That's a really interesting anecdote about that memoir. It immediately reminds me of a lot of fantasy type novels I've read.
For example, I'm a big fan of the Wandering Inn series. Essentially, one of the main characters is a young woman transported to a fantasy-style world who takes over an abandoned inn outside a major city. A large part of her story is about interacting with the locals, just wandering around shops and visiting friends she makes along the way, etc. Very reminiscent of the book you mention.
When I look at a lot of other similar books, they often rely on the same style of small community interactions among the characters.
Makes me wonder if part of the reason such stories are so popular is because we're missing so much of that in our everyday lives.
One thing I like about living in SF is that despite its problems, a lot of the city is based around neighborhoods and being walkable. I see the same folks at the local restaurants and hang out with friends and associates at the local pub each week. So I still get some amount of that traditional daily interaction, and unfortunately some of the drama that comes with it.
I mean look at the success of Stardew Valley, a game whose entire premise is that you move to a small rural town to start a farm and forge relationships with the locals. Its a well designed game to be sure but I really think some of the popularity stems from scratching that itch of communal living that so many folks feel they lack.
Been thinking about it a bit. Isn't the key thing about those interactions that you're all at work? You're tending your cows, Robin is running a carpentry business, that couple is running a shop, etc. (I forgot the names of everyone, sorry; been years since I binged on SDV).
Closest analogue to this in modern life is... your co-workers in the office. That chat you have with Maru on the way to sell your wheat in the store is equivalent to that chat you had with Frank from accounting on the way to give your report to the manager upstairs.
Therein, perhaps, lied the magic of countryside/pre-industrial socialization: everyone was always working, but always next to each other. The whole village was the office/plant.
Definitely something to that, although I think a huge part of the appeal of Stardew is that there's no actual pressure to do anything. It's relaxing because your engagement with anything like work is entirely voluntary, you can't really fail in any meaningful sense no matter what you do.
For example, I'm a big fan of the Wandering Inn series. Essentially, one of the main characters is a young woman transported to a fantasy-style world who takes over an abandoned inn outside a major city. A large part of her story is about interacting with the locals, just wandering around shops and visiting friends she makes along the way, etc. Very reminiscent of the book you mention.
When I look at a lot of other similar books, they often rely on the same style of small community interactions among the characters.
Makes me wonder if part of the reason such stories are so popular is because we're missing so much of that in our everyday lives.
One thing I like about living in SF is that despite its problems, a lot of the city is based around neighborhoods and being walkable. I see the same folks at the local restaurants and hang out with friends and associates at the local pub each week. So I still get some amount of that traditional daily interaction, and unfortunately some of the drama that comes with it.