The Candy House: A Novel
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
ONE of the TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR by THE NEW YORK TIMES * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * SLATE* THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER *
Also named one of the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Vanity Fair, Time, NPR, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, Self, Vogue, The New Yorker, BBC, Vulture, and many more!
OLIVIA WILDE to direct A24's TV adaptation of THE CANDY HOUSE and A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD!
From one of the most celebrated writers of our time comes an “inventive, effervescent” (Oprah Daily) novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection.
The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is forty, with four kids, restless, and desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share your memories in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes.
In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires and there are “eluders,” those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of narrative styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a duet of voices, an epistolary chapter, and a chapter of tweets. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also a moving testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy, and love.
“A beautiful exploration of loss, memory, and history” (San Francisco Chronicle), “this is minimalist maximalism. It’s as if Egan compressed a big 19th-century novel onto a flash drive” (The New York Times).
ONE of the TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR by THE NEW YORK TIMES * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * SLATE* THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER *
Also named one of the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Vanity Fair, Time, NPR, The Guardian, Oprah Daily, Self, Vogue, The New Yorker, BBC, Vulture, and many more!
OLIVIA WILDE to direct A24's TV adaptation of THE CANDY HOUSE and A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD!
From one of the most celebrated writers of our time comes an “inventive, effervescent” (Oprah Daily) novel about the memory and quest for authenticity and human connection.
The Candy House opens with the staggeringly brilliant Bix Bouton, whose company, Mandala, is so successful that he is “one of those tech demi-gods with whom we’re all on a first name basis.” Bix is forty, with four kids, restless, and desperate for a new idea, when he stumbles into a conversation group, mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or “externalizing” memory. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—which allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share your memories in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes.
In the world of Egan’s spectacular imagination, there are “counters” who track and exploit desires and there are “eluders,” those who understand the price of taking a bite of the Candy House. Egan introduces these characters in an astonishing array of narrative styles—from omniscient to first person plural to a duet of voices, an epistolary chapter, and a chapter of tweets. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also a moving testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for connection, family, privacy, and love.
“A beautiful exploration of loss, memory, and history” (San Francisco Chronicle), “this is minimalist maximalism. It’s as if Egan compressed a big 19th-century novel onto a flash drive” (The New York Times).
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Community Reviews
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What’s it about?
In this series of interwoven chapters we see the creation of a new online tool called “Own Your Unconscious”. With this computer generated tool you are able to access every memory you have ever had in exchange for granting access of these memories to all others in the system. This allows you to not only view actual events (who actually remembers anything accurately- if at all?) in your memory, but also see the events through others’ perspectives. As with all innovations- we then go on to see the good and bad of this creation through the lives of multiple characters.
What did it make me think about?
This novel made you think about the consequences of all our decisions regarding the internet (both past and those to come) and how much these decisions have enhanced and/or detracted from our lives. Think of some of our early decisions- “People were letting the Internet go inside their computers and play their music, so that they, too, could play songs they didn’t own without having to buy them. The idea made us squeamish; it was like letting a stranger rummage through your house- or your brain! Once the internet was inside your computer rifling through your music, what else might it decide to do?”
Should I read it?
So, some books you read to be entertained, some you read just to put you on the edge of your seat, and some stories are written to make you think. My first Jennifer Egan book “A Visit From the Goon Squad” was definitely a novel that made me think, her second novel “Manhattan Beach” was great storytelling, in this novel Egan goes back to the beginning and makes you put your thinking cap on. All of these interconnected stories just whirled around in my brain. Who is connected to whom, and how are they connected to the characters in her first book? I just let it all swirl and kept on reading. There is no doubt that Jennifer Egan is a HUGE talent and this book is worth reading. But be aware you may finish and think “I need to read that again”. I highly recommend this book to all the readers out there. Then find a group and talk about it…
Quote-
“Never trust a candy house! It was only a matter of time before someone made them pay for what they thought they were getting for free. Why could nobody see this?”
“Not every story needs to be told.”
What’s it about?
In this series of interwoven chapters we see the creation of a new online tool called “Own Your Unconscious”. With this computer generated tool you are able to access every memory you have ever had in exchange for granting access of these memories to all others in the system. This allows you to not only view actual events (who actually remembers anything accurately- if at all?) in your memory, but also see the events through others’ perspectives. As with all innovations- we then go on to see the good and bad of this creation through the lives of multiple characters.
What did it make me think about?
This novel made you think about the consequences of all our decisions regarding the internet (both past and those to come) and how much these decisions have enhanced and/or detracted from our lives. Think of some of our early decisions- “People were letting the Internet go inside their computers and play their music, so that they, too, could play songs they didn’t own without having to buy them. The idea made us squeamish; it was like letting a stranger rummage through your house- or your brain! Once the internet was inside your computer rifling through your music, what else might it decide to do?”
Should I read it?
So, some books you read to be entertained, some you read just to put you on the edge of your seat, and some stories are written to make you think. My first Jennifer Egan book “A Visit From the Goon Squad” was definitely a novel that made me think, her second novel “Manhattan Beach” was great storytelling, in this novel Egan goes back to the beginning and makes you put your thinking cap on. All of these interconnected stories just whirled around in my brain. Who is connected to whom, and how are they connected to the characters in her first book? I just let it all swirl and kept on reading. There is no doubt that Jennifer Egan is a HUGE talent and this book is worth reading. But be aware you may finish and think “I need to read that again”. I highly recommend this book to all the readers out there. Then find a group and talk about it…
Quote-
“Never trust a candy house! It was only a matter of time before someone made them pay for what they thought they were getting for free. Why could nobody see this?”
“Not every story needs to be told.”
This one was hard for me to finish. The majority of chapters were long and hard for me to keep an interest in. I also lost the connection between some chapters and the overall "story" that the author was trying to weave together. Not really what I expected based on the description of the book. Too many characters to keep track of and after finishing I just don't really see the point of the story. Just not a book for me.
This book is a wild ride. The change in perspectives is a bit disorienting for me but just still really enjoyed the overall storyline
This may have had the most characters included in any book I’ve ever read. It was a little hard to keep track of everyone, but I loved the full cast of narrators for the audio book. I also loved that each character came with a voice and writing style that was unique to their personality. This is quite the interesting concept of uploading your memories to the collective. Honestly, I could go back and read this again to try and decipher who all was connected to who.
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