Douglas Coupland begins "Hey Nostradamus! in 1988, with a school shooting in a quiet suburb of Vancouver. Then, with unflinching candor, astonishing empathy, and his trademark black humor, he chronicles the aftermath across the next 15 years. The story unfolds via a series of spellbinding, pitch-perfect voices: those of the teenagers whose ordinary preoccupations with sex and spirituality will never evolve past that fateful, shattering moment in the school cafeteria; those of the parents whose sudden exposure to their children's passionate underground world threatens their deepest convictions; and those of the unwitting, the people who come to know the survivors only later in life, and who will only ever have an inkling of what transpired. In Coupland's world, there is no making sense of such a tragedy. What he does in "Hey Nostradamus!--brilliantly, unforgettably--is to make sense of his characters' struggles to make sense of it; to show us their humanity as they wrestle with religion and absurdity, grief and grace, scalding anger and ultimate forgiveness.
Liked it so much, I bought my own copy. Warning: You have to be able to live without a pretty ending all tied up in a nice bow.
Greatness
Written by Anonymous on June 7th, 2007
Book Rating: 5/5
Anybook that manages to get zygote into it has to be a good one! Seriously though, this book is a good read. The author has a bunch of good one liners.
Waste of time
Written by Anonymous on May 5th, 2006
Book Rating: 1/5
All this book is about people complaining and feeling sorry for themselves. If you want to hear 5 people complaing then this is your book. The voices are good though.
Very thoughtful
Written by Anonymous on January 21st, 2006
Book Rating: 4/5
I found this book very compelling - it had Coupland's dry view of the world, but it seems as though he is growing up. The main characters were so interesting, we really got to know them and (almost) understand them. The story was a complex inter-twining of weird family dynamics, faith and pop culture that worked for me. I was incredibly moved at the very end -- but the rest of the book was funny enough to not pull a cheap shot on my emotions. I discussed this with a friend and I liked it much better than she did -- I think I was just in the right frame of mind for it.
Hey Nostradamus!
Written by Lucy on October 18th, 2005
Book Rating: 5/5
Wow! Fell upon this selection by chance, and am I glad I did! Compelling story from the point of view of the victims of a school massacre, reminiscent of Columbine, and of some of the loved ones left behind. Deeply psychological and religious, where is God in all this? Nowhere, now here. Beautifully read by the narrators in the 4 voices of the main characters. Anything else from this unusual author?
Hey Nostradamus!
Written by Anonymous on January 15th, 2005
Book Rating: 5/5
This book was a real find....I'm astounded that it is not better known. Authentic, well-written, and thought provoking, it is a veritable "diamond in the rough." I am a high school counselor, and can verify that the author has certainly captured the teen age thought process....
