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A review by bhnmt61
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
5.0
The Candy House is a series of loosely interconnected stories about some of the same people from Egan’s 2011 novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, their children and grandchildren, and some newcomers.
Plenty of people have said that you don’t have to have read Goon Squad to enjoy this one, and that's probably true. But since I just finished reading Goon Squad for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I have to say that The Candy House is a much richer experience if you can remember what happened in the earlier book. I found myself going back and forth between the two more than once. (In fact, I froze my Kindle twice trying to do it too quickly.)
My main reaction, especially about 2/3 of the way through, was wow. The complexity of what she's accomplished really just boggles the mind, or at least it does mine. Usually when I say I'm too old to appreciate a book, it's because there's something about the voice that I am too old to appreciate— the world has moved on from the kind of characters, especially female characters, that I admire.
But in this case, I'm too old for this book simply because my brain is no longer spry enough to keep all the connections straight. I think I need a spreadsheet or a detailed family tree. I might re-read them both and make one.
But even though it’s complicated, it’s not difficult at all. I found it fully absorbing— at certain moments it was even unputdownable. You can just breeze through it and enjoy Egan's ability to create characters and think up interesting relationship twists, but if you take the time to follow the web of people, it's brilliant.
I'm awed. At the same time, I thought there were a few things that really didn’t work (can we talk about the placement of that last chapter). But since it’s about a six- or seven- or ten-star book on my rating scale, the minor things that didn’t work for me barely register. Great book, or rather great two books.
Plenty of people have said that you don’t have to have read Goon Squad to enjoy this one, and that's probably true. But since I just finished reading Goon Squad for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I have to say that The Candy House is a much richer experience if you can remember what happened in the earlier book. I found myself going back and forth between the two more than once. (In fact, I froze my Kindle twice trying to do it too quickly.)
My main reaction, especially about 2/3 of the way through, was wow. The complexity of what she's accomplished really just boggles the mind, or at least it does mine. Usually when I say I'm too old to appreciate a book, it's because there's something about the voice that I am too old to appreciate— the world has moved on from the kind of characters, especially female characters, that I admire.
But in this case, I'm too old for this book simply because my brain is no longer spry enough to keep all the connections straight. I think I need a spreadsheet or a detailed family tree. I might re-read them both and make one.
But even though it’s complicated, it’s not difficult at all. I found it fully absorbing— at certain moments it was even unputdownable. You can just breeze through it and enjoy Egan's ability to create characters and think up interesting relationship twists, but if you take the time to follow the web of people, it's brilliant.
I'm awed. At the same time, I thought there were a few things that really didn’t work (can we talk about the placement of that last chapter). But since it’s about a six- or seven- or ten-star book on my rating scale, the minor things that didn’t work for me barely register. Great book, or rather great two books.