in the heart of soddy, cabin-town America—does it matter?

[Coffee Break]

I encountered the sentence "in the heart of soddy, cabin-town America—does it matter?", but am struggling to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:

“I like being here like this too,” I said—being here, with you, having tea in the middle of nowhere, next to an abandoned gas station in the heart of soddy, cabin-town America—does it matter? “And this too, I like,” I added, letting my gaze land on the iced white shore and the bluffs beyond, as though they too had something to do with liking being here like this. “Being here the way we are right now,” I threw in as an afterthought, “though all this might have absolutely nothing to do with you, of course,” I added slyly.

- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, Third Night

This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. This novel is narrated by the nameless male protagonist. The protagonist meets Clara at a Christmas party in Manhattan. Here, Clara is now driving the protagonist to her friend's house. During the drive, they decide to stop at a luncheonette called Edy's.

In this part, I wonder what the underlined expression means.
I learned in the dictionary that "soddy" can mean a house made of sod, and "cabin" can mean "cottage".

But I am still not sure what "soddy, cabin-town America" means. Would that mean that America is filled with soddy, and towns including cabins, perhaps...?

Also, I wonder what "it" refers to in "does it matter?", so I wanted to ask you.

 

[teechar]

Don't read it too literally. The author is painting a picture of a mundane (nothing special/glamorous) situation, so he uses "soddy" (unrefined, rough, etc) and "cabin-town" (as against flashy houses and buildings, etc).
"Does it matter?" is a rhetorical question. He is really saying that it (being in that mundane environment) does not matter. The main thing is that he is happy to be with Clara.
Note, though, that they must have driven a long way from Manhattan, because it (Manhattan) is one of the most prestigious (not at all mundane) places in the US.

 

[probus]

Neither "soddy" nor "cabin-town" is natural. In another thread it has been pointed out today that the author, Andre Aciman, is not a native speaker of English. His English is frequently unnatural and you @Coffee Break should stop using his work to improve your English. I for one am all done answering questions based on Aciman's writings.

 

[emsr2d2]

Neither "soddy" nor "cabin town" is natural. In another thread it has been pointed out today that the author, Andre Aciman, is not a native speaker of English. His English is frequently unnatural and you @Coffee Break should stop using his work to improve your English. I for one am all done answering questions based on Aciman's writings.

I was done with it a couple of days ago. I've been scrolling past any posts about this book. I ended up on this one by accident.

 

[Rover_KE]

Coffee Break, I've moved this thread to General Language Discussions,.

Please post any further questions about this book in that forum as they have little, if any, relevance for the majority of ESL students.

 

[Coffee Break]

@teechar, @probus, @emsr2d2 and @Rover_KE,

Thank you very much for the explanations.
So "soddy" (adjective) here means "unrefinred/rough" just like houses made of sod, and "cabin-town" (adjective) means "like a city composed of cottages, instead of flashy buildings".

I was having difficulties in understanding this part, but I think I am grasping the idea all thanks to you.
Indeed, the expressions in this book are hard to understand.
And I would post further questions about this forum in this forum as you suggested.

I sincerely appreciate your help, as always.