Player One - Douglas Coupland

Genre - Contemporary Fiction
My Rating - 4 stars
Published - October 1st 2010 by House of Anansi Press

Synopsis
International bestselling author Douglas Coupland delivers a real-time, five-hour story set in an airport cocktail lounge during a global disaster. Five disparate people are trapped inside: Karen, a single mother waiting for her online date; Rick, the down-on-his-luck airport lounge bartender; Luke, a pastor on the run; Rachel, a cool Hitchcock blonde incapable of true human contact; and finally a mysterious voice known as Player One. Slowly, each reveals the truth about themselves while the world as they know it comes to an end.

My Review
Player One was originally written as a series of week long one hour lectures hence the novel is split up into five "hours" and is written in real time.

This is the first Coupland book I've read in years, I have a vague recollection of skimming through Generation X in my teens and dismissing it as pretentious intellectualism. It would be interesting to re-read it now and see what I think as I really enjoyed Player One and Coupland's unique style of writing.

When Coupland describes a character he gets to the nitty gritty, into their soul and thought process. The novel alternated between the point of view of a preacher turned thief,  an ex-alcoholic bar tender, a beautiful autistic teenager and a 40 year old divorcee. Then throw into the mix a self help guru, an indiscriminate killer, a MILF hunter and an awkward internet hook up, and you have Player One's unlikely cast.  Whilst each character has a distinct personality Coupland points out"we run out of things that make us an individual very quickly; all of us have more in common than we do not have in common". And he's right of course. In a world overpopulated with 6 billion people, how is it possible to be truly unique? Yet everyone wants to feel they are different, everyone wants to count, as Luke puts it "I want a Wikipedia page. I want Google hits. I don't want to just be a living organism that comes and goes and leaves no trace on the planet". So many of us can relate to this. Or at least I can. Yet in wanting fame, or infamy as the case may be, we become just like everyone else. 

I could go into the intricacies of the plot but a Coupland novel is much more than this. It's food for thought. It's liberation. And most importantly it made me think about so many things I'd never normally consider. I feel a better person for reading Player One, like I learnt something intangible yet important. I will definitely be reading more from him. Whilst the characters are different they all speak with Coupland's voice and give you a unique glimpse into a future I hope we never have to witness.

The only thing I would say that errs on the negative side is that this is not a book you can read when you're sleepy and about to go to bed. It requires full concentration, if you daydream through a paragraph you will lose the thread entirely and need to re-read it. As i'm the kind of person who likes to read before I go to bed to relax this was hard going at times. Player One is NOT a relaxing book that you can take to the park to chill out with, it's a thinking book that challenges you, and whilst I honestly do love this, after 250 pages I felt like i'd earned a well deserved rest!

Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

Genre - Chick Lit
My Rating - 4 Stars
Published - 1st June 1999 by Penguin Books

Synopsis
Bridget Jones's Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement--a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult--and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic...

My Review
I got an email through from Amazon saying this book was deal of the day, and so picked it up for just a pound on my kindle. I must admit I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. Of course, i've seen the movie, but after reading the book there didn't seem to be much similarity between the two. 

I rarely find myself laughing out loud at a book, but whilst reading this I must have been giggling away conspiratorially to myself as my boyfriend even asked me what was so funny. There's something about the quirky things Bridget does that every woman can relate to on some level. She's a walking contradiction, a woman who wants to be strong and independent yet at the same time is desperate to be loved. 

I must admit I was annoyed by her at first because it seemed almost like she was one of those awful women whose life is defined by the man she's dating. I guess in some ways she is, but she doesn't want to be. She's a unique spirit, and it was quite lovely to see a man fall for her because of all her imperfections rather than in spite of them. 

I'd wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who wants a bit of light relief. You can easily chomp through the pages in a day or two and it leaves you with a real feel-good vibe. Looking forward to reading the next one!