Customer Reviews

Souvenir of Canada

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My familiarity with coupland prior to Souvenir of Canada primarily stemmed from Generation X and his City of Glass (his loveletter to Vancouver). Unlike his novel, Souvenir is utterly sentimental--even when seemingly critical. Not being Canadian, yet quite interested in Canadiana, I found Souvenir to be interesting on several levels, and I found myself not only enriching my knowledge of Canada, but also reflecting more deeply on the area in which I grew up--not so much America as a whole, which is a point inferred in the book as well. It's style makes it vastly readable: a series of photographs with relatively short passages with varying degrees of topic digression, yet all quite appropriate. I have often found myself picking Souvenir (and Souvenir 2) up again and again, thumbing through and randomly reading sections. I don't know what it is, but Coupland seems to have the knack for inviting the reader into a world and being a great host while you're there.

I might only add here that recently Coupland loosely turned his Souvenir books into a film of the same name, made somewhat in the same style. The film was great but does not include everything in both the books.

You don't read Coupland for content, and you certainly don't read him to understand where he is coming from. Coupland is best read as a collection of highly eclectic - and in this case, almost loving - insights of a country he knows well. Like his previous book on Canada and the one on Vancouver, all of these stand as weird, human, insightful snippets of Canadian life. Its like a large relish tray - good snippets, but not all to your personal taste.

I read this book in two sittings. The photograph compositions where clever and did evoke familiarity - good and bad - about Canadian images and icons. Coupland's ramblings though, are insights that I believe all Canadians feel or have felt at least once in their lives. Ironically I think this book would have the greatest resonance with non-Canadians, although judging by the few American reviews posted, this suggestion may prove to be a stretch.

This little book about the subtle and not so subtle differences between Canada and it's favourite neighbour to the south will tickle any loyal Canuck's funny bone. Coupland's highly constructed photographs of Canadian cultural artefacts will delight as childhood items such as table hockey, Honey Bee corn syrup and clear bottles of white vinegar are recognized as simply, 'unidentifiable by an American'. The alphabetical listings and descriptions of Coupland's Canadiana are brilliant. The only thing missing from this book is an acknowledgement that perhaps persons from outside the North American continent may be interested in the book (let alone Canada!), thus these items may also be unidentifiable or perhaps just plain ordinary to the rest of the world ...

I am Canadian (and no, I am not right now doing a Molson Canadian ad) and I just did not get much of the Canadiana the "artist" chose to stuff his installation house with. A Wayne Gretzky jigsaw puzzle--nice idea--but in an LA Kings' jersey. What was DC thinking?

I also thought this whole hunting, fishing and camping as Canada theme was wrong. That was his family. I do not see it as uniquely a Canadian thing considering I've never gone hunting or fishing in my life.

Maybe I'm just not Tim Hortons enough to appreciate this kitsch that Coupland gathers up. I just found the whole thing as lame as much of Canadian culture is. What can I say, as a Canadian, I'd agree with the Brits who viewed the traveling show of Canada House that Canada is boring. It isn't, but that's what this display makes Canada look like--a bunch of whitebread rubes.

I grew up around people of various backgrounds and cultures. Where is that in this Souvenir of Canada. To me, it's vanilla and although vanilla tastes good, it's not the whole pic of what Canada is.

By the way this was turned into yet another CBC-like lame-o movie on Canada. Didn't SCTV parody this much better back in the '70s and '80s?

After two years living in Appalachian Kentucky it was a delight upon my return to Canada to read this book. Somehow it summed up everything that I feel about this land, and much that irks me as well.

The book probably resonates most with people of a certain age, especially those who are male and from the West Coast. Coupland is only a few years younger than myself, and a lot of what he described seemed very familiar.

I immediately sent our copy to a friend in Kentucky who is still trying to understand our country. I don't know how much it helped, but she enjoyed it.

This is a wonderful, passionate, heartfelt rumination. Not as hilarious as Coupland usually is--it just means too much to him.
Nostalgic beyond his years, he wants to capture all that Canada has been in his lifetime: that Canada which is rapidly tofu-ing and beige-ing in the face of globalization.

I'm a dual citizen (b. in USA, but lived 8 years in Toronto) and have very strong allegiances to the Truth North. If you're Canadian, Doug will probably unravel some of the subtle, mysterious essence of your own "Canadian-ness," to you. If you're an American, read very carefully and you'll get some amazing clues. Doug does define in relation to the USA more than a wee bit, but as Trudeau once said: "No matter how you try, you can't ignore it if you're sleeping next to an elephant. Every time it moves even a tiny bit, you feel it."

This collection of imagery and musings from Famous Canadian Writer Douglas Coupland didn't always strike a chord with me. I'm from a different part of the country, with different history and experiences, of course.

Yet enough was oddly, eerily familiar to convince me that there are few young writers better qualified to comment on the State of Our Nation than Coupland. Not as enjoyable as his fiction, but something fun to tide us fans over while we wait!