Reviews

Drop City by T.C. Boyle

andreasueellen's review

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

anneliesepeerbolte's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and honestly really interesting. The American obsession with alaska as the lost frontier is real.

lindsayharmon's review

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4.0

How have I not read anything by T.C. Boyle before? I'll have to remedy that immediately. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel--the characters were so vividly drawn that I felt like I knew them by the end.

ardaigle's review

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4.0

I read Tortilla Curtain previously and thought it was a solid novel, so was excited to pick up another book by Boyle, and one that was recommended from my favorite podcast, Literary Disco. If I had to describe Boyle's writing in one word it would be "unrelenting." His style can feel like a bit of a slog, but he is a compelling storyteller who shines a light on sub-groups that I don't often read about, so for me it has felt like I learned a lot along the way.

Initially I found Drop City a little confusing. The story begins with hippies at what is essentially an open living community in California but then, with no discernible reason, picks up another story line of a woman who is choosing between three hardened bachelors to leave civilization behind and become a wife in the remote wilderness of Alaska, and learn to live on the land. There was a similar theme that connected the two plots: a willingness to leave society and all its trappings behind, but still the lack of thread between the two was making me batty. Eventually, these two two concurrent story lines converge but until that was made clear the book was disjointed for me. (Confession time: I cheated and did a little online research because the lack of connection was making me a little nuts).

In retrospect I "see what he did there" and wish I would have been more patient. Spoiler-ish: the hippies decide, when "the man" comes down on them, to seek out a new place for their community in the brutal Alaskan wilderness. Hijinks ensue. And by "hijinks" I mean hardships. And then more hardships.

This book is a thoughtful and hard look at the nature of mankind, and what lengths an individual will go in order to preserve their version of the american dream. This was a book that every time I put it down, I shook my head, surprised to not be in the world that Boyle

modeislodis's review

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4.0

Some parallels with The Eden Express (non-fiction)

nixieknox's review

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3.0

I love a book about a commune - I'm so fascinated by the whole idea. Throw in a tiny town in Alaska and I'm completely in. I actually found myself more sympathetic to these characters than in other commune books I've read. I liked Star very much, and Pamela. Also I appreciated how the citizens of Drop City and of Boynton were not all that different, even though at first you thought they would be.

brettregister's review

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3.0

Hippies out to change the world for the better. Not really my cup of tea. But, for a book I was forced to read in college, it's not bad.

brdgtc's review

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3.0

I really didn't care for the last TC Boyle I read (The Women), so I was pleasantly surprised by this - I liked the characters and the juxtaposition of hippies and back to the landers. I don't know what kind of message Boyle was trying to get at, but it was a good story.

msrommy's review

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2.0

I suppose a good summary of this book is "Thoroughly obnoxious and infantile hippies find themselves in Alaska. Hinjinks ensue." Perhaps I'm being childish, but when the most I can say about the characters is that they may be more interesting or sympathetic if a bear eats them, then I really didn't enjoy the book. I know much has been made of this author's writing style (and yes, he does know how to paint a picture with words) but it so did not make up for the fact I didn't care a bit about these people other than hoping they would become bear chow.

How horrible are they? Well let's see...stealing from "the man" is OK, they are too lazy to dig their own latrines in their hippie paradise, their only source of of income is food stamps for the government, LSD laden juice is given to a kid to shut him up, oh and my favorite, pedophilic rapists are given a pass because no one wants to appear racist (the rapists are black). By the time you get to the squirrelly Alaskans, you're predesposed to see them favorably, despite Cess's weird stalking tendencies and Pamela's daddy issues (marrying a guy simply because he hunts the best and reminds you of your wilderness loving papa who got lost years ago, yeah, that's normal), compared to the mess that is Drop City.

I will say this though - partway through the book I did have an epiphany that helped my understanding of my fellow man. The imbecillic utopia of Drop City is to the conservative what the totallitarian regime of the Republic of Gilead (The Handmaid's Tale) is to liberals. The specter of this sort of freakshow becoming any sort of reality is what keeps them up at night. I have a new found compassion in my heart, as a centerist, for the terror of a world filled with people like the ones in this book.

sheriberry3's review

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4.0

This book was a really enjoyable read. It had great characterization and throughly detailed the downsides to the sunny hippie life of the 70s. Parts of it had great writing and some parts were much simpler, especially as the book went on. A fun read with some realistic dark patches and a fairly happy ending, definitely recommended.