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Arcadia

Arcadia by Lauren Groff was my book club’s February book. We actually didn’t end up meeting this month, but since I was able to complete this one on time, I thought I’d share my take on Arcadia.

It begins in the 1960s & goes through the early 2000s. Arcadia spans most of the life of the main character & the story is set from his point of view. It splits up in chunky chapters that span big years of his life. From life as a child growing up on a hippie commune in NY, life as a young teenager still living in Acadia, life as a young father in NYC, life as an adult.

What I’m going to remember most about this book is the name of the main character. Bit Stone aka the littlest bit of a hippie. I loved that image; a tiny preemie baby turned lil guy.

I liked that the book followed along over a long period of time. I liked seeing how all the characters changed & grew & how their experience living in Acadia impacted their life.

I thought it was interesting how some of the Arcadia kids saw life on the commune as so very different than Bit. Your perspective really is determined by attitude of those around you & whether or not you look on the bright side. Plus, I think if you don’t know any different, living happily albeit cold & hungry isn’t so bad.

I walked away from Arcadia knowing I’d kind of miss the characters. I also know that as much as I enjoy a few bits of
the hippie attitude, I could never have handled commune life.

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