re:mote voices

Title: Hey Nostradamus!

Author: Douglas Coupland

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Despite having written about 10 novels, Hey Nostradamus! is my first reading of Douglas Coupland's work. Which is no doubt typical, given that on completion I get the impression that Hey Nostradamus! is something of a departure from Coupland's usual fare. The edition I read is one of Harper Perennial's "PS: More than a paperback" series - which come with additional notes, interviews and the like. From which there is a section of "if you liked this try…", which includes a reference to DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little, a book I previously started to read, but never got round to finishing. With that I am quite aware of the very real comparisons between the two. Also it is perhaps odd to have been to see the film Saved! in the cinema the same day I started reading Hey Nostradmus!, seeing as how I can see similarities there as well. In addition from the first encounters with the character Cheryl I recall what was said about Alice Sebold's Lucky Bones, which I get the impression uses a similar kind of tool.

Vernon God Little is about a school massacre, Saved! is about extreme Christians in a school, and Lucky Bones is told from the point of view of a murdered girl. All of which has some baring on Hey Nostradamus!, which focuses on a Columbine style massacre to start with. Told in four parts, we are initially introduced to Cheryl Anyway, who was killed in the shooting and recounts her finding god, getting married/pregnant with Jason, and then being shot. The second part follows Cheryl's boyfriend Jason ten years later - parts of the material from Cheryl now echoed from his point of view, as well as the aftermath and how he became a suspect in the community, how his relationship with his father has shaped him, and how badly he is doing after all this time. The third section is from Heather's point of view, a couple of years have passed from when Jason wrote his letter to his clone/nephews, and he has met Heather and found a certain happiness, Heather providing a different view of Jason and the potential that lives within him. The book concludes with a section written by Reg, reflecting on how his life has gone wrong, how badly he dealt with his son Jason and the way that and his communications with Heather make him take a better look at his life.

In some ways I have a very mixed reaction to Hey Nostradmus!, which leaves me a little uncertain as to whether I would read any more of Coupland's work. While it may have been written before some of the other works that I mention above, those other items are things I was aware of first/at the same time - which regardless of temporal originality, still has an effect on the impressions one has while reading. There were parts of Hey Nostradamus! that I enjoyed, little scenes here, conversations there, odd observations. At the same time though, there were chunks of the novel where I felt a distinct ambivalence to the book as a whole - which is kind of how I felt about with Vernon God Little when it was due back at the library - though in saying that I returned Vernon God Little unfinished and completed Hey Nostradamus!.