Hey Nostradamus!
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4.4 • 8 Ratings
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- £4.49
Publisher Description
The story of one family piecing itself back together after a tragic highschool shooting, Hey Nostradamus! is Douglas Coupland’s most soulful, piercing and searching novel yet.
Pregnant and secretly married, Cheryl Anway scribbles her last will and testament – and erie premonition – on a school binder shortly before a rampaging trio of misfit classmates gun her down in a high school cafeteria. Overrun with paranoia, teenage angst and religious zeal in the ensuing massacre's wake, this sleepy Vancouver neighbourhood declares its saints, brands its demons and finally moves on.
But for a handful of people still reeling from that horrific day, life remains perpetually derailed. Four dramatically different characters tell their stories in their own words: Cheryl, who calmly narrates her own death; Jason, the boy no one knew was her husband, still marooned ten years later by his loss; Heather, the woman trying to love the shattered Jason; and Jason's father Reg, a cruelly religious man no one suspects is still worth loving. Each wrestles with God, self-defeat and a crippling inability to hold on to those they love.
Coupland's most surprising and soulful novel yet, rich with his trademark cultural acuity and dark humour, Hey Nostradamus! ties themes of alienation, violence and misguided faith into a fateful and unforgettable knot from which four people must untangle their lives.
Reviews
‘Douglas Coupland has surely reserved his place at the top table of North American fiction.’ Independent on Sunday
‘Nothing less than sublime’ Time Out
‘This is far too wise a book to offer answers, but it affirms that seeking them is a necessary part of our humanity.’ Independent
‘Clever, affecting… God it was a pleasure to read.’ Ali Smith, author of Hotel World
About the author
DOUGLAS COUPLAND first came to prominence as the author of Generation X (1995). He followed that with a sequence of ever-more daring and inventive novels, including Shampoo Planet, Life After God, Girlfriend in a Coma and, most recently, All Families Are Psychotic. He lives in Vancouver.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coupland has long been a genre unto himself, and his latest novel fits the familiar template: earnest sentiment tempered by sardonic humor and sharp cultural observation. The book begins with a Columbine-like shooting at a Vancouver high school, viewed from the dual perspectives of seniors Jason Klaasen and Cheryl Anway. Jason and Cheryl have been secretly married for six weeks, and on the morning of the shooting, Cheryl tells Jason she is pregnant. Their situation is complicated by their startlingly deep religious faith (as Cheryl puts it, "I can't help but wonder if the other girls thought I used God as an excuse to hook up with Jason"), and their increasingly acrimonious relationship with a hard-core Christian group called Youth Alive! After Cheryl is gunned down, Jason manages to stop the shooters, killing one of them. He is first hailed as a hero, but media spin soon casts him in a different light. This is a promising beginning, but the novel unravels when Jason reappears as an adult and begins an odd, stilted relationship with Heather, a quirky court reporter. Jason disappears shortly after their relationship begins, and Heather turns to a psychic named Allison to track him down in a subplot that meanders and flags. Coupland's insight into the claustrophobic world of devout faith is impressive one of his more unexpected characters is Jason's father, a pious, crusty villain who gradually morphs into a sympathetic figure but when he extends his spiritual explorations to encompass psychic swindles, the novel loses its focus. Coupland has always been better at comic set pieces than consistent storytelling, and his lack of narrative control is particularly evident here. Noninitiates are unlikely to be seduced, but true believers will relish another plunge into Coupland-world. Author tour.
Customer Reviews
Perfect
Now I'm not one for reviews that praise a writer for writing a book, after all it's their job. I make exception in this case, a real honest heartfelt read, it's a gripping story that allows you to let your imagination run wild.
It has all the classic coupland traits, the deep characters, the casual narrative and the divorce for realism that let's you enjoy and create parts of the story yourself.
Well worth the price and a book I have now read 4 times and assume I will get a good few years out it yet.