Rating: 
Summary: Well, yes... the ending isn't perfect
Review: A writer once said that telling a story is the art of 1. Getting your characters up a tree, 2. Surrounding the tree with alligators, and 3. Getting them down from the tree. Coupland gets all his characters up a pretty impressive tree: basically, the end of the world as we know it. That means that getting them down is going to take some pretty ambitious footwork. If Coupland doesn't quite make it, this book is so lyrically written that we can't hold it against him.The language he chooses to tell his story is simple; his characters are basically grown-up teenagers. Their problems, too, are simple -- growing up, getting jobs, marrying, moving away, coming back to the old neighbourhood -- except for Karen, who spends quite a bit of time in a coma before waking to (briefly) rejoin them. For all its simplicity, though, this book is marvellously, intricately human. The ending Coupland has chosen is the only likeable, humane way down from the tree; he does it with humour, laughing at himself and his characters all the way to the finish line. I'm willing to suspend disbelief for a while and laugh right along with him. It's rare to find young storytellers this gifted, writers who do more than just muck about in the shallow angst of their sophomoric young lives. We should definitely support them when we can, lest we spawn a generation of the most depressing literature humanity has seen to date. (this review is in honour of Canada Day; buy Canuck!!!)
Rating:
Summary: very interesting and original
Review: I really enjoyed this book......It's Coupland with a real story to tell and a real message to convey to the reader. It employs the same ideas as many of his other books i.e the effect the world has had on a generation of people and how they carry out their pointless lives with a superior vision as to how the world operates which they never seem to fully recognise.......if you catch my drift. However much of this idea seems to have cropped up in more and more books lately and is becoming less of an interesting observation and more of a concrete definition. I still think that Coupland has the edge as he improves and expands on his ideas over time. For example, Girlfriend in a coma has a strong defined narrative.....the expectation of doom that makes you want to keep reading.....a (perhaps not too clear and slightly silly) message.....and most of all a supreme sense of origninality. To keep this review short I'll tell you the one and only thing that annoys me about his book and which stopped me from giving it five stars.....the ending. It's seems that Coupland got to the end, didn't realise what he wanted to do and just decided to quickly resolve it all in a completely unsatisfying and frankly quite silly way. But the rest is great, riveting stuff that truly makes you think (and have apocolypse dreams for months on end!)
Rating:
Summary: WOW, Coupland's expanding horizons
Review: I disagree with the negative comments below. I have read almost every Coupland book to date and I have to say this one was still very good. The idea of the book was typical of Coupland's clever style, and kept my interest. It was way more wild than his other books--- perhaps a bit of an experiment for him? This one incorporated a sense of SCI-FI in mundane every day life. Ponders the meaning of life and what we're all supposed to be doing here. I enjoyed it very much.
Rating: 
Summary: Relentlessly Disappointing
Review: I am amazed to see so much praise directed towards this book. I write a review in the hopes that I might appease the other end of the spectrum -- and my own personal tastes. The beginning of this book is not disappointing. The characters are believable and lovable, and while the story seems a bit rushed throughout, it is nevertheless quite enjoyable. Then there comes an apocalypse. Believe me, I made every effort to make the transition with Coupland from the dramatic to the preposterous as effortlessly as I could. Alas, the task was too great. I lagged behind with endless doubts and stunned disbelief as Coupland marched forth, steadily demolishing any sense of reality and logic i may have had. Plot & theme were thrown to the wind, as concepts of guardian angels, miracles, and a christian afterlife skewed any message he may have wished to convey. The plot behaves much as the human race is accused in the book -- it devolves. It regresses into a mumbling, incoherant mass of Stephen King-ian clichés. And the secret to life is to ask questions. How admirable. To tell you the truth, I firmly believe in that philosophy. Unfortunately, while reading the second half of this book only one question reigned supreme in my mind: When is it going to finally end? You've been forewarned.
Rating:
Summary: Plot spoiler (kind of)
Review: I was so upset by this book, which starts out with quite a nice, easy story. Not particularly challenging, no new questions asked, but still well written. I even liked the post apocalyptic bit. It's just that I can't believe that a great author like this could seriously use the "it was only a dream" story line. Even before coming 'round from unconsciousness, the final message to never stop screaming meaningless pointless questions at people is a ridiculously oversimplified solution. I really liked the start, I think that's why I feel a bit bitter about it. He made me care about the characters, only to do stupid things with them. Two stars is for making me care, otherwise it would have been less.
Rating: 
Summary: Phenomenal!
Review: A fantastic book by one of my very favorite authors. Coupland cuts to the chase and addresses our most unspeakable fears: the fear of loneliness, the fear of the meaninglessness of our lives, the fear of becoming useless, or God forbid, helpless, in this brave new world we are all helping to create for ourselves. And, fear of what the future will be like. His character, Karen, looks at our modern-day world and asks, what happened to free time? Everyone is so busy working, working, working, and being efficient, with all our technology and gadgets, but what is the point if we are no happier than before? She suspects her friends to be working, drinking and doing drugs to avoid facing the hole in their lives where values and meaning should be. Couplands characters, as always, are real and entertaining and engaging. While zeroing in on the comical mundanities of his characters' lives, he poses some of the most difficult questions. Read the book!
Rating: 
Summary: Bizarre long tale to get to a point
Review: The point Coupland makes is profound. It should be, that is Coupland's schtick. Like most of his books, it focuses on the power of story line. However, this book seems to fall short on believablity. Unlike Gen X, Microserfs and most of all Life After God, you have to strugle to relate to the characters. If you are a big Coupland fan read this book. If you are new to him read Life After God and Generation X first.
Rating:
Summary: Hey Big Spender......
Review: I chose to read this book after toying with the idea for months. I didn't want to get an angry Generation X story that hit out, without packing any punches I'd had enough, and I'm sure everybody else had. Coupland is renowned for the Generation X theme in writing as much as Cobain was Gen X lyrically. His books have gained cult status around the world, swiftly turning Coupland into an authority on the culture that rocked the 90's. Still, if you want to read for pleasure don't let the above put you off. Girlfriend in a Coma is modern fiction at its best. This is fiction that makes you think. Fiction that makes you feel. In fact, as much as it's fiction it's also much more. A bit like a Third World Aid plee thats hits your heart straight away. I won't give you a synopsis and spoil this for you, that defeats the object completely because what I see Isn't what you do. But I can say that if you hanker after the kind of books that left you with pictures in your eyes, opinions in your head, changes in your mind and bags under your eyes after late night 'can't put it down syndrome' - read this. However, be warned. Coupland has written over 10 books........ it could end up costing.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably worthwhile
Review: I read Girlfriend in a Coma over a year ago and few books since have had such a strong effect on me. This book affects its readers long after it has been put on the shelf. It permeates your every waking moment. Girlfriend in a Coma got passed around between 5 of my friends and when each one asked "What is it about?" we simply said that it is weird and amazing and indescrible. Read it for yourself in order to understand its value!
Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Perspective of the State of the World Today
Review: A few hours after Richard and Karen have sex for the first time, Karen tells Richard of the dark visions she's been having and gives him a letter to return to her unopened the following day. The letter goes unreturned, because a few hours after that she goes into a coma... for almost 18 years. Nine months after she goes into a coma Karen gives birth to a little girl, Megan. What follows is an examination of the lives of Richard and his friends, as they go through their various careers. When Karen finally wakes up, it gets a little weird. I'm not going to go into details, I don't want to give anything away. Let's just say that the time following Karen's awakening is an insight into the way the world might go if we continue the path we are on. I only put this book down when I had to, although sometimes I had to scratch my head and wonder just what Douglas Coupland was thinking.
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