Souvenir of Canada

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.

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.

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 ...

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."