Journal Entry 1 by tempestsans from Canton, Georgia USA on Saturday, October 28, 2006

an enjoyable read that follows Pan and Star, children of the '60s who decide to "drop out" and drive cross country ending up as part of a commune. when the local authorities, intolerant of the communal 'hippie' lifestyle of the 30 or so people of Drop City, decide to shut down the commune for health (and other) reasons and plow under the sub-standard dwellings, the tribe loads up a bus and heads for Alaska in search of a new way to get back to Mother Earth.

not at all what i expected when i purchased the book, even less so when i began to read it, but in the end, quite an entertaining removal from the everyday of 2006.


4/23/2007 left on the book buffet at the charleston BC anniversary convention 

Journal Entry 2 by collectorkerri from Springfield, Illinois USA on Saturday, April 21, 2007

Picked up from the "book buffet" at the BC Charleston Convention. 

Journal Entry 3 by collectorkerri from Springfield, Illinois USA on Wednesday, December 03, 2008

It took me quite awhile to get into this book--almost 100 pages! But when I did I became very wrapped up in the story. I am too young to have been around in the '60s/'70s hippie period, but it seems to have a ring of truth about it. Having been to Alaska, I imagine it must have been a huge culture shock to go from the freewheeling life of people who have "dropped out" of society to live off the land in California to the wilds of the 49th state.

The book is traveling next to Sweden as part of 2008's Secret Santa exchange. Happy travels, little book! 

Journal Entry 4 by Deepswamp from Oskarshamn, Småland Sweden on Thursday, December 25, 2008

Journal Entry 5 by Deepswamp from Oskarshamn, Småland Sweden on Wednesday, March 25, 2009

One of the primary protagonists in Drop City is Star, a young girl from New York state who has driven all the way out to California with her high-school friend, Ronnie -- who calls himself Pan. Star gets increasingly disillusioned with Pan and latches on to the first somewhat sensible guy she meets--Marco.

A few chapters later, the novel shifts focus to rural Boynton, Alaska, where a different kind of "living off the land" is in practice. Here, a little implausibly, Pamela is checking out a few bachelors because she has decided to go back to the land; "she was going to live in the bush, and she was going to be one hundred percent self-sufficient." She is willing to put herself in "the hands of some grizzled, twisted, sex-starved fur trapper with suet-clogged arteries and guns decorating his walls." After a brief romance, she hooks up with Sess Harder, a self-made man who seems to be just Pamela's type.

Back at Drop City, the paradise where there were "big pots full of mush, women with their tits hanging, health and simplicity and the good rural life," might seem glamorous, but reality is a lot harsher. Norm runs Drop City according to the principle LATWIDNO -- Land Access to Which is Denied Nobody. This principle predictably invites many freeloaders and troublemakers. What's worse, the California government officials want to close the commune down due to health hazards: "nobody wanted a free-form community in their midst, because free-form meant anarchy, it meant a cordillera of trash a mile high and human shit in the woods."

At such time, Norm Sender decides to move his commune to yes, Boynton, Alaska. His uncle, Roy Sender, has left him a cabin up there and the rest, they can build, right? "We're going to take down some trees, because that's the way you do it," Norm explains to Drop City residents, "lumber is free up there, can you dig that, free -- and we're going to build four more cabins and a meeting house and we're going to build right on down to the river because the salmon are running up that river even as we speak and they're running in the millions…We're going to eat the land because it's one big smorgasbord."

Inevitably, as Drop City settles into Alaska, we get to watch the incredulous natives shift around and try to absorb them. "The world was changing," Sess Harder admits to himself, "men had hair like women, women wore pants like men and let their tits hang loose, and who was going to argue with that?"

Boyle's narrative paints the hippie culture and native Alaskan life in vivid detail. At times though, the story does tend to drag and wander around in a haze. The contrasts between the denizens of Drop City and Boynton may be glaringly evident at first (Star has a tough time explaining what bell bottoms and LSD has with getting back to nature) but as the citizens gradually find their place, the distinction becomes more of a blur. Boyle treats these subtle character shifts very well.

Drop City is a slightly sympathetic look at hippie culture; Norm Sender eggs his denizens on: "It's going to be an adventure," he promises, "and there's nobody -- I mean nobody -- to stop us." As the cruelly harsh Alaskan winter gradually envelops Drop City, one hopes, for their sakes, that he is right. Boyle's latest is an honest look at what it takes to survive in the human jungle. He shows that ultimately what sustains or unravels us usually comes from within. Jealousies, anger, fear--these are emotions that dog us down to the most remote places on earth and ultimately tear our carefully constructed worlds apart. You can run, but you can't hide.




I have a god time with this book!
I read with the horror the part when Drop City is falling apart - just think of the place "And this was a crisis, whether people seemed to realize it or not - the toilets in the main house were overflowing and there was a coil of human waste behind every rock, tree and knee-high scrap of weed on the property, and that was primitive....."
I never was a true flowergirl at that time, but I think it is a god description.

The story got hold on me, thanks a lot!
I will give it to the 1001-library.

#14 1001 books 

Journal Entry 6 by 1001-library from Helsinki, Uusimaa Finland on Thursday, March 26, 2009

Thanks so much for your donation Deepswapm!

This book is now part of the 1001-library. If you want to take this book from the library but don't know how to proceed, please refer to the 1001-library bookshelf.
 

Journal Entry 7 by Deepswamp at Oskarshamn, Småland Sweden on Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Nobody has asked for the book, now it will travel to Haugtussa. It will be safe! 

Journal Entry 8 by Deepswamp at Oskarshamn, Småland Sweden on Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Released 1 yr ago (3/8/2011 UTC) at Oskarshamn, Småland Sweden

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Kan se att du inte läst denna, har stått så länge och väntat på att bli önskad!
Nu får den fira min 5 årsdag med bookcrossing!
Tack för att du ville fira med mig!

 

Journal Entry 9 by Haugtussa at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway on Friday, March 11, 2011

Thank you very much - you queen of RABCK's! I'm also pleased with the fact that you find me trustworthy enough to have this book in my hands ;-)

I love your quizes & I love to celebrate with you. My one wish is that we actually manage to celebrate face to face at one occasion.  

Journal Entry 10 by Haugtussa at Stavanger, Rogaland fylke Norway on Monday, July 18, 2011

I read this book whilst on holiday, but I have to say that the story didn't grip me as much as the previous readers.
I found most of the hippie community quite gross, in my opinion they were self centered and did not care for anything than the next joint or lay!

I loved the life of Sess & Pamlea though. The way they got back to nature and lived off the fat off the land (to quote Lennie from Of Mice and Men). I have to admit that I was quite upset when I realised that the entire Drop City lot were going to be their neighbours. (I had been hoping for only Star & Marco - another two peolpe that I found interesint).

All in all - and interesting, but yet so irritating read.