GOD IS NOWHERE / GOD IS NOW HERE

If there were a sentence that could sum up Hey Nostradamus! it would be the writing  Cheryl did on her binder before her death. Her repetition of “GOD IS NOWHERE / GOD IS NOW HERE” (Coupland 9) is centered around the theme of religion, and how each character in the book feels differently about it.

In Cheryl’s eyes, this picture would read “GOD IS NOW HERE”. Her religious nature first came as her attempt to win Jason’s heart, but soon her life was indulged with all things God and truly believed in religion as opposed to the beginning stages of her fascination. Her life with Jason revolved around their religious beliefs, but Jason began only being this religious for the love of Cheryl and because of the impression his religious father Reg left on him, not his own opinions. In Jason’s eyes, this picture would read “GOD IS NOWHERE” because the more Reg pushed religion on him, the more he rejected it. The final breaking point of Jason’s questions for religion came when God was nowhere is be seen in the school massacre. He realized that no matter how much he prayed, God wasn’t going to save his classmates, his own actions were. By God taking away Jason’s wife Cheryl, he lost all hope, and in some ways, Jason would have been better off dying in the school shooting than surviving it. If Jason was also shot, he would be free from all his thoughts of depression, guilt and anger. Jason has such hard feelings that God was not there to prevent the school shooting that he says “…if you had seen me, I sure wouldn’t have been praying.” (Coupland 45) After being a part of such a tragedy, unfortunately Jason’s life will always be consumed with thoughts of it: “He never really got over it, you know” (Coupland 47)

Picture from: http://tinyurl.com/6aodv5j

Predictions and Foreshadowing

As the book progresses, I find more events are being foreshadowed. Starting with the school massacre, an alarming hint that a student was possible of such a horrendous shooting could have come from Mitchell’s science project. One of the three shooters, Mitchell Van Water showed early signs of a twisted mind in his school science fair labeled “Getting the most bang for your buck.” (Coupland 24) The three shooters had other warning signs but of course their social awkwardness and bang for your buck quirkiness wasn’t obvious until it was too late. The way the story is written from each prospective is the present reflecting on past events. By retelling past events, the reader catches on that these are all leading up to some big event. Cheryl talking in the past tense about the events leading up to something, you begin to realize that some sort of tragedy to end her happiness is about to happen. So far, the foreshadowing in Jason’s part seems to be that all his past events involving drug abuse and the death of Kent are leading up to something tragic happening to Jason. The fact that Jason is writing these diaries to his nephews makes you wonder why he would even tell most of his life story to anyone, especially his nephews. I have a sense that Jason will die some time before the end of his part in the book, but all his truths will be revealed in the letters to his nephews that will bring some peace and closure to the family. All of Jason’s drug blackouts could be foreshadowing towards his death, considering I don’t think he would commit suicide if he has already lived so long with suffering.

I imagine that Jason’s collection of letters to his nephews would start to pile up like this picture. I predict that his letters will have a huge significance later in the book, maybe when Jason or another family member dies, and the truth of his life can be revealed and have closure.

Picture from: http://tinyurl.com/6bogcta

Perspectives through Prayers

The way Hey Nostradamus! is presented is through different perspectives. The book is divided into four parts: Cheryl, Jason, Heather and Reg. Each part tells the first hand experience they had relating to the shooting, whether they were directly or indirectly involved. The structure also varies throughout the reading because each paragraph that is divided by “* * *” is a break between thoughts, usually a flashback between past and present. As the shooting is happening during Cheryl’s part, there are also different perspectives represented in the form of other people’s prayers. After reading a few paragraphs that each start with a different salutation like “Dear God”, “Lord” and “Dear Lord”, the reader realizes that these are no longer just the prayers of Cheryl, but those of the other people in the room. These prayers show each perspective on the situation, most through panic and confusion as to why this shooting is happening and how God is not saving them.

I included this picture because I feel like it represents the questions that the Delbrook school students were asking God in their prayers during the shooting. They want to know how God could sit by and let such an awful thing happen. Maybe God stepping in to interfere was when Jason threw the rock at Mitchell, simultaneously ending the killing spree. Also, this picture relates to Hey Nostradamus! because the book is roughly based on the Columbine school shooting and the name on the school in this picture is Columbine High School.

This picture reflects how so many people would have been praying to God during the school shooting. Their prayers are portrayed in Cheryl’s part of the book while they’re being shot at in the cafeteria and not only are other students praying, but the parents and rest of the community are. I feel like this picture shows everyone coming together in a time of need to pray for the events that were unfolding.   

Picture #1 from: http://tinyurl.com/74j28ur

Picture #2 from: http://tinyurl.com/6l6f3ur

Afterlife

In the first part of the book, Cheryl is describing the events of the school shooting. The more we find out, the more we question whether she is alive or dead while telling this. “Cheryl – the pretty girl who was the last one to be shot” (Coupland 25) makes it seem as though Cheryl is telling the story from the afterlife, which makes the reader question if she’s in heaven, or stuck in a state of being neither alive nor dead.

I included this picture because I think it illustrates where Cheryl currently is. It seems she is in an in-between location writing her side of the story, somewhere in the middle of this pathway to heaven. She has not yet reached heaven where she would have no interaction with Earth, so in a half state makes the most sense to me. Also, because Cheryl fully accepted God, she accepted her death. Her religious nature made her think the best of the situation, so I also find that in Cheryl’s mind her death would have looked more like this picture, with a beach and brightness rather than the dark reality of her gruesome death.

Picture from http://tinyurl.com/pathtoheaven

Critical Article Summaries

Critical Article Summary #1

A book review done by Jeff Zaleski of Publishers Weekly introduces Hey Nostradamus! author Douglas Coupland’s writing styles and common genres to his work. Zaleski recognizes Hey Nostradamus! as having a familiar template of “sardonic humor and sharp cultural observation” (Zaleski 193) relating to his other books, but what makes this story different from his others is that it is narrated through four perspectives. Varying perspectives make “[Coupland’s] lack of narrative control...particularly evident....” (Zaleski 193) Previous fans of Coupland’s work are more likely to enjoy Hey Nostradamus! than those who have not yet entered “Coupland-world”. (Zaleski 193) The beginning of the story is promising with Cheryl’s side of the story being told, but “the novel unravels when Jason reappears...” (Zaleski 193) in Part Two 1999: Jason.

Zaleski, Jeff. "EBSCOhost: Hey Nostradamus." Hey Nostradamus! Book Review 250.18 (2003): 193. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=21&sid=2b58348b-c195-4a29-a4a6-104b2fdfb3f0%40sessionmgr12&vid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=9685162>.

Critical Article Summary #2

(pictured: Columbine school shooting)Hey Nostradamus! has a fictional plot centered around a school massacre which is similar to the Columbine school shooting. Coupland presents this plot in two ways: one looks at it in a quirky and dark humorous way, and the other slightly more haunting, referring to the graphic nature of a massacre. (Johnston 60) Adding to the eeriness of the school shooting, Cheryl leaves a legacy, centered on the mysterious coincidence of her notebook scribble “God is nowhere God is now here” (Coupland 9) written before the shooting. Coupland’s dark humour approach to a story surrounding a school shooting is only partly successful because the grip and

excitement of the first two parts of the story (Cheryl and Jason) falls apart leading into the parts involving Heather and Reg. “The novel begins to lose some of its narrative coherence [after Cheryl and Jason’s parts]” and we cease to care as much about what happens after that. (Johnston 60) Despite the confusion and lack of interest that switching perspectives from Cheryl and Jason creates, the story has its fascinating points and will be most enjoyed by fans of Coupland’s novels. (Johnston 60)

Johnston, Ingrid. "Document Page: Hey Nostradamus." eLibrary Hey Nostradamus 10.1 (2004): 60. Web. 5 Mar 2011. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/curriculumca/do/document?set=search&dictionaryClick=&secondaryNav=&groupid=1&requestid=lib_canada&resultid=2&edition=&ts=CE1E263A780DAB0CB32288B775E68936_1299363985334&start=1&publicationId=&urn=urn%3Abigchalk%3AUS%3BBCLib%3Bdocument%3B120180868#citation>.

Critical Article Summary #3

The beginning of the novel starts in a charming way, with the perspective of the school shooting through the narration of Cheryl. Most of the best highlights of the book come from Part One: Cheryl, and declines in interest as the story progresses through the stories of Jason, Heather and Reg. “The use of multiple first-person narrators ill befits the sketchily similar characters...” and poorly reflects Coupland’s usual brand of pop culture commentary. (Wright 123) Hey Nostradamus! lacks the enjoyment of some of Coupland’s earlier works, including Generation X and Shampoo Planet. Wright recommends that fans should move on to new authors because Coupland’s more recent works like Hey Nostradamus! do not compare to his greater, earlier works. (Wright 123)

            Wright, David. "Library Journal: Hey Nostradamus." EBSCOhost 128.9 (2003): 123. Web. 3 Mar 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=21&sid=2b58348b-c195-4a29-a4a6-104b2fdfb3f0%40sessionmgr12&vid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ehh&AN=9740846>.

A common theme among these critical articles is that Coupland lost his narrative coherence by transitioning through new perspectives. A fascinating part came when the story spread across 15 years following the school shooting, so the reader could see how humans react to tragedy and how long something so devastating can affect you. Among the three authors of the articles, it is a common belief that Coupland’s earlier works were better than Hey Nostradamus! and that diehard Coupland fans will be the main readers of his newer works.