334 pages
English language
Published April 9, 2022 by Scribner.
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 40, with four kids, restless, 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. It’s 2010. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—that allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share every memory in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. But not everyone.
In spellbinding interlocking narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also extraordinarily moving, a testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for real …
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 40, with four kids, restless, 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. It’s 2010. Within a decade, Bix’s new technology, “Own Your Unconscious”—that allows you access to every memory you’ve ever had, and to share every memory in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. But not everyone.
In spellbinding interlocking narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Intellectually dazzling, The Candy House is also extraordinarily moving, a testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for real connection, love, family, privacy and redemption. 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.
Cleverly intertwined stories. It pulls off the interesting truck of being dystopian sci-fi that is realistic and also not totally depressing. But in the end, I’m not sure it adds up to much.
An extension of A Visit From the Goon Squad that carries those notes of worry with aging and an additional layer that seeks to make sense of memories, finality, and the idea of a person's story in within the overwhelming scale of the world. A lot of spinning parts that can sometimes be hard to track over more disparate generations yet have delicately interwoven pieces that don't necessarily need to be revelatory. Sometimes it's enough just to be, knowing when to look away and embrace that knowing everything is unnecessary.
As A Visit to the Goon Squad illustrated, our culture changes constantly, and it doesn’t take long for anyone to look around and think–how did we get here? Computers in our pockets are now a given. Social media has made it possible to communicate with millions of people, all at once, in seconds. We can now look up any information that comes to mind–except our own memories. But wait, what if a technology existed that allowed us to transfer all the memories in our minds to a device that showed us our lives, like a movie? The price? We’d have to share our memories to a collective. One more invasion of privacy.
Bix Bouton, of Mandala fame, has a new idea: Own Your Unconscious ™ . Many people will find this fascinating, then tempting. . Eventually, most people will happily accept this and their memories will become part of the …
As A Visit to the Goon Squad illustrated, our culture changes constantly, and it doesn’t take long for anyone to look around and think–how did we get here? Computers in our pockets are now a given. Social media has made it possible to communicate with millions of people, all at once, in seconds. We can now look up any information that comes to mind–except our own memories. But wait, what if a technology existed that allowed us to transfer all the memories in our minds to a device that showed us our lives, like a movie? The price? We’d have to share our memories to a collective. One more invasion of privacy.
Bix Bouton, of Mandala fame, has a new idea: Own Your Unconscious ™ . Many people will find this fascinating, then tempting. . Eventually, most people will happily accept this and their memories will become part of the collective.
Jennifer Egan creates a world in which we the people have been so minutely studied that there are algorithms that can predict our actions and reactions with very close accuracy. Even conversations are broken down to algebraic codes. And there are people who are employed to perfect the system–and then, there are eluders, or people who view Own Your Unconscious as a very bad idea for everyone.
Indeed, it becomes challenging to feel and express authentic feelings and thoughts. But people all have a need to do just that, and have a variety of ways of hearing their own voices over the den. There are enough characters in this novel to be challenging, as their stories scatter and converge over decades. This story is populated with souls I found to be likable, their stories compelling. There are too many wonderful plots to begin to discuss in a review. This book is pure genius, which may be what one character in the story called a “word-casing,” but it is an authentic thought, nonetheless!
Thank you to Scribner and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this superb novel.
I still want to know what was in that suitcase...
