suffocating because of the constant references to God. It was overwhelming and felt like a slap in the face because I did not know some people felt so strongly about this issue. They were all living in another world I did not belong in. This novel makes me wonder what Douglas Coupland's motivation was to base this story on God. Without it, the story would be very different. Though it was literally an easy and exciting read, I found it difficult to digest and would find myself cringing. But still, after reading this highly religion stuffed story it made me feel no different, just surprised.
The lectures on this novel have been interesting because I've learned more about God there than I have in my whole life, such as the four stages: Heaven, Purgatory, Limbo, and Hell. I had always thought that God chose whether you went to Heaven or Hell.
4 comments:
You say that it "felt like a slap in the face because I did not know some people felt so strongly about this issue." Why do you feel it was a slap in the face? You also say you ONLY felt surprised. I was wondering if you somehow felt alienated because you say you believed the book was a world "you did not belong in".
I can really relate to your blog because I was also raised to choose how I felt about religon on my own and in my own time. One thing that was kind of weird in my own family is that it seemed as though it was my choice to which religon, but believing in something at all was implied I would have to do.
Hey! This is response to your guys' blog presentation today!
So you guys were talking about all the different themes in the novel, right? I just want to add to that and say that in my opinion one of the most dominant themes in Hey
Nostradamus! is forgiveness. When you think about it, all throughout the novel you've got people asking to be forgiven, examples being Jeremy (one of the gunmen), Cheryl's parents in their letters to Jason, and Reg at the end of
the novel. What I find interesting is that Coupland doesn't really say
whether of not these people are forgiven. I guess he leaves it up to interpretation: it's up to the reader to decide where the line is drawn between when you can still be forgiven and when your sins are so deep that forgiveness is no longer possible.
Cheers! Good presentation!
I can totally see where you're coming from with this post in the fact that you didn't feel a connection to all of the religion brought up. However, where many people felt indifference, I actually felt largely guilty that I wasn't more religious... For some reason which I have yet to pin-point. I suppose it may come from the fact that part of my family is fairly religious and I don't connect to them on that level. Either way past experience with the "Man Upstairs" shows me that religion and I just don't mix.
Regardless of this rambling, well done on your presentation!
I'm actually a little surprised anyone felt that way. I, myself, am a staunch atheist, and believe that religion is the root of all the world's problems, but I'm getting ahead of myself here. That said, I still found the implications of religion central to the novel, and necessary to the development of the characters. In Cheryl's chapter especially, the prayers randomly inserted added a level of intensity and desperation to the scene that could only be triggered by calling upon god.
Well done on the presentation, folks.
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