"We call Jasmines room The Harem, a sexy place, about which Dan never complained, even though his own possessions, his laptop PC and briefcase, for example, looked crazy in the environment, invasive and overcomplex, like Stealth bombers in SmurfWorld."
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist, designer and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He has published 13 novels, two collections of short stories, seven non-fiction books and a number of dramatic works and screenplays for film and television. He is a columnist for the Fi
"When you grow older a dreadful, horrible sensation will come over you. Its called loneliness, and you think you know what it is now, but you dont. Here is a list of the symptoms, and dont worry - loneliness is the most universal sensation on the planet. Just remember one fact - loneliness will pass. You will survive and you will be a better human for it."
"Preemptive boringness. Being one-dimensional is the most satisfying method of coping with out-of-control people - with any situation thats out of control … Dont let people know the ideas you love, the games youve played, the places youve visited in your mind. Keep your treasure to yourself."
"SOLON CR is indicated for the short-term treatment of psychological unease grounded in obsession with thinking about the near and distant future. By severing the link between the present moment and a patient’s perceived future state, researchers have found a pronounced and significant drop in all forms of anxiety. As well, researchers have found that disengagement with “the future” has allowed many patients complaining of persistent loneliness to live active and productive single lives with no fear or anxiety. (p. 95)"
"Technology does not always equal progress."
"We had all awakened X number of years past our youth feeling sleazy and harsh. Choices still existed, but they were no longer infinite. Fun had become a scrim, concealing the hysteria that lay behind it."
"I have this feeling watching Jasmine - that as you grow older, it becomes harder to feel 100 percent happy; you learn all the things that can go wrong; you become superstitious about tempting fate, about bringing disaster upon your life by accidentally feeling too good one day."