jPod

I realized that it's been over a year since I read a novel. Most of my reading consists of non-fiction and classics and while those are interesting it's been a while since I picked up a novel and read it for "fun".

I've been meaning to read jPod for a while.



It's by Douglas Coupland, a Canadian author who's best known for his novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture in which he coined the terms "Generation X" and "McJob".

Since CBC is about to start airing the mini-series based on the novel I wanted to pick it up and read it before a made-for-TV version spoils it for me.

The novel is about six late-twenties workers who share a common cubical "pod" in the Vancouver office of a massive video game design company (a thinly veiled reference to Electronic Arts).

While the narrative surrounding the unassuming protagonist named Ethan is full of crazy plot twists and over-the-top scenarios involving his wacky family, at its core the book is largely a collection of wry, sardonic observations about contemporary corporate culture and is full of pithy observations belying the undercurrent of angst of today's average, corporate Microserfs (another Coupland-coined term).

I describe it as Dilbert re-imagined by Kevin Smith of Clerks fame. I really liked the style and slightly acerbic tone of the narrative. I can relate to the characters and it was really a lot of fun to read.

The novel is the opposite of timeless, it's about contemporary culture and captures the spirit of the times for today. While I doubt it will have the same resonance ten or even five years from now I think it works as a snapshot of the type of sarcastic detachment of today's young adults as a reaction to the media-overload we've had in our collective upbringing.

In between the chapters the author throws in artistically laid-out pages of techno-terms and non-sequiturs. Here are some of my favourites:

Engineers aren't funny or cute or nerdy. They're just damaged. I might be damaged, but they're way more damaged than in any other division of the company.

People say that everyone can be a success, but you look at the numbers and no, the world is way more about failure and compromised standards than it is about winning. The older the culture is, the less cutesy it is about saying, "Well, you're a winner because you tried your best." Can you imagine a Chinese person saying that? They'd just think you're a loser and buy all of your goods at fire sale prices during your bankruptcy yard sale.

TV and the Internet are good because they keep stupid people from spending too much time out in public.

I think computers ought to have a key called I'M DRUNK, and when you push it, it prevents you from sending email for twelve hours.

Even seasoned recruiters base their first impression on the basis of fuckability. The second thing they look at is whether you're competent, and the third thing they see is whether you're creative in disguising your lack of competence and/or fuckability.

"Hi, I'm Jeremy. I'm that high-energy new guy they stole from Remtech across the Parkway. I'm young, smart, good-looking and I'm using ever-escalating amounts of crystal meth to make me seem more alive than you. I'll either end up winning everything or be found holding up a cardboard sign and talking to myself at the Exit 23 off-ramp."