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Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia
Audiobook11 hours

Arcadia

Written by Lauren Groff

Narrated by Andrew Garman

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Lauren Groff's acclaimed debut novel The Monsters of Templeton was short-listed for the Orange Prize. Her second novel, Arcadia opens in the late 1960s with a group of young idealists forming a commune in western New York State. Into this group is born Bit, who grows into a quiet, distant man. Over the course of 50 years, Bit witnesses the utopia crumble and the world change in unimaginable ways. "Richly peopled and ambitious . is one of the most moving and satisfying novels I've read in a long time."-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 13, 2012
ISBN9781464038303
Arcadia
Author

Lauren Groff

Lauren Groff is the author of five novels: the instant New York Times bestseller The Vaster Wilds, and two National Book Award Finalists, Matrix and Fates and Furies; as well as Aradia and The Monsters of Templeton. Her story collections include Florida, winner of The Story Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award, and Delicate Edible Birds. She has twice been a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, as well as for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the LA Times Book Prize, and the Orange Prize for New Writers. She was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Radcliffe Fellow, a Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, and was named one of Granta’s 2017 Best Young American Novelists. She lives in Gainesville, Florida, with her husband and sons.

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Reviews for Arcadia

Rating: 3.8725489850980397 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'd have enjoyed this one more if its perspective reached out beyond that of its protagonist, Bit. The first half detailing the commune could have been great with a broader perspective. Bit's nostalgia-shrouded later life, taking up the latter half of the book, had less interest for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    okay, so this book surprised me a little bit. (heh.) i was keen to read it and i am excited it has made it into the 2013 tournament of books, but even with those giddy-making, anticipatory things....i was still a little hesitant to actually jump into this book. i don't have a problem with hippies. in fact, being born during the summer of love i often wonder if i was predisposed to hippiedom. i'm not totally crunchy-granola-tree-hugging in my ways...but i get it. i really get it. i decided, during the read, that my hesitation really had more to do with Groff being able to pull this off well at her age (presently, she's 34). it seemed to me that no matter how good your research or how awesome one's writerly chops...there was way too much room for a story about a utopian commune to go off the rails. i probably shouldn't have thought about it so much. over-thought it, really. are hippies this anxious? did i mention grunge was also dear to my heart? heh. :)i loved arcadia a lot. i viscerally responded to the settings and people Groff created here and i am kinda floored by Groff's talent. i own monsters of templeton and though it is a novel i began to read, due to bad timing, i set it aside and, as of yet, haven't gone back to it. no reflection on the novel, i was enjoying it at the time. just the way life conspires sometimes. though i now want to get back to it and give it a restart asap. but back to arcadia: i was totally caught up in Bit's life. i loved the timeline and following him along life's path. the introduction of a slightly in the future and potentially dystopian aspect to the later part of the novel worked for me, as a plot device and as a juxtaposition to the first section of the novel, set on the commune. arcadia had humour and heartbreak and while i have no commune experience, i felt like bit's experience could be real or true. i wanted arcadia (the commune) to work and had moments of 'that would be kinda cool!', but i also wanted to smack some people upside the head, on behalf of the children and babies living at arcadia through no choice of their own. (not very loving hippy of me, i know! but...come on!)my only quibble with the book has to do with the character of Handy - the 'leader' of arcadia. he seemed underused or underdeveloped. while i noticed this and it gnawed at me a few times during my reading, it wasn't enough to affect my overall feeling for the story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am a huge fan of Groff's first novel, The Monsters of Templeton, which was a funny, brilliant, engaging, touching, and strange exploration of memory, family, and identity. This book takes on a very different milieu in many ways, but it shares the excellent writing and depth of insight and feeling that made Monsters such a wonderful novel. Groff is an incredibly talented writer who manages to bring together the literary and the entertaining. Quirky characters also have depth here.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed Lauren Groff's latest novel, Fates and Furies, earlier this year, so I thought I would give Arcadia a try. The two books couldn't be more different--with the exception that they both showcase the author's fine writing. Arcadia takes us through roughly 40 years in the life of Bit Stone, the fist child born in the commune of Arcadia. Groff paints an idyllic if makeshift childhood for Bit amongst the waterfalls, forest, birds, and hippies. The Arcadians welcome anyone and everyone, which sometimes gets them into a bit of trouble; yet they generally eschew the outside world--except when money is short and their charismatic leader goes off on a tour of singing engagements.Of course, as Bit matures, he begins to see the snakes and thorns in paradise: the privileges accorded to their leader despite an "all for one" philosophy, the growing drug abuse among his peers, his adored mother's weariness with a life of poverty, and more. Fast forward about 20 years. Arcadia has fallen apart, and Bit now lives in New York with his young daughter, making his living as a photography professor. Bit fills in the gaps on all the characters from his past life, and the reader gains insight into how the clash between his unconventional upbringing and the world he has had to adjust to have shaped his life. The story takes a somewhat apocalyptic turn towards the end that I don't want to give away. But overall, Arcadia is a novel built upon the power of memories, hope, and love, and in Bit Stone, Groff has created a character both recognizable and unforgettable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A beautifully written book, telling the story of Bit, a baby born in an upstate New York hippie commune in the 1960s. The book tracks the rise and fall of Arcadia, which grows from a tiny, freezing community of like-minded beatniks to a two-thousand strong counter-cultural hub that eventually collapses under egos, permissiveness, drugs and sex. Alongside this broader story you get the story of Bit, growing up with rose-tinted memories of Arcadia and trying to make his way in the wider world. There's so much richness to this book, both at a language level and at the level of the story. It's slow-paced, but it's worth the time you spend on it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the fields and forests of western New York State in the late 1960s, several dozen idealists set out to live off the land, founding what becomes a famous commune centered on the grounds of a decaying mansion called Arcadia House. Arcadia follows this lyrical, rollicking, tragic, and exquisite utopian dream from its hopeful start through its heyday and after. The story is told from the point of view of Bit, a fascinating character and the first child born in Arcadia.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I started this book years ago and for some reason gave up after 40 pages. Since then I have read everything that Groff has written. She has become one of my favorite authors and the main reason is that her prose is magnificent. She is truly poetic in her descriptions and makes every setting come alive. However, sometimes her prose can overwhelm the story. I went back to Arcadia and was rewarded with an excellent novel. The story through the eyes of Bit during 4 phases of his life. The story spans from the early 70's until 2018. Never really sure about Groff's timelines. Arcadia is a commune where Bit is raised by his parents Abe and Hannah and the commune itself. Not a big plot giveaway but ultimately the commune fails. Bit is the sole narrator which is not my favorite mode in a book but in this case it was good to see how his character changes as he went through the phases of his life. He remained constant to the ideals he grew up with. Groff shows a prescient gift for seeing our present day given that her book was written in 2012. The book touches many areas. This is a good book to start if you wish to acquaint yourself with Lauren Groff. An excellent writer.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In many ways a pastoral novel, poetic and emotional. Very well written, saying what needs to be said and making space for emotions between the sentences. It is not a book about a cult. It is a great example of how the setting of a novel can be a foundation for a story without interfering with that story. Yes, the first half of the story takes place within a commune, but nothing the group does is included to shock the reader or to express an opinion or explain or provide history about the setting. It is there because all stories need a setting and it fits into the background in such a way that you notice it, it has a presence, but it never overshadows the characters or the story. I have read too many books where the setting wrestles itself to the forefront or has to prove itself, where the author needs to insert all the cool things they discovered in their research that they just have to tell us readers about. This author seamlessly and subtlely weaves the setting into the story.
    The story, then, is really about the boy Bit and his relationship with women, primarily is mother, then his daughter and also his love interest. It is just good writing and storytelling and character development. I really enjoyed reading this one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was certainly a book out of my usual reads. I know very little about life in a commune. I really enjoyed the first half of the novel getting to know Bit and his childhood. I found the second half interesting, but found myself rushing to get to the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So gorgeous. So New York, in that weird country New York way. A detailed yet often dreamy portrait of people loving each other and struggling to balance integrity with relationship, youthful optimism with aging caution. In Lauren Groff's scrumptious prose. If you can still get the hardcover somewhere, give yourself a moment to fully grok it before you immerse yourself in the decay of Utopia.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I liked 3/4 of this novel, much more than I thought I would. The story of a boy raised on a commune felt very realistic and was very detailed and engaging. I was happy that the author continued the story after he leaves the commune, describing how hard it was for him to enter the "real world". I found that this final third portion of the novel went on for far too long and became dull and repetitious, so much so I found myself wishing a main character would hurry up and die! I would have given four starts if someone had chopped 50-60 pages off the ending!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A richly written, long close look at intertwined lives with the author's balanced characters: one active, one passive; one wild, one responsible; one loving, one selfish; good parents, bad ones--a matrix of personalities/actions. Life in a single place (mostly)-the hippie communal house and country lands of Arcadia. Times in several periods from near history (the 60s) to the distopian future (now). Do not read if you do not thick language and only want a quick propelled plot.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent book. Lauren Groff is fast becoming a favorite. I particularly liked the port of this story that took place in Arcadia, but enjoyed it all. I felt a kinship with Bit, although I didn't grow up in a commune; I did have parents who loved me and freedom to explore woods and fields, and a close kinship with nature. What resonated most for me was how different Bit's and Helle's childhoods and memories were, although they were young at the same time and place. The main difference was the parents, and although Bit's were not perfect, they provided him with security and stability.Lauren Groff's prose is wonderful, and the story is a good one. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Bit Stone is the first child born into a commune, Arcadia, in process of being founded in upstate New York. We follow Bit from the early days of the Arcadia through its heyday and its eventual demise. And onward to life beyond Arcadia and what that might mean, for good or ill. Ever Bit is connected, first and foremost to family — his mother, Hannah, and his father, Abe — and second to the other members of Arcadia. And especially to Helle, daughter of Arcadia’s founder, Handy, and as troubled a soul as one might find in heaven or without. Bit grows but never loses his pure love for Arcadia, even if it exists primarily in his mind in the end. What starts out as an apparent social historical novel develops a grander sweep carrying us with Bit into a future that is filled with loss. And yet Bit finds new hope, eventually, through a return, temporarily, to the land that nurtured him in his youth.The writing here is gorgeous. Lyrical and gothic in turns, it captures both the idyllic nature of Bit’s childhood and the dark aspects of that which he cannot entirely keep at bay. That it turns surprisingly grim is just part of what makes this such an interesting read.Recommended.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is a book that is melancholy - written beautifully, but emotionally, a bit a flat. The characters were interesting, and I enjoyed reading about their life, but they never seemed to go anywhere. Bit is still the same innocent kid, even after growing up. Hannah, always looking for something that doesn't exist. Helle, lost, never found. The only really "real" character is Grete.I found the setup of Arcadia incredibly interesting. I suspect that its a fairly good representation of how a commune was setup. However - the timing of the story, seemed off - especially at the end the book. I think it could have been a much better book if it didn't end in the near future - it didn't fit the first two parts of the story, hippie Arcadia, and modern Boston. I also wished it closed Helle's Story - even a mention would have been all that is needed.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I read this back in October 2014, but never got around to reviewing it. Lauren Groff is a problem for me. I abandoned her first novel, The Monsters of Templeton, after 75 pages, because I was bored to tears. I would have abandoned this one, too, but it was a book club selection and therefore as mandatory to finish as homework.This book is about Bit Stone, a kid raised in a hippie commune whose de facto leader is a musician who seems decidedly shady. The commune predictably collapses into chaos after a drug raid, and then the narrative turns to Bit as an adult. There are more drugs, there is degenerative illness, there is a worldwide epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. All this is told in prose that is often arrestingly beautiful.What doesn't this book have? An ounce of emotion. The consensus in my book club was that the book viewed all of its characters from a distance, and the effect was beautiful but chilly. Part of the problem for me might be a matter of expectations. The McGuffin of her books is so intriguing (a Loch Ness monster; cultish hippies) that it leads me to believe I'm in for a great story. But Groff is not a storyteller. She is, apparently, an artiste.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am a big fan of Groff's first novel The Monsters of Templeton, but put off reading Arcadia when it was released. Maybe the hippie cover turned me off, having lived through the time and not wanting to relive it. But, this novel is about so much more than a time and a place. It is a timeless story about memory, families and community. It is a elegant novel that brought me close to tears. Aracadia reminds me of Ishiguro's novels, especially Never Let Me Go.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was so unexpectedly moving and beautiful. Yes, I had read that others thought Lauren Groff's writing really quite beautiful, and I was looking forward to a good tale set at a time when communes and co-ops were springing up all over far-flung fertile corners of the USA; but I did not bargain for such a vivid and immersive experience.'Bit' is a small boy, just "a little bit", born while his hippy parents are part of a caravan of like-minded idealists on the road and searching for their new communal home. Our story begins in the early 1970s, when he is already about five and we see the colourful and stimulating world he and his parents live in - initially through the eyes of a bright and sensitive child. Arcadia is the name of their home, many acres of arable land and woodland surrounding a large and dilapidated old property - Arcadia House. There are fruit trees and a stand of Maples they tap for syrup. We see the Arcadians at work and play as they gradually mould their own society, build their homes, and bring up their own generation of children according to their own values. The story evolves and we move forward to a time when Bit is about 12, and later still to his mid-teens. Arcadia has grown as well, and predictably undergone subtle though significant changes. Without wishing to give too much of the story away, as Bit and his friends and family absorb those changes, Arcadia's existence and setting in the local landscape develops in ways its founders did not foresee. The imprint of the place's DNA though, remains indelibly present in those whose home it has been.Later in his life, Bit lives in New York with his daughter, and his parents each have their own life elsewhere. All of the characters are so fully drawn. I cared so much about what becomes of them. Groff takes the reader on a journey through these people's lives, and I went with them almost as if in a dream. The final section of the book is set in a very near-future, as circumstances will lead Bit to return to where everything begins. Completely engrossing, and beautifully written, a really memorable novel.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I would never have picked this up on my own. It was a book club pick. It is so beautifully written and the story will stay with me for a long time.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful story embedded in elegant and breathtaking prose. Heartbreaking yet hopeful. Will be carried with me for a long, long time. I anticipate many re-reads and new discoveries each time.

    A story of Bit - a little Bit of hippie - his parents, his community, and oh so much more. It swells out into the world and shrinks back into itself and each phase is so fulfilling to experience, as a reader.

    Too many favorite quotes to put in so I'll just include the very first and the very last:

    "The old man's face is changing. Astonishment steals over the hoary features. Startled, Bit can't look away. The eyes blink but come to a stop, open. Bit waits for the next puff of smoke from the cragged nose. When it doesn't come a knot builds in his chest. He lifts his head from Abe's shoulder. Aslow purple spreads over hte old man's lips; a fog, an ice, grows over his eyeballs. Stillness threads itself through the old man... ...In such perfect dawn, even the old man is beautiful, the blue of his beard under the newly luminous skin of his cheek, the softness in his jaw, the tufts in his ears touched golden. He has been gentled in living light. He has been made good."

    "Pay attention, he thinks. Not to the grand gesture, but to the passing breath."
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Okay, anyone considering writing a book on the hippie communes of the 1960s - 1970s: put down your pen and start pondering a different novel. This is the be-all, end-all, final word on all that.The Free People are a large collective founded by a charismatic musical leader. They live together in assorted temporary homes on a large landholding with a decayed mansion. They are well organized, with a bakery, gardens, a midwife service. But they are also hungry and cold much of the time, not a great atmosphere for raising children "without ownership", as the idealists dream on.Bit is a premature baby, son of Abe and Hannah. We see Arcadia through his observant and older-than-his-years eyes. He sees his mother's seasonal depression and his father's clashes with Handy, the founder. He sees the pain of Handy's children, neglected by him and Astrid, who leaves to start a midwife school in Tennessee. He soaks in all the beauty of his physical surroundings and the bumbling incompetence of the collective as they allow visitors to overwhelm their limited resources.Bit grows to be one of the Ados (adolescents) and although he does everything dumb teenagers do in any environment, his small stature, empathy and loving nature make him a beloved figure in Arcadia. Tragedy befalls as it would even in the suburbs, and the communards struggle on until their notoriety leads to the destruction of Arcadia and the scattering of the one-big-not-always-happy family.Bit moves into adulthood, missing everyone. As surprising reunions and splits occur, the plot deepens as everything changes and comes to a head when he loses his parents but regains his lost family.This is a classic, a never-to-be-forgotten magical tale. Thank you, Lauren Groff, for creating this difficult utopia and for understanding fully how those of us what participated were forever shaped by those unique times.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting depiction of what life might be like for someone raised on a commune. Over-simplified, I'm sure, but still painted a vivid image in my mind.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the beginning ... this story was just a little too stereotypical in characters and action, but I warmed to the book when things stopped being so hippie dippy idyllic. That's it; give me pain and suffering, and things start to bogie story wise for me. This is your 1960s large commune that struggles from the beginning, but most of the bizarre people assembled start out working towards a common goal. There are many characters introduced as Groff tries to give you a lay of the communal landscape, some will be front and center, and some will just be rather cardboard and beaded figures moving around in the background.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There is something magical about Arcadia. I was sucked in to the story from the first sentence, and I know that the characters will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    There is some wonderful prose here. Ostensibly the story of a boy growing up on a hippy commune in the 1970's. It begins there and spans a half a century of change and turmoil. Ultimately it is a book about the fragility of life, love, death. It is about the search for an always elusive 'home'. It questions whether one can have both freedom and community. There are some big issues tackled here and they are handled quite beautifully. I really enjoyed this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. It is a beautiful story about a commune set up on idealistic principals that it doesn't always adhere to. The characters were well developed and interesting. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Arcadia and the message of living in the moment. I am very glad that I picked this one up from the library.k
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It started out great, but kind of fell apart in the second half. I just lost interest....and decided to abandon.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pure, I kept thinking as I read, this is pure. The prose rings like a bell and howls like a dog. The seasons of Bit struck me as close to home as anything has these past few months, and I lived in him entire for these few days. The book begins with his early childhood, an early 70s commune seen through five year old eyes. From that base, we meet Bit again as an adolescent, then as a middle-aged man, and finally as he will be a few years from now. The world Groff built herein is so very believable, from the parts in the past to the parts in the near future, and that's one of the strengths of her novel. Her whole, believable, entirely alive characters are another.

    This isn't light reading, nor is it easy. This is a journey over time, over emotions, and over all the scary things one can conjure in a life. The reconciliation, (for one knows, almost from the first page that there must be some redemption somewhere), is breathtaking and sere and lovely.

    There are pieces that feel wedged in, and I'm knocking it half a star for those uneven spots. I may bump it back up on a re-read, but then again, I don't know that I can bear to re-read it. 4.5
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I might give this only 3.5 stars, were that possible, but I enjoyed this book a lot, so 4 stars it is. Also read for book club (though we may not end up reading it as a group, it turns out) I was a little skeptical about it at first, because I am not a fan of the present tense. In the end, though, Groff's lyricism and style is never pretentious, and I found the book both entertaining and moving. The present tense here was worthwhile, even necessary. Perhaps the highest praise I can give the book is that it made me want to write.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Engrossing, gorgeous, sad.