Plot summary
The first part of the book covers the 17 years in the lives of a group of friends, after one of the friends, Karen, lapses into a coma. Richard has to cope with losing Karen but gaining a daughter, Megan, as fatherhood is thrust upon him: the outcome of their mutual loss of virginity just hours before Karen fell into her coma. Wendy throws herself into work and Linus loses himself, looking for that which is lost. Pamela becomes a supermodel and Hamilton a demolition expert, but none of the friends' lives turn out how they imagined. Broken and lacking, they return to the suburbs of their youth to try to pull themselves together until one day, almost two decades after she fell asleep, Karen regains consciousness. The book is divided into three parts. The first chapter of the book is narrated by Jared, the ghost of a friend of the characters who died of leukemia at a young age. The rest of Part 1 is narrated by Richard, in the first person, as he tells the story of what happened in the 17 years. The second part of the book, with no narrator, deals with Karen's return to the world. It also begins to explain where she had been all those years and the reality she had hoped to escape. Then, suddenly, the world ends. This section is narrated in the third person, with insight into all the characters' minds. The final part of the book details life after everyone except these seven people have fallen asleep and not reawakened. This section is again narrated by Jared. The characters have to deal with the end of the world as predicted by Karen in her coma.Characters
; Karen : Thrust into a coma after having a glimpse of the future, Karen is the tragic figure in this novel. She has a vision of the future she carries into her coma. Upon returning from her coma, she has the mind of a seventeen-year-old, and a daughter, Megan, physically the same age as she is mentally. She constantly wonders what the future and technology has really given humanity. ; Richard : The boyfriend of the comatose girlfriend, and the father of her child, Richard's struggle through life is one of the primary focuses of the first part of the novel. He was a close friend to Jared. Jared's death and Karen's coma cause Richard's mental state to be quite weak. A frequent alcoholic, Richard struggles with addiction while waiting for Karen to possibly wake up. ; Wendy : The smart one of the group, Wendy moves on to become a doctor working in the Emergency Room of the hospital. While the other characters seem to disappear into addiction or misery, Wendy gives herself to her schooling and work. She later gets together with Linus, though her heart still bears feelings for Jared. ; Linus : Shortly after university, Linus leaves to travel the world in a quest to find himself. He spends quite a stay in Las Vegas, but what Linus finds does not give him the closure that he searches for. Instead, it leaves him feeling emptier than when he left. Linus later marries Wendy. ; Pamela : Pamela is the supermodel of the group. She leaves the group to enter the decadent lifestyle of the rich and famous. Pamela continually drops celebrity names in conversation, and hints at many drug-induced exploits. She has a problem with heroin. She later marries Hamilton, with whom she indulges in her heroin frenzy. ; Hamilton : Hamilton is an eccentric member of the group. He, too, has a problem with heroin. He later marries Pamela. ; Megan : Born to Karen while in her coma, Megan is raised by Karen's parents. She is a rebellious child, finding solace in thoughts of death. Her father, Richard, is distant yet there when needed. She dates a very low class man named Skitter, and becomes pregnant by him. ; Jared : A high school friend of the main cast, Jared was very promiscuous. He was also a jock. At the beginning of the novel, he has already died of leukemia and exists as a ghost. The leukemia progressed rapidly, giving him little time after learning of his disease. He is the only other presence to visit the main cast after the End of the World.Inspiration
In late 1995, Coupland was touring for Microserfs throughout Europe. Coupland returned from his tour burnt out and very fatigued mentally. The period after this tour was, for Coupland, "one of the darkest periods of islife". "I could barely open a can of soup or put gas in the car tank". During this dark period, Coupland began to write a new novel. This novel became ''Girlfriend in a Coma''; however, he wasn't sure where the novel was going to take him when he began to write it. The novel "pretty well erupted out of im. The novel is set in Vancouver "because isbrain was so incapacitated edecided thad to be set in isown neighbourhood." Comas were also an inspiration for him. "Comas really are peculiar only to the late 20th century. Before, say, 1960, people who might have gone into a coma simply died. Comas are more modern than plastics or TV. I like the notion that comas can allow a person to radically reinvent themselves upon awakening. I think we all want to do that—radically reinvent ourselves—I think it's our deepest need." Karen's full name is Karen Ann McNeil and the circumstances of her lapse into a coma are similar to those in the famous Karen Ann Quinlan case. The title, a Smiths song title, was chosen because "It's clearly descriptive of the book, but it's also a little salute to those points in my life when I was melting down to soundtracks provided by British gloom rockers."History of the novel
It is considered one of Coupland's finest novels, with a stronger narrative than some of his earlier books but still providing relevant cultural criticism and commentary. In the UK, '' The Guardian'' described the book as Coupland "becoming extraordinary" (25 April 1998) and '' The Times'' as "a disturbing, thought-provoking and moving novel. ''Girlfriend in a Coma'' has something of the quality of a fairytale, but it contains a sharp realism that makes the book scarily contemporary" (15 May 1999).Television adaptation
* It was announced on 22 January 2013, that NBC ordered a pilot for an adaptation. It is written by Liz Brixius and starringEditions
* (first edition, hardback, 1998) * (paperback, 1999) * (paperback, 2000)References
{{Authority control 1998 Canadian novels Novels by Douglas Coupland Novels set in Vancouver Novels set in British Columbia