Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
NEW ENGLISH LIBRARY (NEL) (1971), Paperback
Description
Santaroga seemed to be nothing more than a prosperous farm community. But there was something...different...about Santaroga. Santaroga had no juvenile delinquency, or any crime at all. Outsiders found no house for sale or rent in this valley, and no one ever moved out. No one bought cigarettes in Santaroga. No cheese, wine, beer, or produce from outside the valley could be sold there. The list went on and on and grew stranger and stranger. Maybe Santaroga was the last outpost of American individualism. Maybe they were just a bunch of religious kooks.... Or maybe there was something extraordinary at work in Santaroga. Something far more disturbing than anyone could imagine.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Prop2gether
This is my favorite Herbert novel, besides Dune, and it's a deceptively simply story of a young man trying to find out why the valley where his girl hails from is so singularly insular. Natives are not friendly to outsiders, products from the valley don't travel well, and outside businesses just
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never get off the ground. Herbert built levels with his character names and the time period invites some speculation about various types of hallucinogenics (LSD is a specific reference), but there's more to the apparent hive mentality. Besides, it's all about the Jaspers. Show Less
LibraryThing member Neale
An unusual story that promised more than it delivered. Didn't like the ending. I was hoping for more.
LibraryThing member duende
Pure pulp, from my perspective. The writing was pedestrian, and characterization shallow and unbelievable. Dasein acted like a tantrumy toddler, Jenny was an early version of a manic pixie dreamgirl, and most of the rest of the characters were cardboard cutouts. Plus, I just never could get past
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the thought that the real threat, in this story, is the idea that people have no right to refuse to buy commercial products, or to reject their marketing efforts. Both the "market study" that Dasein was undertaking, and the reaction of a traveling salesman who had been unable to make sales in the valley struck me as exemplary of the evil sense of entitlement that corporations seem to feel they have to our collective dollar. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1968
Physical description
208 p.; 6.85 inches
ISBN
0450043762 / 9780450043765