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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
medium-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
I was totally captivated by the first 150ish pages. The latter half of The Candy House, unfortunately, lost me.
A very different book than Egan's previous "Manhattan Beach" (a personal fave), "The Candy House" is something of a follow-up to the highly regarded "A Visit from the Goon Squad." It also uses alternative formats, including text/email conversations across multiple groups of characters, to move the plot forward and an instruction list for a "Citizen Agent," and includes several characters from Goon Squad. But it doesn't stop there, as there is a reference to Charlotte from "Look at Me," an earlier Egan novel.
I liked the structure and the themes behind the novel, especially the importance of memory in understanding ourselves, the impact of social media on our lives (both IRL and online), and how that affects our relation to the world around us. She is also a genius at weaving together a multitude of plot lines and characters across time, hopscotching back and forth with amazing dexterity. I'm certain there will be folks out there who may find this off putting or derivative of Goon Squad and now other authors who use a similar style but with Egan's writing, it just radiates.
My only qualm with the novel is that by jumping through time and story lines, Egan never gives us enough time with any one of them and just leaves me wanting more (even if I have vague memories of the repeat characters, I still want to hear more from them). But that may be the whole point of the novel - always moving across space & time as our memories do.
I liked the structure and the themes behind the novel, especially the importance of memory in understanding ourselves, the impact of social media on our lives (both IRL and online), and how that affects our relation to the world around us. She is also a genius at weaving together a multitude of plot lines and characters across time, hopscotching back and forth with amazing dexterity. I'm certain there will be folks out there who may find this off putting or derivative of Goon Squad and now other authors who use a similar style but with Egan's writing, it just radiates.
My only qualm with the novel is that by jumping through time and story lines, Egan never gives us enough time with any one of them and just leaves me wanting more (even if I have vague memories of the repeat characters, I still want to hear more from them). But that may be the whole point of the novel - always moving across space & time as our memories do.
fast-paced
Hard to follow, lacked tension yet alluded to it anyways. It left too much unseen.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5—I have not read Visit From Goon Squad and in spite of being reassured several times that it wasn’t necessary before reading this book, that just isn’t true for me. Many of the intertwined stories were engaging and interesting, it was difficult for me to find a unifying theme. The future as depicted is pretty horrifying to me; I don’t want to revisit my every past thought and definitely don’t want anyone else to be privy to them.
3 to 3.5 stars. I found this much more difficult to follow than Welcome to the Good Squad….and herky jerky jumping in time, trying to keep track of the relationships between the characters (and remember back to Goose Squad).
This book is so weird but it’s good once you get into the bizarre structure.