The Santaroga Barrier

by Frank Herbert

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.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Audiobook, Mystery, American

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1968

About the author

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.

Reviews

[Bryan Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm fascinated by reading other works by a writer best known for one title. It's interesting, for example, to read Bram Stoker's non-Dracula fiction. And so it is with Frank Herbert, a writer possessed of an astonishing mind, best known for the sf classic Dune, and yet someone who also produced many other novels and stories. You can't help but look for links between the lesser works and the masterpieces. If the other story appeared earlier, it seems like an antecedent. If it follows, the text appears in the giant's shadow.

Santaroga Barrier can't escape the shadow of Arrakis. Yes, it's a very different book. It takes place in contemporary America, rather than in the far-off future and across alien worlds. It's a fairly taut mystery, rather than a sprawling space opera. Its protagonist is a psychologist, rather than a galactic messiah. But the links are clear, unsurprisingly as Santaroga appeared just four years after Dune's first publication, and one year before Dune Messiah.

Let me summarize the book, first, and without spoilers. Santaroga Barrier concerns an investigation into a strange Californian town that is unusually isolated from the surrounding area. A group of investors hires Gilbert Dasein (great name) to figure out Santaroga's secrets. He quickly learns that the town's identity is based on using a mysterious substance called Jaspers, and that they've built an intentional community around its powers. Dasein is in love with a Santarogan he went to school with, and their relationship yields a romance plot.

It's a good suspense tale. Herbert feeds us clues generously, but not overmuch. Mysteries appear, to be tackled. And the second half ratchets up the tension with escalating physical challenges, including an awesome series of "accidents."

It's almost impossible to read Santaroga without seeing the historical context. Jaspers stands in for the 1960s drug culture, obviously. The intentional community echoes contemporary communes and utopian projects. Race politics appear early on, as Dasein wonders if the locals are racist, and if there are integration problems. Santarogans' critique of the rest of America jibes well with both the counterculture and also the emerging mainstream sense of self-doubt. Somewhat out of step is the idea of a heroic psychologist, which feels more like a 1940s idea, especially as contemporary reform and splinter movements within psychology don't really appear.

I was especially taken with the idea of a non-countercultural community building up a drug-based utopia. Through speech and manners Herbert carefully establishes Santarogans as ordinary middle Americans, rather than hippies: middle aged, too, rather than young. He avoids the typical Californian attitude of equating California with the rest of the nation by identifying people as having moved to Santaroga from Louisiana and New England. The novel could have connected with the back-to-the-land movement by expanding on Jaspers as a natural, rather than synthetic product, but the community is resolutely modern, complete with cars and greenhouses. (There is dislike of tv, but that doesn't seem too radical for the time; I share the attitude, myself.)

What about the Dune resonances? The big one is a drug organizing a new way of life. Jaspers isn't melange, but it's close. Dasein spends a lot of time tracking how his mental awareness changes under its impact, including speeding up of cognition and allowing access to a kind of group mind. Jaspers improves people, it's suggested, and Dasein as problem-solving hero starts talking about gods towards the end. The drug also appears in an ecological framework, as we follow its presence in multiple environmental niches.

I was very taken by the novel. It has many classic Herbert features: conversations that become cryptic, even maddening; oblique observations that set the reader's mind buzzing; a shift from concrete details to macro discussions about civilization and humanity; that nearly conspiratorial sense of multiple forces and politics overlapping, often from the shadows. Like many of his early and middle period novels other than Dune, such as the brilliant Whipping Star, Santaroga Barrier is a short and focused novel, almost a novella, which I appreciate. There are some fun jokes, like naming the hero after Heidegger's notion of being, Jaspers after Karl, and having a psychologist named Piaget.

Two off notes remain, and I can only mention them with spoiler shields on.First, the female love interest is a thin stereotype, like a 1930s Universal horror film character. Jenny has no interior life. Her education is shunted aside in favor of basic administrative work. She only lives to love and care for Dasein. She has embarrassing to read in 2018. Second, the final moments are a bit too restrained, as Gilbert and Jenny agree to marry and live within the Jaspers land. There's just a hint that Santaroga might expand, but that's left undeveloped. We don't know how the outside world will respond, including the investors who kicked off the plot.
Otherwise, recommended. Have a bottle of Santaroga beer while you read.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert has long been interested in expanded consciousness and collective or hive minds, themes that show up at least in part in many of his novels (Dune, Destination Void, The Dosadi Experiment, Helstrom’s Hive, The Green Brain, etc.) and is of central interest in The Santaroga Barrier.

The setup for the story is handled quite efficiently in the first pages. Major retail and marketing firms are frustrated by their inability to penetrate the Santaroga Valley for their consumer goods. Almost everything used in the valley is produced there (there are exceptions like gasoline, but there is only one gas station in town, and it is run by a Santarogan). The retailers want in to Santaroga and they’ve hired psychologist Gilbert Dasein to do a market study on the valley to help them solve their problem. There is only one major problem. The last two people they’ve sent to do the same project have died from what appear to be genuine accidents—and yet Dasein and the reader are immediately left to wonder if something more sinister might be involved. Dasein has one major advantage over his predecessors that is undoubtedly the reason he was chosen for this task. His college girlfriend, Jenny, whom he asked to marry him, left him at the end of her studies and returned to her home in Santaroga. Dasein has a potential “in” that the marketers and retailers want to take advantage of.

Things are weird from the moment Dasein arrives. Outsiders passing through the beautiful valley on the federal highway do not feel comfortable there when stopping at its restaurants or lone hotel. Dasein gets a different response. He is almost immediately recognized as Jenny’s young man from school (despite the fact that he’s never been there) and sort of half welcomed and half not. While Dasein struggles with himself to keep an objective view of his surroundings, it is instantly obvious to the reader that he can’t. This valley is the reason Jenny refused to marry him. She wanted them to return to her home (a place she left for without him every weekend of their schooling) and he was too proud to simply give in to her wishes without a “reasonable” explanation of why they couldn’t set up their practice somewhere else. Now he has a chance to understand the mysterious hold her home has on him.

Then the accidents begin to happen. Gas leaks into his bedroom and nearly kills him. A dangerous fall caused by tripping on a turned-up carpet almost causes him to plummet to his death. Accidents? As more and more such incidents pile up, it’s really hard to believe that they aren’t part of a conspiracy to do Dasein harm, and yet, they honestly appear to have been accidents and sometimes Santarogans save him from the peril.

Where many people would have simply given up the job and left, Dasein doesn’t for two reasons. First, he is incredibly proud and stubborn. Second, there’s Jenny, the woman he’s in love with and who honestly appears to be in love with him. Yet Jenny is part of the Santaroga mystery, working in the mysterious co-op which seems to be the heart of it. Yet it’s Jenny’s friend who rescues Dasein when he breaks into the co-op and gets over-exposed to the mysterious Jaspers.

Jaspers (and it’s never quite clear just what it is) is the heart of the Santarogan mystery. It’s consumed like a spice and it’s addictive and mind expanding. But it also becomes increasingly clear that it is something much more. It links Santarogans together at least on a subconscious level and when Dasein discovers what’s happening with the Santarogan children (and that many become brain damaged by the Jaspers) the town turns on him in a truly frightening way.

Jenny understands on some level what is happening, but no one else in the valley seems to be able to consciously credit that they are creating accidents to kill Dasein. It’s the most exciting part of the novel. Jenny has begged Dasein to leave because she loves him, he refuses, and weird things start happening and people start dying in situations clearly directed at Dasein. The reader grows to understand that the valley—jaspers—is protecting itself. The question is, will Dasein be killed, escape, or ensnared into becoming one of the Santarogans? It’s important to keep in mind that in many of his books Herbert isn’t interested in a conventional victory. You simply can’t predict how this novel is going to end.

Frank Herbert once said that he wanted half the country to think that Santaroga sounded wonderful and half to find it highly disturbing. At times, as a reader, I felt both ways, so I’d say he succeeded.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

...I guess thematically and stylistically The Santaroga Barrier is a book of it's time. It leans very heavily on the ideas Herbert used as an inspiration. What makes this book stand out is the depth of these ideas. To Herbert they were not merely interesting concepts. He delved deeply and conveyed part of that interest and understanding in this book. It does not have the epic scope and wide variety of themes of the Dune saga but of all his works outside that setting, The Santaroga Barrier is probably the most underrated. It's a short but challenging read. If you are looking to explore Herbert's work beyond Dune, this book would be a good choice.

Full Random Comments review

[Lars · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Santaroga Barrier' is as little Science Fiction as possible - no spacecrafts, no aliens, no other planets but earth - it doesn't even play in the future. It's a classical piece of Soft Science Fiction which examines the society of today, or, more precisely, of America in the late Sixties. A psychiatrist is sent to some remote valley in California to investigate why the people there don't consume as much goods as the rest of the country and why they almost never leave their valley. He discovers that the inhabitants expose all food to some drug which sharpens their senses, making it possible to realize all the flaws of the modern capitalist world (excessive TV consumption, money rules everything, false values et cetera) in a very precise way.

On the one hand, the scientist feels quite attracted to this community setting it's own values, on the other hand, he fears to get addicted to the drug and to loose his personality. The book is a discussion about the false gods of the modern world and possible ways out - ways which might lead to some totalitarian community where the crowd counts more than the individual. I really liked the book - it is well written, the protagonist has an interesting development, there is some action. But mainly, I loved the philosophical questions the work raises, especially regarding society, capitalism and absorption by the mass. If this sounds boring to you, I can just repeat myself - this is a classical piece of Soft Science Fiction.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars. Nice intrigue with a cool setting, but overall kinda boring and the payoff is underwhelming. Also, the parts dealing with race and gender have NOT aged well.

The Good:
Gilbert's arc of learning that capitalism is bad, actually, is alright. I like the setup of the Jaspers mystery. There's some decent action scenes, especially when Gilbert is sneaking around. The escalating "accidents" are also fine I guess.

The Bad:
Unfortunately, Gilbert's main arc is the only interesting character development. Most of the characters are pretty static and uninteresting. Jenny exists purely to give Gilbert personal conflict, Uncle Larry just dishes out exposition, Selidor is the figurehead of capitalist America, etc. On top of that, despite having a decent arc, Gilbert is overall just painfully obstinate and unlikeable. He is incapable of reading a room, constantly whines about Jaspers, and the way he just sorta repeats phrases over and over annoyed me.

The Ugly:
Whew, I was not ready for the dated portrayal of women and POC here. As a classic sci-fi fan, I am no stranger to being disappointed with representation in the genre (or often, complete lack thereof), but this book has some real... gems. In his first scene, the main black character talks about how the valley is so "accepting" that he gets called the n-word and it doesn't offend him. Gilbert threatens to rape his love interest at some point and its treated as fun and flirty. There's constant reference to the attractiveness of all the women and the skin color of all the POC. So yeah... kinda ruins any enjoyment of the book whenever it comes up. Honestly, all this book needed was an evil gay pedophile (looking at you, Dune....)

[Dane Cobain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super weird, and that’s a good thing. Plot-wise, it’s basically about a creepy small town in America that’s super insular and where weird stuff is constantly going on. A dude called Dasein is sent in to carry out an investigation, and he rapidly finds himself on the receiving end of a series of accidents, each of which could have ended his life.

That gives the book a cloying, paranoid kind of feel, a lot of which is due to us following Dasein’s thought processes. At the same time, he’s becoming more and more Santarogan, and he’s well aware of the fact. Due to the fact that there’s a physical substance in the cheese and the beer, something a bit like LSD but which awakens all sorts of weird stuff in the brain, he might never be able to leave.

There were elements here that reminded me of Stephen King’s Desperation, and that’s a good thing. In fact, I think this is the most approachable thing that I’ve read of Herbert’s, and it’s definitely written more simply than his Dune books. I’m glad I read it!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many of us have wished we could find a perfect little community to live in? The Santaroga Valley appears to be that. Crime, suicide, and child misbehavior are rare. But the price for this is high, or is it? Residents become addicted to a minorly hallucinogenic spice called jaspers. It makes them healthier, calmer, and very honest and kind to the other members of their community, partially because they become more aware of what everyone around them is thinking and feeling. Indeed, if a stranger comes to the community with an intent to do something that would harm the community, the residents, guided by their hive mind, will subconsciously create deadly accidents for the stranger. Unfortunately, some of the community's children can't handle the drug and become mush-brained. Also, the hive brain would like to take over more of the country.

Herbert masterfully makes you appreciate both sides of the dilemma.

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 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.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a fit of whimsy, I hereby announce I will give everyone five stars, but the reviews may not reflect it.

Not bad. Reads like an extended old Twilight Zone episode (not a criticism) and is an interesting take on the self with a little Red Menace thrown in for good measure.

[Xian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Da demasiadas vueltas a la historia. Quizás hubiera funcionado mejor en formato de cuento.

[Mizuki Giffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dating a sci fi boy is all fun and games until you find yourself reading a backlist Frank Herbert…



(Jk this was better than I expected)

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Herberts' focus on economics in his books: The science (fiction) of greed driving the wheels of progress, in this case the progress of a stubborn Berkley PhD to expose the psychotropicly enhanced citizens of a North California valley, while himself becoming high on dairy produce.

The engaging array of characters and fast pace in this book make for a quick and enjoyable read. This is a good book for Creighton fans to move up to on the way to Philip Dick, with aspects of both, as Herbert's story liberates us from our mental shackles and then buries us, in Santaroga, under our inescapable biological inheritance.

[Bart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please read the full review on Weighing A Pig

I’m not too thrilled to write a review about this book. The Dune-series is among the best thing I ever read, so I hate to report that Frank Herbert didn’t even come close with The Santaroga Barrier. (...) The premise is interesting nonetheless, and Herbert manages to create an eerie vibe in the first couple of chapters.

(...)

[Xabi1990 · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10. Leído en 2004.

Tras haber leído Dune que duda cabe de que esta novela decepciona.
Tiene "algo" esta historia de una comunidad rural con misterio asociado en el que se mete un psicólogo va a investigar por qué en esa zona el marketing no funciona nada.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herbert's tribute novel to The Puppet Masters and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Is the invader a parasite or a symbiote? Is it of Terran origin? Do the positive effects outweigh the negative effects? Do you really want to be part of hive mind? 1 in 500 have a bad reaction and are damaged. The characters are a bit thin, and there are some race and gender issues, but that might be a side effect ;)

An interesting read, should make for a good discussion.

[Cashie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminds me of a well-written Twilight Zone episode. If that is your thing, you will love this. The story is fascinating and the conclusion was a good follow through of the world Herbert had created.

Note: the story is a product of its time—it has multiple uses of the “n” word.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantástico. É tudo.

[James Shrimpton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The version I had is an old one, so the blurb spoiled the plot until 1/3 through the book...

It's fantastic. Depth, originality, vivid characters and a steady beat. The only thing that lets it down is the ending, which didn't quite land where I wanted it to.

[BENJAMIN JONES · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Societies don't believe they can die... If it cannot die, it'll never face a final judgement." p. 210

[Joé Welsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s quite ironic when someone becomes the very thing they set out to destroy.

All in all, the Santaroga Barrier left me with a number of unanswered questions, but I think that’s part of its charm. Sometimes, it’s okay not to have everything neatly resolved. Overall, it was a compelling and enjoyable read—definitely worth the time🙏

[Em Rendleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

if I had a nickel for every time Frank Herbert wrote a storyline about an organically-sourced mind-altering substance, I'd have two nickels.

[Thomas Van Zeijl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Oriol Masats · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author must have been a tremendous blue cheese lover to write a sci-fi novel about its ban in the USA.

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow, can't believe I'm giving one of my favorite authors a 2 star review. This story felt like it was only partially completed. The writing style is so Herbert that the reading was pleasurable, but I am afraid I just did not get the real point behind "why" the book was written. So much of the "sinister" aspects of the book felt artificial. I kept wondering aloud "Why in the world did that just happen!?" more times then I care to recount, and that is definitely not a good thing.

The ending was equally frustrating with no real satisfaction to be gained for the reading effort. The concept behind the book could have been so better exploited for a juicy story, and perhaps even spawned other spin-off stories. Yet Santaroga Barrier fails to excite the reader and stimulate near enough thought into the evils of commercialism and marketing, and I simply could not connect well with our supposed hero since it was impossible to identify just what it was he was opposing.

I imagine there are folks that will look upon this as a hippie drug story, and a small part of me agrees. I suspect that Herbert was intentionally trying to get this response, but again the reasons are not clear as to why.

Overall, I found this an odd book but very smooth to read. I still love Herbert's writing, but this was perhaps his weakest story I have read and will keep me from exploring too hard his other pseudo sci-fi. He is at his best when the sci-fi is heavy and the fiction very clear.

[Martin Doychinov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Писана през 1968 г., творбата е остаряла добре (тоест това, че е писана преди почти половин век не й е проблемът). Поизмъчи ме с мудното действие и езика - не знам дали второто е проблем на превода, но първото - едва ли. За сведение - фантастичното е съвсем малко (не е кусур, просто да се знае). Финалът е анти-климактичен и безинтересен.
Българското издание от 1993 г. е под нивото дори и на деветдестарските издания, включитено на предишните от поредицата. Произволна картинка на корицата (нормално...), но и много правописни и пунктуационни грешки, явно много са бързали... Романът сам по себе си е 3.5, като калпавото издание на български сваля половинка до 3. Ако можете, прочетете го ингилизки.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow weird barely begins to describe this book. I'm overly familiar with all the Dune books and was unprepared for something that takes place on this planet. I feel like this book would make a hell of a movie.

[Mike Floyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. All at once, philosophical, sociological, psychological, political and with action and drugs. Very cleverly written, showing his range as a writer--very different style compared with Dune

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was delighted to come across this book. I had not heard of it and it sounded like it was definitely not run of the mill SFF.

This story starts with Gilbert Dasein who has accepted a commission to do a market research trip to Santaroga. The commission is offered through his university mentor under whom he did his Psychology degree and we slowly learn that the commission involves a hefty fee to the university as well as to Gilbert and that the purpose of it is to discover why Santaroga is resisting foreign investment, outsider goods and generally the delights of free market consumerism. The parties in question want to earn money in Santaroga and are frustrated by the local's lack of cooperation.

The story starts as Gilbert is driving his Ford camper van into the valley in which Santaroga lies, he writes down preliminary notes about how it looks like a normal, prosperous farming community. But, right from the start Herbert lets us know there is an edge to Gilbert's mission: two previous investigators met with 'accidents' while engaged in the same project and the author clearly lets us know Gilbert would never have accepted the project of his sweetheart from Uni was not from Santrog – Jenny who he has not seen or heard from since graduation.

Now this is not the kind of traditional SF story one might expect from the author of Dune, rather it is speculative fiction. The fiction/science is subtle and there are no space ships aliens ect. What this is far more is a very slow creeper of a mystery with lashings of horror. There is clearly an uncanny mystery to Santaroga and the reveal is very slow indeed. Great reading, to me, but definitely a creeper of a novel.

SO without spoilers, Gilbert arrives in town and is received with the surly distrust small towns used to have for outsides – some still do - but at the same time as soon as his name gets around most people instantly associate him with Jenny; 'oh, Jenny's young man” being the most common response and this is presented as eerie since Gilbert has not spoken to her and she does not know he is there and no one else should either. Coincidences and strange events keep mounting up. That very night, Gilbert is subject to a gas poisoning event; another 'accident' which he survives but which brings him into the sphere of Dr Piaget who is also Jenny's uncle, and then of course to Jenny.

It is NO secret that Herbert was eternally fascinated with speculations of the possibilities of mind altering substances, psychic ability and group dynamics and subconscious communication, all of those themes can be found in subtle ways through this book. Frank Herbert used science fiction to explore complicated ideas and theories about diverse topics including psychology, politics, ecology and evolution all of which have some elements in this book. He had interesting and complex political views including Environmental and conservative and these helped form this story.

Now, venturing into spoiler territory:
I mostly loved this story, Gilbert does do some odd things, like breaking into the caves where Santaroga matures it's cheeses knowing he can't get back out the same way he came in.Bbut overall I can see them as narrative requirements so I didn't mind them too much.

The major part of this book is Gilbert struggling with Santaroga's special element. There is a slow reveal for Gilbert and not quite as slow for the reader, that there is a physical element to the 'real Santaroga' food products, referred to as Jasper's and that this element is responsible for something that makes Santaroga and it's inhabitants different. This actual difference, incidentally, is never entirely spelled out and a lot is left to the imagination, even in the end

It is revealed that all the letters Gilbert wrote to Jenny were never received. And Jenny herself is warm, welcoming still loves him and is desperate for him to stay but I have to say that Gilbert and Jenny as a couple only work as a narrative tool, as a relationship they are wholly unbelievable. However this story is really not about a love affair. It is Gilbert struggling to retain his identity and detachment against an overwhelming social/drug/psychological element that keeps trying to absorb him into Santaroga, basically because Jenny wants him to.

Around the last third of the book the pace which had been very sedate suddenly speeds up: Everything is dangerous and fast paced, Gilbert becomes more assertive and less wishy washy and from then until the end it was a fully engrossing read. I thing the slow build-up made it even more fascinating when the pace picked up.

The ending was purely creepy and immensely satisfying.

[CraftyCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird book. It began in the exact same way as did Hellstrom’s Hive, with a protagonist who works for some nebulous “organization” that wants to infiltrate a small, insular community. We are told that Gilbert Dasein has been sent to perform “market research,” however, so that’s a bit more info than we were given in the other novel.

In addition to that, Dasein also already has a tie to the Santaroga community--one of its members is his college sweetheart, whom he has not seen in several years. Other than that he is seen as an outsider--the Santarogans do not trade with or purchase many goods from anyone outside their community. All food is grown and produced within the valley, and all of it is infused with what is at first cryptially called “Jaspers.” The locals are eager to share this food with Gilbert, and he slowly finds that he is becoming dependent on it, and that it changes his metabolism and thinking after ingestion. Basically, Jaspers is a stand-in for a more mysticism-imbued LSD, embraced not by the stereotypical hippie commune, but by an incredibly conservative community of traditionalists. Regularly ingesting Jaspers connects them subconsciously and allows them to tap into a sort of very quite hive mind, though it falls short of outright telepathy. It also seems to imbue them with a very strong fear of the outside world, and this ends up nearly costing Dasein his life as the community members subconsciously make a concerted effort to kill him with a series of “accidents.”

I was disappointed to read in the end that Dasein “goes native” and swears off his pre-Santaroga life after marrying Jenny. I suppose I was offended by the way they had treated him and would not have given in so easily, but I may also be biased against the use of psychedelic drugs altogether. I would not say that this novel was better than Hellstrom’s Hive, and although it contains some interesting ideas, I did not think they were groundbreaking. It does, however, contain 100% fewer weird diatribes against women, so there’s that!

[Mikko Saari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Santarogan laakso Kaliforniassa askarruttaa ulkopuolisia. Joukko yrityksiä hankki alueelta tiloja, perusti liikkeitä ja joutui sulkemaan ne pian, koska kukaan paikallinen ei ostanut niistä mitään. Laakson asukkaita ei vaivaa mielenterveyden ongelmat, alueella ei kuluteta tupakkaa juuri ollenkaan, alueen nuoret miehet eivät ole armeijakelpoisia vaan kärsivät oudoista allergisista reaktioista… siis kaikenlaista pientä outoa, jotka yhdessä tekevät Santarogasta silmiinpistävän.

Psykologi Gilbert Dasein lähetetään tekemään alueesta markkinatutkimusta ja selvittämään, mikä Santarogassa on niin outoa, mikä on tämä mystinen ”Santarogan este”, joka estää ulkopuolisia hyödyntämästä aluetta. Hän ei ole ensimmäinen tutkija. Edellisille tutkijoille on vain käynyt ikäviä onnettomuuksia ennen tutkimusten valmistumista. Daseinilla on yksi etu puolellaan: hän tuntee paikallisia, sillä hänen opiskeluaikainen tyttöystävänsä Jenny on Santarogasta. Parin suhde kariutui kuitenkin siihen, kun Jenny halusi ehdottomasti palata Santarogaan, eikä Dasein ollut kiinnostunut muuttamisesta syrjäseudulle.

Santaroga osoittautuu pieneksi maalaisalueeksi, jonka asukkaat ovat hieman kummallisia ja varsin sulkeutuneita, jopa vihamielisiä ulkopuolisia kohtaan. Daseinille kuitenkin selviää, että kyse ei ole vain pienen paikkakunnan nurkkakuntaisuudesta, vaan santarogalaisia sitoo yhteen joku astetta synkempi salaisuus. Paikallisessa ruoassakin on jotain erikoista… Selitys on sen verran mystinen ja yliluonnollinen, että kirjan voi varovaisesti laskea tieteiskirjallisuudeksi.

Pinnallisesti The Santaroga Barrier on mielenkiintoinen mysteeri, jossa Dasein selvittää Santarogan erikoisuuksia — paikoin henkensä uhalla. Kirjaa voi ilmeisesti lukea myös syvemmällä tasolla. Daseinin nimi on suora viittaus Heideggerin kehittämään täälläolon käsitteeseen ja eräs olennainen elementti kirjassa on nimetty dasein-käsitettä hyödyntäneen Karl Jaspersin mukaan. Jaspersin työtä tuntevat saanevat kirjasta irti vielä enemmän, mutta muillekin The Santaroga Barrier toimii. (3.5.2010)