Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I can imagine this was totally on the nose when it was published, but reading it now in 2020, many of the essays definitely feel like they were of its time, but not of now.
I love Douglas Coupland. I've read everything he's ever written. This is not his best work. It has sparks of brilliance in it, but the majority of it should have stayed on his computer to rot.
The book reads like a series of underdeveloped stories Coupland wrote. First drafts of something that he wrote and then abandoned. He bounces from essays about himself and his family, to short fictional stories about characters we only hear from once.
I'll single out my favorite and least favorite of the stories. Least favorite was "The Fear of Windows" This read like a summary of a bad M. Night Shyamalan movie, or bad Shyamalan fan fiction. I almost gave up at this point.
One of the longest stories, and the best, is "George Washington's Extreme Makeover" a pilot script for a tv show about time travelers who snatch famous people, convince them they are angels, then give them medical procedures and cosmetic make overs.
Part of what I love about his Coupland is his willingness to push the boundaries of what books can do. He's amazing at letting me believe he's lived all of the lives he's ever written about. The problem with this book is it didn't give him enough time to develop the characters.
I realize this book was part of an art exhibition. I'm sure it's better in conjunction with the exhibition. As a stand alone, it's just okay.
The book reads like a series of underdeveloped stories Coupland wrote. First drafts of something that he wrote and then abandoned. He bounces from essays about himself and his family, to short fictional stories about characters we only hear from once.
I'll single out my favorite and least favorite of the stories. Least favorite was "The Fear of Windows" This read like a summary of a bad M. Night Shyamalan movie, or bad Shyamalan fan fiction. I almost gave up at this point.
One of the longest stories, and the best, is "George Washington's Extreme Makeover" a pilot script for a tv show about time travelers who snatch famous people, convince them they are angels, then give them medical procedures and cosmetic make overs.
Part of what I love about his Coupland is his willingness to push the boundaries of what books can do. He's amazing at letting me believe he's lived all of the lives he's ever written about. The problem with this book is it didn't give him enough time to develop the characters.
I realize this book was part of an art exhibition. I'm sure it's better in conjunction with the exhibition. As a stand alone, it's just okay.
Douglas Coupland's Bit Rot is a collection of essays and short stories written between 2005 and 2015, all dealing in some way with how the human brain has been rewired in the 21st Century thanks to the Internet, other technological advances, and post 9/11 realities. While there is an apocalyptic bent to some of these texts, especially the short fables included (many of them first published as part of the novel Generation A), Coupland welcomes these changes as a necessary evolution of the human spirit. Nostalgic, yes. Sad or angry? No. And so he brings his breezy humorist's pen to topics ranging from spellcheck to airport security, inventing apps we may well see in the future, looking forward as much as he does behind in this exploration of the present.
funny
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
Very Coupland-esque. All his tropes are shining through.
There are very few things as fascinating as seeing the world trough the eyes of an artist, and that's what this book is about. I didn't like the short stories so much, but that's my own problem with short stories, but the little essays were mostly jewels.
Ci sono poche cose affascinanti come guardare il mondo attraverso gli occhi di un artista, ed é piú o meno il riassunto di questo libro. I racconti non mi hanno fatto impazzire, ma questo é dovuto al mio problema con le storie brevi, ma i piccoli saggi sono dei gioiellini.
Ci sono poche cose affascinanti come guardare il mondo attraverso gli occhi di un artista, ed é piú o meno il riassunto di questo libro. I racconti non mi hanno fatto impazzire, ma questo é dovuto al mio problema con le storie brevi, ma i piccoli saggi sono dei gioiellini.
A fascinating read. The way this man’s mind works will make you rethink so much that you’ve considered normal. I loved the multitude of various stories and the differences in styles of them.
Chapters are stand-alone essays and short stories.
One reviewer said (paraphrasing), “This was a great book except for this one specific chapter.” That was my favorite chapter, so what do any of us know?
Read what you like. Skip what you don’t. Or forget the whole thing. I don’t give a shit.
One reviewer said (paraphrasing), “This was a great book except for this one specific chapter.” That was my favorite chapter, so what do any of us know?
Read what you like. Skip what you don’t. Or forget the whole thing. I don’t give a shit.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced