Hey Nostradamus!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hey Nostradamus!
Paperback edition cover
Author	Douglas Coupland
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date	July 2, 2004
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	244 pp
ISBN	ISBN 1582344159

Hey Nostradamus! is a novel by Douglas Coupland, about a fictional 1988 school shooting in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia and its aftermath. Of all the novels by Coupland, this was the most critically acclaimed. It was first published by Random House of Canada in 2003.The novel comprises four first-person narratives, each from the perspective of a character directly or indirectly impacted by the shooting. The novel touches on many issues, including adolescent love, sex, religion, prayer and grief.

[edit] Plot summary

The novel consists of four first-person narratives, each one from a major character. In the first narrative, Cheryl, a victim of a 1988 high school shooting in North Vancouver, tells the story of the significant events in her life up to the shooting, which sets up the story. Her social life is dominated by her local "Youth Alive!" chapter, whose members are depicted as, for the most part, more interested in spreading rumours and maintaining an appearance of piety than being sincere friends. Her boyfriend, Jason, is aching to have sex, so they obtain a set of fake IDs, fly down to Las Vegas, and get married at a kitschy wedding chapel. The morning of the shooting, in a midst of an argument over whether they should let their parents know about the wedding, Cheryl informs Jason that she is pregnant with his baby. They agree to discuss it further in the cafeteria during lunch, but unfortunately for Jason, by the time he makes it to the cafeteria, Cheryl has already been shot by one of a trio of troubled students who rampage the school with automatic weapons. Upon seeing the shooters Jason appeared with a rock, which he tossed at the leader of the shooters, killing him on impact. Jason thus stopped the shooting. Cheryl dies in his arms, the world unaware that she is his wife. Cheryl's narrative takes place in a spiritual realm between the living world and the afterlife, where the only communications she can receive from the living are people's prayers.

The next narrative is given by Jason, in the form of a 1999 letter written for his nephews to receive upon their 21st birthday. Jason describes the aftermath of the shooting, when the media finger him as a suspect in the shootings. Worse, his father, Reg, calls him a murderer after Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers inform him that Jason's killing of one of the shooters halted the killings. Fed up with the extreme religiosity exhibited by Reg, Jason's mother attacks and separates from him. Jason also becomes estranged from Reg. Jason's estrangement from Reg ends in 1999 when Reg is admitted to a hospital and Jason is asked to bring his father clothes and personal items. In this section it is revealed that most of Jason's friends are barflies and construction workers, some of which are of dubious character. Jason is accidentally caught up in some activity with the Russian Mafia, mostly because of random blackouts he has due to drug and alcohol abuse. When Jason awakes from a blackout he finds himself in a duel with a Russian limo driver who is associated with organized crime. Jason has the oppurtunity to kill this man the same way he killed the school shooter (tossing a rock), but lets the man live, and arranges for him to be rescued. At the end of his narrative, Jason reveals that he is in fact the father of his twin "nephews." Jason was the first to arrive to his sister in law's house the night of the accident. She begs him to inseminate her, as she and Jason's brothers had been trying for years. Her basic idea was that if they had sex that day, then it could plausibly be Kent's child, especially since their (Jason and Kent's) DNA were so similar. Jason agrees under the condition that they go to Las Vegas to get married prior to having sex. This is the same condition that Cheryl had imposed upon Jason as a teenager. While in Las Vegas Barb kills a man who was a familial aquaintance, because she didn't want the secret to get out.

The third narrative is the form of 2002 diary entries by Jason's girlfriend, Heather. Heather reveals that Jason has been missing for a few months. Jason left the house for cigarettes, and vanished. Heather's grief is aggravated by the appearance of Allison, an apparent psychic who delivers messages that only Heather and Jason can understand. Allison's messages become more and more expensive, until Allison's daughter reveals that Allison was hired by well-meaning Jason to pose as a psychic in the event of his disappearance, and Allison was simply manipulating her for a profit. Allison confronts the fraudelent psychic, and while she comes to peace with Jason being gone forever, her life and mental state are shattered.

The fourth narrative is a letter written by Reg in 2003 to his son in which he tries to explain his fervent religiosity and make amends for their stormy relationship. This letter also reveals that Jason's flannel shirt and debit card were recently found. These items were found on the site where Jason had his original duel with the Russian limo driver. Reg writes about his obsession with Sasquatch as a child, since the creature was inscrutable. Reg vows to treat his son like the mysterious Sasquatch and search for him in the area. It is left unclear whether Jason is dead or not.