Eleanor Rigby (Hardcover)

My only problem was with the ending - the unavoidable tragedy is so climactic, and so upsetting, that it would be hard for anything to follow, and I think that what does follow is underwhelming.

Having come to Coupland through Generation X, I couldn't believe how different this book was. It's astonishing and funny and bitter, and a testament to Cooupland's skill, because his main character is so very real.

The novel shifts back and forth between 1997, when Liz first meets Jeremy Buck, and her earlier childhood and teen years, and then fast-forwards to 2004. It gives nothing away to say that Jeremy was obviously conceived on Liz's high school trip when she was sixteen, but she has no recollection of Jeremy's father and no awareness, for many months, that she could even be pregnant. After giving birth during a bout of "indigestion," Liz gives the baby up for adoption, until he finds her twenty years later.

Through this framework, "Generation X" author Douglas Coupland examines the nature of family life and the search for meaning. We know from the outset that Jeremy has multiple sclerosis, but he does not look to religion to provide solace or answers. Instead, he has visions, usually about farm families awaiting the end of the world, visions which bear striking resemblances to some of the issues Liz faces. As Jeremy's MS progresses, his desire to find meaning grows. "Death without the possibility of changing the world was the same as a life that never was," he believes, and he intends to live it as well as he can--with Liz.

Witty and often mordantly funny, the novel develops an edge of satire at the same time that it strives to be emotionally stirring. When Liz goes to Europe to help with a police investigation, seven years later, a comedy of errors ensues, taking the novel further into the realm of absurdity and farce. Although the novel often discusses issues of death and other Gen X concerns, the author uses a consistently light touch, keeping the tone upbeat and avoiding the details of Jeremy's final decline. The novel is not complex, nor is it subtle, with the parallels between Jeremy's visions and Liz's life fully explained by the author. Sparkling dialogue and a conclusion which carries the themes to their absurd conclusions, keep the reader going, and the novel ultimately answers the big questions in the song for which it is named--"Where to we all come from?...Where do we all belong?" Mary Whipple

He carries on in this fashion here. Although Liz Dunn and her son are both good characters, there is not much new to experience. Coupland has never needed a plot to create a beautiful novel and his wilder attempts at making an interesting story tend to come off a bit contrived in this one. The ending should be uplifting but it feels like it was thrown in, as if even Coupland doesn't believe it. You get the feeling that he is too lonely to write a happy ending convincingly.

The great strength of this book is in the voice Coupland has created for Liz Dunn. She is a charming character who becomes your friend as you read. Her son, Jeremy is equally engaging. When he isn't simply a vehical for Coupland's familiar Jenny Holzer rip offs, he's by turns funny and moving.

I enjoyed the book a lot. It's a lot better than a lot of books which will sell more copies. But in the end, I finished it and didn't feel much changed. When Coupland is truely on form his books have a bigger impact and more ideas.