By Erica Wiggins
The Candy House is the sixth fiction novel by American author Jennifer Egan. Her book A Visit from the Goon Squad won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award. This is my first book from Egan, and I like to start a new author without gathering too much information about them. In this case, I wish I had done a little more research. After finishing the story, I checked out more about this book and learned that The Candy House is the continuation of A Visit from the Good Squad. I learned that many characters cross over, and I wonder if reading this first book would have given more context to this story.
The Candy House picks up with Bix Bouton, who owns a successful tech company called Mandala and is well known to everyone. Bix is on the hunt for the latest technology when he finds a group experimenting with “externalizing” memories. Soon Bix creates “Own Your Unconscious.” This technology allows you to access and share your memories. The idea of this book had me intrigued and got me thinking about the implications of technology like this and having my memories just out there for anyone to access.
“By uploading all or part of your externalized memory to an online “collective,” you gained proportionate access to anonymous thought and memories of everyone in the word, living or dead, who had done the same.”
This genre is outside the wheelhouse of what I would normally read. The story is told in a variety of formats—writing, emails, tweets, and even formulas. It is a challenging story to review. Each chapter deals with different characters, different ideas, and jumps between generations and through time. The quick shifts between characters/timelines felt confusing at times. It was as if each chapter encompassed its own story. I took notes and began to make connections between the characters, but with so many, it was hard to know who to pay attention or who was critical to the story.
About halfway through, and with the help of my notes, the story did become a little clearer. I am typically a quick reader, but this story required a slower, more methodical approach to understand everything going on. I do think that reading the first book would have given more context to the characters and made this story easier to follow.
I really loved the idea of exploring what would happen if this technology was released into the world. I could see the pros and cons and watched as the characters struggled with whether to upload and access their memories. I enjoyed the contrast of the characters working against this program as well.
This story is well written but is very complex. While this story wasn’t for me, I think it is perfect for those that love intricate, complex, and through-provoking novels. I am a firm believer that there is a book for every reader, but not every book is for every reader. I would encourage readers to check out other reviews as there is a lot of love for this series.
Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.