Gen X

Just over a week ago I finished reading Generation X: Tales for An Accellerated Culture by Douglas Coupland, published in 1991. This novel popularized the term "Generation X" which refers to the generation of people born from 1960 to 1970 and were adults in the 80's. This is my 5th read for the Canadian Book Challenge. I had a bit of trouble motivating myself to get through this book despite the fact that it was the selection from Canada Reads I was most excited to get to. I thought it would be a very quick read, but wasn't. The novel follows Dag, Andy and Claire, all mid to late twenty-somethings as they discuss life, relationships and jobs. Beyond this, there isn't much of a story. What I did enjoy were the pop cultural references sprinkled throughout the book. I particularly enjoyed the cartoons and definitions in the side panels of most of the pages defining words like "Mcjobs" and other phrases that I think Coupland just made up to describe a certain set of circumstances for a particular type of person. I think I perhaps tired of this story as I have gone beyond the I don't want to work for the "man" mindset that the main characters in this story have and revel in. This is the third book I have read of Coupland's, having read Life After God and Jpod. I really enjoyed Jpod so this was a bit of a surprise. I did warm up a bit to this novel at the end, but I have to say, not my choice for the Canada Reads so far. I have moved on to the Jade Peony which I am already enjoying.