Details Appertaining To Books Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures)
Title | : | Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures) |
Author | : | Douglas Coupland |
Book Format | : | Paperback |
Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
Pages | : | Pages: 256 pages |
Published | : | October 1st 2010 by House of Anansi Press (first published September 25th 2010) |
Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Canada. Science Fiction. Dystopia. Novels |
Douglas Coupland
Paperback | Pages: 256 pages Rating: 3.46 | 5909 Users | 535 Reviews
Relation During Books Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures)
International bestselling author Douglas Coupland delivers a real-time, five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge during a global disaster. Five disparate people are trapped inside: Karen, a single mother waiting for her online date; Rick, the down-on-his-luck airport lounge bartender; Luke, a pastor on the run; Rachel, a cool Hitchcock blonde incapable of true human contact; and finally a mysterious voice known as Player One. Slowly, each reveals the truth about themselves while the world as they know it comes to an end.In the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and J. G. Ballard, Coupland explores the modern crises of time, human identity, society, religion, and the afterlife. The book asks as many questions as it answers, and readers will leave the story with no doubt that we are in a new phase of existence as a species — and that there is no turning back.
Be Specific About Books In Pursuance Of Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures)
Original Title: | Player One |
ISBN: | 0887849687 (ISBN13: 9780887849688) |
Edition Language: | English |
Literary Awards: | Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2010) |
Rating Appertaining To Books Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures)
Ratings: 3.46 From 5909 Users | 535 ReviewsWeigh Up Appertaining To Books Player One: What Is to Become of Us (CBC Massey Lectures)
Alright, so I lied or spoke too soon, at any rate. After Generation A I was determined to never again pick up another Douglas Coupland novel. But then the CBC announced Coupland as last year's Massey Lecturer; to clinch any potential listener disappointment, they immediately added that Coupland would be lecturing in a novel format. Well . . . I suppose that was indeed a novel approach to take, if only by CBC standards.The Massey Lectures are a platform for a Canadian blowhard-at-large to summonIt's kind of strange that I read Player One in two days before the ten year anniversary of 9/11. Player One has many parts that I found great and moving, parts similar to other books by Coupland I have read. This time around it all clicked with me and I was taken back and moved. I seem to feel a little less alone when I read a Douglas Coupland novel and have a better grasp on our complex, mordern and digitally connected world. Read it if you're feelig a little alone and blue and in a mood to
Player one is described on it's back cover as "A real-time five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge during a global disaster." And this is, superficially, how one may describe the book. In fact the setting is a mere technicality which the author uses to hold together the few disparate individuals.The introduction and description of the individuals, how they are seen by the others, how they see themselves, their motivations and mental life - this is the real nitty gritty of the novel and
One star for the shot. One star for the appendix. One star for Coupland's ability to glorify the sadness of humanity. One star for God's opinion on evolution. One star for sentences like, "personality is a slot machine, and the cherries, lemons, and bells are your SSRI system, your schizophrenic tendency, your left/right brain lobalization, your anxiety proclivity, your wiring glitches, your place on the autistic and OCD spectrums - and to these we must add the deep-level influences of the
Coupland doing his thing: philosophical, engaging, funny, sexist. Actually, some of the sexism wasn't so bad here - although he can't seem to help describing women's bodies more than men's, he does label and describe sexist behaviour by some of the men in the story - and although I started out anxious about Rachel (lots of red flags for a really terrible stereotype of autism), it became clear that a) this isn't meant to be a portrayal of autism as such, and b) a whole heap of her traits are not
Just another terrific read. This is ultimately an exploration on some of the bigger, philosophical questions on life: what is this concept of time? What happens before we're born and after we die? And so on. And Coupland does this with his innate lyrical language, and his trademark wit. The premise of the story is: Five people, all of whom end up in a Toronto Pearson airport lounge, find themselves locked inside the lounge while the world around them implodes. Oil prices instantly skyrocket, and
Monumental approach to "what it means to be human".Would have liked it to be longer. The character's voices were gripping and i found myself growing attached to all of them in the short time it took me to finish our journey.At first I couldn't decide between a 3 and 4 star rating, but that Legend convinced me that it deserves a star all on its own.So a 4 star rating is what this book earns from me.
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