the clubs within our club
BOOK CLUB
reviews
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Review by Carol Strametz
For our September meeting , we decided to read The Candy House by Jennifer Egan and to combine this with an event featuring the author and book at the Harbourfront Literaturfestival in Hamburg . The term “ candy house ” is synonymous with the bad trade-offs people make with technology . The killer app “ Own Your Unconscious ” allows people to upload their life memories — even those forgotten — to “ the cube ,” share them , and access others ’ memories . This app is an exaggerated version of what we have now — the trade-off of our digital privacy for services . The book introduces a multitude of characters , many already familiar from Egan ’ s award-winning 2010 novel A Visit From the Goon Squad , which looks at tech in its early stages of music sharing . Many of these protagonists in The Candy House choose to encounter their own memories and those of others in the collective consciousness , but some despise it and become “ eluders ” who erase their online identities only to be tracked by “ counters .” This is the backdrop for Egan ’ s compelling and beautifully written novel about love , loss , redemption , and individuality .
It was a pleasure to experience Jennifer Egan live . It was interesting to hear what she had to say , e . g ., that the storyline was pretty much in place before the technology entered the story . She is impressive — brilliant , inspiring , quick-witted , and not to be intimidated . The moderator was a disappointment : it wasn ’ t obvious that he had read or understood the book . The readings by a well-known German actor were nice but much too long . It would have been much more fun to have heard more from Egan .
Getting to hear Egan speak was an exceptional treat !
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