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[felis_ultharus]

So in the vein of reviewing books, I don't think I ever talked about The Gum Thief, by Douglas Coupland - though I finished it months ago.

I liked it. I was told it was his best book in years, and that's true, though it's really two books. The first is an epistolary novel about a washed-up middle-aged man and the daughter of an old high-school friend of his who both work at Staples. The other novel is the one the main character is writing - a story called Glove Pond, about the world's worst dinner party (the name is the first thing he Googled that came up with no real hits).

The frame novel is okay. It's better than his other recent efforts. He's found his way back to his soul and his compassion again. His other recent efforts have so cold - Flanderized versions of his older work. He used to try and find the sacred in the modern world. Recently it's been more about fetishizing technology and anything new.

But he's looking for that soul again in The Gum Thief, which is good. It's a quirky friendship set in the nightmare of retail, and quite fun and warm at that. The scene set in a creative writing class made me laugh out loud.

Nothing he does in the frame story, though, holds a candle to the hilarious novel-within-a-novel his main character is writing. The world's worst dinner party makes the book a must-read. Watching the hosts try to salvage their pride and hide their wasted lives and poor domestic skills from their guests makes for brilliant dark comedy, and itself makes this a must read. If it has a flaw it's that it steals the spotlight out from the story it's supposed to be just a part of.

I have high hopes that Coupland's finally back in form. Future novels will tell, I guess.

In other news, there's a lot to look forward to this month - starting with return from em_fish and sassysairs from Down Under, crossing both date line and seasonal divide to return home after the better part (or really, the worse part) of a year. I'm looking forward to seeing them again ^_^

Comments

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

n other news, there's a lot to look forward to this month - starting with return from [info]em_fish and [info]sassysairs from Down Under, crossing both date line and seasonal divide to return home after the better part (or really, the worse part) of a year. I'm looking forward to seeing them again ^_^

Squee!!!! Do you know their eta? We need to celebrate this.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

We were expecting them last night, but their flight was delayed. That is the last news we have :/

[infinitecomplex.livejournal.com]

I'm pleased to report that The Gum Thief does seem to have marked a return to form for Coupland - I also really enjoyed Generation A. The two books are markedly much, much better than his other recent efforts. I'll be interested to hear what you think of Gen A when you get to it.

[em-fish.livejournal.com]

Sorry for going AWOL, sweethearts - Dad whisked us away from the corridors of YUL to Ottawa/Gatineau. It was my brother Nathan's birthday today and he is at Dad's until Tuesday, so we thought we'd better show up for his party. We're coming back to Montreal on Sunday, and we're staying with Alice and Dave.

If any of you are up for a late-night run to Dunn's next week, let us know via LJ or FB.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

No problem.

We could go to Dunn's. It would depend when and how late. We can talk about tomorrow ^_^

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

I still haven't started Generation A, though it's high on my to-read pile. I was quite pleased with The Gum Thief, although it seemed strange to me that the side-story stole so much thunder from the main story.