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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I was somewhat confused throughout the whole book. Even though it’s a simple storyline, the amount of characters made it difficult to keep track and keen on. For me, there’s a lack of a solid plot, but still there are some good ideas, relationships and conversations that are thought igniters.
loved it. it was captivating to read. only the e-mail chapter was dreading to read. not so much for the format, more because it was way too long (50 pages!) for the boring story it told (i didnt care about what was happening). i wouldve much preferred had lulu's paranoia been properly explored.
but the remaining 284 pages i lovvvvved. i disagree with those that critisize the different points of view of differing characters. i liked that very much. i especially found fascinating the chapters in which the stories of certain characters where told from an all knowing perspective by other characters because they were narrating them by the memories obtained from the Collective Consciousness
but the remaining 284 pages i lovvvvved. i disagree with those that critisize the different points of view of differing characters. i liked that very much. i especially found fascinating the chapters in which the stories of certain characters where told from an all knowing perspective by other characters because they were narrating them by the memories obtained from the Collective Consciousness
Reuniting with characters from A Visit from the Goon Squad in The Candy House was an absolute DELIGHT for me. It is marketed as a standalone and that there are “some” familiar characters from Egan’s earlier novel in this book. But I think that is a disservice. I would argue that it’s almost essential to read one before the other. Or, I’d be curious if anyone has done the reverse - to read Goon Squad afterwards, as a kind of prequel. That could be REALLY interesting... Part of the allure of these intricately mapped character connections is that little thrill when spotting them, and every single character in this book is tied to one from the first.
My review for The Candy House exactly mirrors Goon Squad: surreal, shocking at times, uncannily prescient, thought provoking and excellent for fans of interconnected stories. I love love love a novel that feels like puzzle pieces which, once put together, gives you that ‘aha’ tingly feeling. (See also: Sea of Tranquility, Kitchens of the Great Midwest) They’re not for everyone, but for fans of this type of story, both of Egan’s works should be required reading.
Title spotting was excellent, too. The quote was in the context of how we basically don’t pay for music anymore. But, it applies to so many things that technology has wrought on our society.
“Nothing is free! Only children expect otherwise, even as myths and fairytales warn us: Rumplestiltskin, King Midas, Hansel and Gretel. 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?“
My review for The Candy House exactly mirrors Goon Squad: surreal, shocking at times, uncannily prescient, thought provoking and excellent for fans of interconnected stories. I love love love a novel that feels like puzzle pieces which, once put together, gives you that ‘aha’ tingly feeling. (See also: Sea of Tranquility, Kitchens of the Great Midwest) They’re not for everyone, but for fans of this type of story, both of Egan’s works should be required reading.
Title spotting was excellent, too. The quote was in the context of how we basically don’t pay for music anymore. But, it applies to so many things that technology has wrought on our society.
“Nothing is free! Only children expect otherwise, even as myths and fairytales warn us: Rumplestiltskin, King Midas, Hansel and Gretel. 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 for me - great premise for a book but not executed well
I really appreciated the concept and original style but found the connections throughout hard to follow and that made the overall read frustrating.
Another masterpiece! Once again, somehow Egan manages to make each chapter feel connected to a whole, despite each chapter being narrated by a different character, often bopping around time and space in no particular order. Some of my favorite chapters were Molly's narration of a day in the life as a pre-teen, a hopeless sidekick of an emotionally abusive popular girl; Lulu's Citizen Agent experience, Alfred's authenticity experiments...honestly I loved them all. Each one is so different and yet is tied together by the end. And I love the book's central ideas: authenticity in a digital age, patterns of behavior and rules for interactions, and memory as a physical thing. It reminded me a bit of the movie Her--a scifi story, but mostly about the human experience.
Really liked this book. Glad I read Goon Squad pretty recently. Think i would have struggled otherwise.
A dystopian science fiction novel or a metaphor for the dangers of modern online social life. People are able to upload everything about themselves into a community cloud -- all their memories, feelings, inner thoughts -- which is viewable by anyone. The danger is of course a complete loss of privacy and too much information everywhere. I liked the part where someone, for reasons that are unclear, develops an algorithmic way of describing an event that is a common storytelling element:
"Why ... had Chris algebraized "A Drink In The Face" -- a(+drink) x (action of throwing drink) = a(-drink) + i/2 -- making "i" the protagonist, the "target" of the hurled drink rather than the hurler? ... he explained to the group that a drink-hurling protagonist belonged to a different story block, "Hero Delivers Comeuppance to Perennial Jerk," which Chris had algebraized several months back."
As he becomes alienated from his place of work due to a mysterious event that is never explained, he is only able to describe it in algebraic symbolic logic code. It is beautiful but I can't reproduce it here. And since symbolic logic is based on reducing words to symbols, it is perfect.
I also love the idea of a writer seeing story lines and scenarios as algebraized blocks to be inserted. It seems so appropriate.
Similarly I really like when the junky Roxy describes her motivations and actions in terms of D&D character abilities. "Because Roxy is good at Feign Oblivion, another Former Junkie skill, people tend not to guard their words around her. While employing Apparent Inattention and Vacant Stare, she has overheard Chris on the phone ..." giving her normal covert activities scoring drugs and spying on people an otherworldly distance which is how she sees life after she's been exposed to D&D.
There are other stories about the loss of privacy due to corporate surveillance and the fear of a loss of privacy. A spy in one story who does covert operations for an unnamed entity has parts of her body replaced with mechanical devices. Her eye becomes a camera and her eyebrow triggers a flash; she has a flash drive implanted between the little and next toe on her right foot. As the story goes on, more and more parts of her are revealed to be Get Smart style implants. Mechanical worms have been implanted in various people's brains to surveil their relatives through their eyes. and the fear of the mechanical worms is as bad as the existence of the worms themselves I wish there had been more of this. Sort of reminded me of Jennifer Government.
So I was left wishing there had been more of the interesting wordplay/symbolic logic play and spyware and less of the trying to figure out which character was related to who how. I spent a lot of time I didn't want to flipping backwards and forwards trying to remember how this person was related to or knew that one when I really wanted to read more about story blocks and wetware. Too much of the story was untold or just wasn't very interesting or required too much work to figure out.
"Why ... had Chris algebraized "A Drink In The Face" -- a(+drink) x (action of throwing drink) = a(-drink) + i/2 -- making "i" the protagonist, the "target" of the hurled drink rather than the hurler? ... he explained to the group that a drink-hurling protagonist belonged to a different story block, "Hero Delivers Comeuppance to Perennial Jerk," which Chris had algebraized several months back."
As he becomes alienated from his place of work due to a mysterious event that is never explained, he is only able to describe it in algebraic symbolic logic code. It is beautiful but I can't reproduce it here. And since symbolic logic is based on reducing words to symbols, it is perfect.
I also love the idea of a writer seeing story lines and scenarios as algebraized blocks to be inserted. It seems so appropriate.
Similarly I really like when the junky Roxy describes her motivations and actions in terms of D&D character abilities. "Because Roxy is good at Feign Oblivion, another Former Junkie skill, people tend not to guard their words around her. While employing Apparent Inattention and Vacant Stare, she has overheard Chris on the phone ..." giving her normal covert activities scoring drugs and spying on people an otherworldly distance which is how she sees life after she's been exposed to D&D.
There are other stories about the loss of privacy due to corporate surveillance and the fear of a loss of privacy. A spy in one story who does covert operations for an unnamed entity has parts of her body replaced with mechanical devices. Her eye becomes a camera and her eyebrow triggers a flash; she has a flash drive implanted between the little and next toe on her right foot. As the story goes on, more and more parts of her are revealed to be Get Smart style implants. Mechanical worms have been implanted in various people's brains to surveil their relatives through their eyes. and the fear of the mechanical worms is as bad as the existence of the worms themselves I wish there had been more of this. Sort of reminded me of Jennifer Government.
So I was left wishing there had been more of the interesting wordplay/symbolic logic play and spyware and less of the trying to figure out which character was related to who how. I spent a lot of time I didn't want to flipping backwards and forwards trying to remember how this person was related to or knew that one when I really wanted to read more about story blocks and wetware. Too much of the story was untold or just wasn't very interesting or required too much work to figure out.
Interesting concept. The novel jumped around too much for my taste.
Couldn’t put this one down. Author Jennifer Egan is in her bag with this one! Egan creates a universe in the not so distant future that is rooted in the reality of our times.
Egan seamlessly interweaves characters, families, and generations through the interconnection of technology. Through the connectivity we learn individual stories that lead to the development of evasive social media and those that oppose it. The Candy House shines a light on a world we already live in with the possibility of creating a different future.
Egan seamlessly interweaves characters, families, and generations through the interconnection of technology. Through the connectivity we learn individual stories that lead to the development of evasive social media and those that oppose it. The Candy House shines a light on a world we already live in with the possibility of creating a different future.