The Candy House

As I read this, I couldn't decide whether I was willing to go along with the conceit or not. At moments I was hooked, at others I was almost annoyed. But eventually, I saw the book as a performance of a network of people and stories. In a way, it reminded me of what Bruno Latour says about writing (I think in Reassembling the Social, but I'm not 100% sure of that). I'm paraphrasing, but he suggests that a fair and accurate account of a network requires writing that is sort of like a network too, writing that resists the desire to fall into narrative. This book does some of that kind of work.

I also didn't realize it was a follow up/sequel of sorts, though you didn't need to read the first one to understand this one. I might go back to A Visit from The Goon Squad at some point.

Jennifer Egan’s “The Candy House” straddles the line between magical realism and sci-fi—and I am here for it.

Anthropologist Miranda Kane’s 1995 book, “Patterns of Affinity” lays bare exacting formulas for predicting human behavior. She could never have anticipated Bix Bouton seizing on these ideas to expand his surveillance capitalism juggernaut: “Mandala” (the novel’s answer to Meta/Facebook).

Later, in 2010, while fretting about the future of Mandala, Bouton infiltrates a college discussion group of Kline’s work. There he learns of experiments to externalize people’s memories into machines.

Bix uses the research as the inspiration for “Own Your Unconscious”—a way to relive your past (including everything you’d forgotten).

Later, Mandala introduces “The Collective”—a pool of memories users can tap at the cost of releasing their memories for others. The collective is a database searchable by geolocation and time—enter the date and place and watch events unfold through the eyes of any user who’s uploaded their unconscious to the collective.

The novel is a collection of vignettes—memoirs of people connected to Bounton and Kline.

The world Egan builds is addictive and wonderous, but some stories fall flat. In particular, a second-person spy story that goes on way. too. long.

But the novel still has enough magnetic and beautiful moments to be worth your time.