2002 / december / 27
Coupland's compassion
Just finished Douglas Coupland's All Families are Psychotic at which I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it's a rollercoaster-plot, hanging on unrealistic coincidences. Hell, it's a novel, not faction; and what really matters is, does he tell a story? He does, indeed, and masterfully.
But if it would've been just a story, I would have been very disappointed.
This
review from The Guardian comes pretty close, but misses the point, I think.
It's not that the novel is a caricature despite the author sometimes
displaying "some fondness for his less-caricatured creations" -
quite the opposite. With the exception Howie, and maybe Florian, none of the
major and minor characters are caricatures. They may seem so on introduction,
or in the train of thought in others' thoughts. And hell, they struggle to
get through their lives disappointments, and it helps to put a mask on.
But the real strength of this novel, where it has the power to genuinely
touch, is in the places where they break down, and face what's gnawing inside.
Dropping the mask.
So what if the last fifty pages are a bit weak.
Coupland has genuine compassion for his characters,
using the form of the thriller to create the
pretty extreme circumstances needed to crack them open, and especially the
first twohundred pages, he's produced a genuine page-turner.
