Microserfs

Rating:
Summary: A touching and witty look at the world of Geekdom
Review: Douglas Coupland managed to touch not a few nerves with me in this wonderful story of a group of programmers (Geeks) who escape the oppressive culture of BILL and their former lives, and attempt to get some semblance of a life. Their common and not-so-common views on life, love, money, and anything else that crosses their ways are humorous and thoughful. The microconflicts that develop between them are things that might not bother many of us, but are life to them, and are thoughtfully evoked by the author's writing style. Truthfully, there are some scenes in this novel which almost brought me to tears (I'm sort of middle of the road sentimentalwise, BTW) I recommend it to Geeks, and non-Geeks alike.

Rating:
Summary: It was like an autobiography of my own life
Review: I found the book to be an almost parallel to my own life. I am the one in Tech. Support Hell right now, and I can only wish to be the programmer lost in the crowd. My favorite chapter was the binary code 010101011110001110001 chapter. I recommend it to all my Techie friends.

Rating:
Summary: Internet Company employee gives microserfs high kudos
Review: As an employee of a highly successful internet company, I enjoyed the book greatly, and could relate to it's characters. The line "I spent 6 months in phone support purgatory...helping litle old ladies format their Christmas mailing lists on Microsoft Works." is absolutley beautiful. The story is fun, and interesting, and Copeland definatley has a unique writing style. Read it

Rating:
Summary: German review in DIE WELT, 17/8/96
Review: Tage im Hirn des Geek

Couplands "Microsklaven" / Von FERNANDO OFFERMANN

Mit 29 vollzog Douglas Coupland aus Vancouver die wundersame Wandlung eines Bildhauers zum Schriftsteller und schrieb mit "Generation X" ein Debüt, das ihn zum Fürsprecher eines bis dahin unbeachteten Lebensgefühls machte. Sein Roman erzählte vom Erwachsenwerden in einer "immer schneller werdenden Kultur". Der Titel wurde ein Welterfolg, aber auch zu einem gebetsmühlenartig wiederverwerteten Etikett.

"Microsklaven" ist nach drei Romanen die bislang erstaunlichste Arbeit des heute 34jährigen Schriftstellers. Das Tagebuch des Softwaretesters Daniel Underwood erzählt die Geschichte von sechs Programmierern in Redmond/Washington - Angestellte von Bill Gates, des reichsten Mannes der Welt. Aus Abenteuerlust entschließen sich die sechs irgendwann während ihrer 16-Stunden-Tage als freiwillige Leibeigene, der gesicherten Existenz beim Computergiganten den Rücken zu kehren. Sie ziehen ins sonnige Kalifornien und suchen im Silicon Valley ihr Glück als freie Unternehmer.

"Nachdem er zehn Jahre lang Programme geschrieben hat, zeigt Abe immer noch keine Anzeichen dafür, daß er etwas aus seinem Leben machen will. Es scheint ihn nicht zu stören, daß er in vier Monaten dreißig Jahre alt wird und nichts vorzuweisen hat außer einer Reihe schicker Unterhaltungselektronik . . ." Eine seltsam sterile Welt umgibt sie auf dem "Campus" von Microsoft. Der immer frisch gemähte Rasen erinnert an eine Fläche aus Lego-Steinen, die Kommunikation wickelt man größtenteils per E-Mail ab. "Es gibt auf dem Campus niemanden, der nicht so aussieht, als wäre er exakt 31,2 Jahre alt." Nur nebenan bei Nintendo ist es, "als befände man sich im Jahre 1311, wo jeder über 35 entweder tot ist oder verkrüppelt und vergessen."

"Microsklaven" trifft auf ein Vakuum der Gegenwartsliteratur, denn der Roman beschreibt Arbeitswelten. Dazu noch eine der denkbar modernsten. Im vergangenen Jahrhundert erkundeten Romanciers Seelenzustände, lange bevor die Psychologie sich als Wissenschaft etablierte. In der heutigen Informationsgesellschaft gelingt es Coupland, die ersten Schritte literarisch zu beschreiten, die bislang zwar vage erahnt, aber sicher immer konkreter werden. In der Ära der Rationalisierungswellen und McKinsey-Reports fühlt der Angestellte immer deutlicher die Frage nach seiner Identität als Mehrwertbeschaffer seines Arbeitgebers. Couplands Personal beschäftigt die Fragen, ob sich nicht auch schon Werbespots als ein fester Bestandteil der Kindheitserinnerungen einprägen. Und wodurch werden Menschen zu "Nerds" und "Geeks"? Menschen also mit teigiger Haut, die schon in der Schule stundenlang mit Taschenrechnern experimentieren, kaum Freunde finden und Basketball lieber auf dem Computerbildschirm spielen als auf der Straße? Warum sind sie häßlicher als andere? Wie kommen sie mit ihrer Intelligenz zurecht? "Menschen, die kein richtiges Leben haben", schreibt einer von ihnen, "sind gern mit anderen Leuten zusammen, die auch kein richtiges Leben haben."

Glücklicherweise fügt Coupland diese Fragen in eine unterhaltsame, zuweilen grotesk komische Geschichte. Werden die Figuren wie in einer Seifenoper zunächst grob skizziert, so verweben sich ihre Lebenswege immer feiner ineinander. In Kalifornien entdecken sie wieder Leidenschaften fernab der Tastatur und erleben die Abenteuer der ersten Firmengründung. Wir erfahren von der zarten Liebesgeschichte zweier Programmierer, von absurden Bodybuilding-Exzessen, einer E-Mailromanze und dem verarmten High-Tech-Manager, der seinen Ferrari nicht verkaufen kann, weil die Umsatzsteuer unbezahlbar wäre.

Nach einem Besuch bei Microsoft fragte Douglas Coupland im Internet nach Informationen aus erster Hand und wurde von der Hilfsbereitschaft der wahren "Microsklaven" schier überflutet. Und doch bleibt der Roman bei aller atmosphärischen und soziologischen Detailtreue literarische Fiktion. Auf Couplands typische Weise kreisen die Fragen um das Erwachsenwerden und der Suche nach Identität. Die Zitatflut aus der amerikanischen Warenwelt und TV-Serien lassen ein Glossar vermissen. Doch nur die Materialschlachten von Markenartikeln vermitteln das übersättigte und konsumfixierte Bewußtsein eines klassischen "Geeks". Glücklicherweise sind zumindest keine weitreichenden Computerkenntnisse beim Lesen erforderlich.

Das Ergebnis ist mehr als verblüffend: Mit "Microsklaven" ist Coupland nicht nur ein überaus humorvoller Roman gelungen. Die Vorzüge seiner Vorgänger sind in ihm vereint - die Konstellation von "Generation X", der Witz von "Shampoo Planet" und die Nachdenklichkeit von "Life after God". Dazu hat Douglas Coupland einen Typ von Angestellten literarisch erfaßt, über den man künftig immer mehr nachdenken wird. Die Entwicklung wird ohnehin nicht mehr aufzuhalten sein.

--------------- Douglas Coupland: Microsklaven. Aus dem Amerikanischen von Tina Hohl. Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg. 461 S, 48 Mark.

Rating:
Summary: take a walk on the geek side
Review: Coupland's "mircroserfs" was a switch from the what I normally read, yet the change was not an unwelcome one - rather refreshing! It is written by Douglas Coupland, the Canadian author best known for coining the term Generation X.

The novel is narrated in the form of a journal (which in itself is appealing to me) penned by the main character, Dan Underwood (26). To set the scene, the journal starts in the fall of 1993. Underwood serves as a computer programmer for Microsoft. The entertaining plot revolves around the misadventures of he and his fellow code-crunching computer whizzes. These self-professed 'geeks', obsessed with lego, and who often lament their lack of a social life, board together at a Microsoft "dorm".

Otherwise known as "microserfs", they spend 16-hour days coding, eating "flat" foods (ie. Kraft singles or fruit rollups, which are often passed underneath closed doors), and checking/sending email. Seizing the chance to be innovators and wanting to escape their Bill-run world, this intrepid bunch of quirky coders strike out on their own, as they form a high-tech gaming software company named Oop! located in Silicon Valley.

Spanning about 2 years, the novel lends us the complex and often hilarious story of what it's like for these coders, living together in a sort of digital flophouse as they desperately try to "get a life" and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their digitally-driven world.

I find Coupland's wit modern, funny, to-the-point and often thought-provoking. The novel itself is comical, illuminating and ultimately poignant. Indeed, literal tears welled up at the conclusion, which was an unexpectedly touching one. Admittedly, it is not a novel I would recommend to just anyone. Yet it is definitely a novel I personally wouldn't want to do without.

Rating:
Summary: A Great read
Review: A fantastic and inspirational story.

Coupland's book is formatted more or less like a journal. The character development was great and I was immediately drawn into each charaters life, relationships and even quirky habbits.

For those of you skeptical of this book, pick it up, give it a chance and you will be brought into the hightech world of the 90's tech company boom days and the perspective of those who lived it. The book cast the feeling of the life of an entrepreneur, fast-pace low-budget and striving to make it in this world.

Rating:
Summary: a nice change of pace
Review: The trend for books that are either about or geared toward 'geeks', but not in the fantasy genre, is one that I would like to see emerge. As a software developer myself, but one that likes to get philosophical, this book was a welcome addition to the normal 'social commentary'-type of novels that I read. Coupland introduces a group of developers who work for the largest software company in the world, and decide to relinquish their benefits and stock options in order to work for a start-up whose philosophies they actually believe in. He conveys the satisfaction experienced for working for the startup versus the drudgery and monotony and eventual breakdown of working in corporate America. Its not often that we read about someone whose passion for technology matches their passion for life, but that is what exists in Microserfs.

Rating:
Summary: I'm a software engineer, maybe you want to read what I feel
Review: I had read too many quotations from Douglas Coupland's <em>Generation X</em> everywhere, so I decided to check out one of his books I thought I could relate to: <em>Microserfs</em>. In this country, if you want to check out a book, you have to buy it. Really, something must be done to enliven our public libraries. Anyway, I now think it was a total waste of ten dollars. I could have used it for three Macburgers.

The book runs as a journal maintained by a nerd. The problem is that Douglas <em>tries</em> to be a nerd, but unfortunately, he isn't one, so it doesn't <em>look</em> nerdish. The author's aim is to give an 'insider' view of life in the Silicon Valley, but there is nothing in there that someone cannot already figure out. Everybody knows techies slog. Everybody knows they don't care for appearances. Everybody knows they feel lonely. Everybody knows they don't have a dash-dash-dash life. So what's <em>new</em> in this book?

I think Douglas already saw this vacuum. To fill it, he has used detail. Detail that is not only useless, but irrelevant and annoysome. Like: 'the Chili's restaurant on the Stevens Creek Boulevard strip', 'Celeste® sani-com 3205 premoistened towelettes', '27512 EPROMs'. Discussions on Gap apparel, Mac food, shiatsu massages, tampons in Fry's, etc. etc. Who gives a <em>f</em>, yeah? Did I pay ten dollars just to learn that 280 goes to San Francisco via Palo Alto, which I already <em>knew</em> anyway? Or to get the exact address of Apple Computer? The freeways which collapsed in the L.A. quake? If this kind of detail is what somebody calls material they can 'relate to' (<em>'Oh yeah, I know that place!'</em>), I am not one, sorry.

Periodically, Douglas also seems to run into bouts of insanity. There are two pages containing only the word 'money', two pages containing only 1's and 0's, a few pages of ASCII-ised binary. You often come across pages with big, bold words that seem to be picked randomly from a dictionary, or newspaper, or California Atlas, or whatever. Sample: 'LA Lakers/Bleeding eyeliner/Ctrl Z/starburst explosion' (page 59). I don't know <em>why</em> Douglas put them in. There is neither a foreword nor an afterword to clarify, and of course, the storyline is weak.

Why weak, there is no plot at all. So these guys decide to quit Microsoft, Redmond, because of the boring life there, and decide to do their own code in the Silicon Valley. You keep turning pages to see if something develops, but you just reach the end of book. And what an ending -- the hero's mother falls ill and he talks about Costco prices and queuelines at Fry's to his paralysed mother. Sideplots include an Internet romance (both parties loved 'entities'), a visit to Las Vegas, to the Tech Museum and Convention Center at San Jose (lots of detail everywhere, I promise).

Interspersed between the detail are philosophical ramblings, which again seem pointless. Try this: 'We look at a flock of bird units and we think one bird is the same as any other bird--a bird unit. But a bird looks at thousands of people, at a Giants game up at Candlestick Park, say, and all they see is 'people units.' We're all as identical to them as they are to us. So what makes <em>you</em> different from <em>me</em>? Him from you? <em>Them</em> from <em>her</em>? What makes any one person any different from any other? Where does your individuality end and your species-hood begin?'

God. If somebody wants to buy this book second hand, holler me. I've brought it from America! ;-)

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is required reading at the office, so it's been high on my list for a while. I wish I'd gotten to it sooner, as it's one of the funnier books I've read in recent times. Although written in 1995, it ironically reads like a blog due to the diary-like chapter structure in which the main character pours out his thoughts in a stunted, almost anecdotal fashion.

The characters found throughout are truly hilarious, probably because they hearken so close to the environment we face in the technology industry. Recommended reading, particularly if you regularly interact with an IT staff.

Rating:
Summary: Important voice for his (and my) generation
Review: Coupland is one of the greatest literary voices of Generation X, and I don’t know if the boomers or their offspring will be able to appreciate the impact of coming of age in the spiritual wasteland of the â€~80s. I have enjoyed all of Coupland’s works that I have read, and this is one of my favorites. It is certainly the most entertaining on a surface level. As a professor in the information systems field, I have often considered requiring this book for students to prepare them for the realities of the business!