A review by sonia_reppe
Drop City by T.C. Boyle
4.0
This is my first T.C.Boyle book and I'm definitely going to read more of his because his writing is really good. The story, set in the late 60's, is about life in a Hippie commune in California, and a rustic newlywed couple in Alaska and what happens when the Hippie community packs up their camp and moves to the married couple's "neighborhood." I use the term lightly because this neighborhood in the middle of the wilderness, where you have to hunt for food and take a boat to the nearest town. These two stories are separate at first, and then they intersect. I usually don't like when a book is cut into parts that jump to a whole different story but I was pulled into the second story right away. In both parts, you have people who are trying to find/make a lifestyle that feels right to them.
Boyle takes his time with each scene, conjuring vivid atmospheres and motivated characters, (with several third person points of view) and even though there were eight or nine words that I had never seen before, the writing has an easy flow.
One of the best parts was the hippie caravan (referred to as the freak parade) on their way to Alaska, most of them travelling in a school bus with a pen of goats on top. Would they make it past the Canadian border? Would the draft dodger get busted? It was hilarious, but also true to what hippies would do and how they would do it. It kept me glued to the book, expecting disaster around every corner. It makes you wonder how they're going to survive in Alaska.
The parallel story about the young couple, Cecil and Pamela, was very sweet. I appreciated the in-depth characterization and I cared about those two characters trying to live a quiet, self-sufficient life.
Both of these peoples trying to "live off the land" in the perilous Alaskan wild makes for a good fictional social experiment, lots of potential for things to happen. So I wonder why Boyle needed to put in "the Villain" character of Joe Bosky. It worked, though. One of the last scenes–-a chase scene–-is pretty exciting. But I think the end was too abrupt. The four main characters are going to live happily for some time but I was left wondering, what happens with the other hippies--do they stay, does their leader come back and all the rest?
Boyle takes his time with each scene, conjuring vivid atmospheres and motivated characters, (with several third person points of view) and even though there were eight or nine words that I had never seen before, the writing has an easy flow.
One of the best parts was the hippie caravan (referred to as the freak parade) on their way to Alaska, most of them travelling in a school bus with a pen of goats on top. Would they make it past the Canadian border? Would the draft dodger get busted? It was hilarious, but also true to what hippies would do and how they would do it. It kept me glued to the book, expecting disaster around every corner. It makes you wonder how they're going to survive in Alaska.
The parallel story about the young couple, Cecil and Pamela, was very sweet. I appreciated the in-depth characterization and I cared about those two characters trying to live a quiet, self-sufficient life.
Both of these peoples trying to "live off the land" in the perilous Alaskan wild makes for a good fictional social experiment, lots of potential for things to happen. So I wonder why Boyle needed to put in "the Villain" character of Joe Bosky. It worked, though. One of the last scenes–-a chase scene–-is pretty exciting. But I think the end was too abrupt. The four main characters are going to live happily for some time but I was left wondering, what happens with the other hippies--do they stay, does their leader come back and all the rest?