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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Really enjoyed this. I read a review that was very critical of this book in comparison to A Visit from the Goon Squad, which I also loved -- this one follows many of the same characters years later. Fortunately for me, I suppose, I didn't remember enough details about that book to recognize any issues.
Picked this from Barack Obama’s 2023 Favorite list. Intriguing dystopian-ish novel. Too many characters for audio version, perhaps.
This book is a crazy ride, a collection of loosely-linked, sci-fi-ish short stories, and I could not stop reading them.
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think I answered "it's complicated" to every question.
Because The Candy House is a complicated book... from the characters to the loose plot to the actual way the book is written. It's complicated.
While it starts out with a fascinating premise of a brilliant man coopting someone's life work to create a way for people to externalize their memories - and then upload them to the collective consciousness. The book is more a collection of stories around this future (and past) world. The characters are all interconnected and there is a different narrator/focus for each chapter.
The characters are endlessly fascinating - and I think I would read a book on each one. The interconnections are also fascinating and a little out there but fun.
I wish I had known it was the second book before I started reading it.
Because The Candy House is a complicated book... from the characters to the loose plot to the actual way the book is written. It's complicated.
While it starts out with a fascinating premise of a brilliant man coopting someone's life work to create a way for people to externalize their memories - and then upload them to the collective consciousness. The book is more a collection of stories around this future (and past) world. The characters are all interconnected and there is a different narrator/focus for each chapter.
The characters are endlessly fascinating - and I think I would read a book on each one. The interconnections are also fascinating and a little out there but fun.
I wish I had known it was the second book before I started reading it.
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A must-read. I did not know this was Book 2 when I purchased it. Egan does a great job of developing the characters and seeing their arcs and their development. The theme of a struggle with technology, its purpose, and its place. Beautiful characters and storylines, as well as showing us briefly who they were when they were younger and who they are now. I’m giving the book 4 stars because at times the book was a bit slow, and the character introduction became too much but it was beautifully wrapped up in the end. I listened to the book on Libby so having the different voice actors helped with the story. I will say I had to focus on the story to understand but that is not as deterance from recommending the book. I do own the physical copy. I think I will be donating to my local library for others.
This would have been 4☆ but I had trouble remembering all of the connections. It should come with a mind map. That said, I realise I enjoyed this the more I read.
I will be thinking about and processing these characters for a long time. Not to mention the ideas held within their stories. It felt like reading a tapestry.
medium-paced
Brilliant, complicated, totally incoherent, too many threads. So many plot lines and connections you’d need one of those mad detective’s walls covered in charts and red string.
This book is a tissue of sub plots all loosely connected and bound by chance meetings/familial relationships and of course the over arching new technology; the candy house of fully connected human conciousness. Jennifer Egan is such a good writer, I just wanted to spend more time with each character. I’d have liked it all to have been simpler and more pared back but then it wouldn’t have been the mad, joyful, confusing mess that it was. Which is what a book on fully connected human concioisness should be probably?
This book is a tissue of sub plots all loosely connected and bound by chance meetings/familial relationships and of course the over arching new technology; the candy house of fully connected human conciousness. Jennifer Egan is such a good writer, I just wanted to spend more time with each character. I’d have liked it all to have been simpler and more pared back but then it wouldn’t have been the mad, joyful, confusing mess that it was. Which is what a book on fully connected human concioisness should be probably?