find the opposite of what you say here.

I like coupland's non-fiction and find his fiction annoying. I read "all families are pyschotic" and despite really being able to relate to the subject manner, I found the dialogue and situations really unrealistic and I couldn't get into it. You are right, his characters are 1-d. Also, he's too preachy in fiction form. Did I mention the dialogue is terrible? Maybe I should give Eleanor Rigby a shot though, eh? I really wanted to like his fiction because I did so enjoy gen-x and microserfs.

Anywho, congrats on finishing a non-academic work. I remember when life was like that. It's impressive considering how much reading for school you must have to do. Rock!