Welcome to Utopia
Karen Valby
June 2010
232 nookish pages
Published by Random House
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The first (and only) time I saw this book in the blogosphere was over at BAMB (hilarious blog, btw…although I somehow feel the need to keep using acronyms) (also… you can read Kit’s review here). And since I’m such a sucker for small town stories (because I lived in one when I was a kid), I promptly downloaded it to my nook and read it.
Utopia,Texas is a for-reals place, a small (we’re talking small) town in the Hill Country. Valby spends some quality and not so quality time there, and profiles some of the residents.
And other than the fact that there’s not a Starbucks on every corner, I don’t think that Valby really showed how different small town life can be.
She talked about a mother with a bunch (three…three is a bunch to those of us with no kids) of sons in the military, and a kid who’s just different enough to not fit in, and the conservative old codgers down at the local store…none of which are all that different than anywhere else in the US. While we tend to think of small towns as more conservative, and insular, and less diverse, you can certainly find these same types of people in New York City, as well as BFE. I’d argue that small town life is more about the quality (or lack of quality, in some cases) of life, and the sense of community, and maybe the feeling of security (although in this age of high paranoia I’m not sure how true that really is anymore). And while Valby did talk a little bit about this, she focused more on the people (although to be fair, the character studies were interesting). So, I thought this was more small town people who aren’t that different than other town people rather than small town life.
But it was still a good way to spend day.
I do like reading about small- town life, it is interesting in a way
But I am not sure about this one.
Veens´s last [type] ..Mahasweta by Sudha Murthy
Utopia is pretty close to my region of the world. In fact, the San Antonio news team covers news and weather for the hill country too. The only thing I really know about Utopia, though, is that one of my great-great-aunts (or something like that) died in Utopia after she fell off and was dragged by a runaway horse. How’s that for interesting family stories?
Amanda´s last [type] ..Summer of YA
We have such different opinions on this book! I don’t think most of the shenangans that happened in this book could have happened in a town much larger. For me so many of the events of this book were defined by how few people were around and what little outside-world-stuff was in proximity. Nevertheless,really enjoyed your review and your thoughts!
I have a weird relationship with books that are set in small towns. When they are really well done and somewhat weird, I love them. But when they seem to have a generic storyline and characters, I get bored really quickly. I think this might be because I have never lived in a small town before, and I can’t relate.
zibilee´s last [type] ..Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver — 480 pgs
I suspect small town life isn’t what it used to be either. My in-laws live in a small town and just about everyone has to leave it to make a living, so the sense of community is gone. The book does sound interesting.
bermudaonion (Kathy)´s last [type] ..Review: Smokin’ Seventeen