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Candy
"Candy is beside me, drenched in sweat. She's breathing gently, long slow breaths. I imagine her soul going in and wanting to leave, wanting to come back, wanting to leave, wanting to come back. The day will soon harden into what we need to do. But for now we have each other. . . ."
He met Candy amid a lush Sydney summer. Gorgeous, sexy, free-spirited Candy. They fell in love fast, lots of laughter and lust, the days melting warmly into each other. He never planned to give her a habit. But she wanted a taste. And wasn't love, after all, about sharing lives? Candy had a bit of money and in the beginning, everything was beautiful. Heady, heroin-hazed days, the world open and inviting. But when the money ran out, the craving remained, and the days ceased their luxurious stretch.
But there was still love. Only now, it was a threesome. Heroin had its own demands, its own timetable, and thoughts of nabbing the next fix hurled them into each day. Then, when desperation sets in, Candy will stop at nothing to secure a blast, as she and her lover become hostage to the nightmarish world of addiction.
Painful, sexy, tender, and charged with dark humor, Candy provocatively charts the daily rituals of two lovers maintaining a long-term junk habit. Told in stunningly vivid prose and set against the backdrop of suburban and urban Australia, Candy is both an electrifying and frightening glimpse of contemporary life and love.
He met Candy amid a lush Sydney summer. Gorgeous, sexy, free-spirited Candy. They fell in love fast, lots of laughter and lust, the days melting warmly into each other. He never planned to give her a habit. But she wanted a taste. And wasn't love, after all, about sharing lives? Candy had a bit of money and in the beginning, everything was beautiful. Heady, heroin-hazed days, the world open and inviting. But when the money ran out, the craving remained, and the days ceased their luxurious stretch.
But there was still love. Only now, it was a threesome. Heroin had its own demands, its own timetable, and thoughts of nabbing the next fix hurled them into each day. Then, when desperation sets in, Candy will stop at nothing to secure a blast, as she and her lover become hostage to the nightmarish world of addiction.
Painful, sexy, tender, and charged with dark humor, Candy provocatively charts the daily rituals of two lovers maintaining a long-term junk habit. Told in stunningly vivid prose and set against the backdrop of suburban and urban Australia, Candy is both an electrifying and frightening glimpse of contemporary life and love.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
206 people are currently reading
11289 people want to read
About the author
Luke Davies
29 books151 followersLuke Davies is an Australian writer of novels and poetry. He has published two novels, Isabelle the Navigator and the cult bestseller Candy, which was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards in 1998. A film version of Candy, starring Heath Ledger, was released in 2006 and won the AFI for Best Adapted Screenplay. His novel God of Speed, about the life of Howard Hughes, is due for release in April 2008.
Information / http://www.hlamgt.com.au/
Davies has published five books of poetry, including Running With Light, which was the winner of the Judith Wright Poetry Prize 2000, and Totem, which won the 2004 Age Book of the Year Award. He was also awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Poetry in 2004. He has completed several residencies around the world, including at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre for the Arts, Ireland, The Australia Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Centre d'Art
Information / http://www.hlamgt.com.au/
Davies has published five books of poetry, including Running With Light, which was the winner of the Judith Wright Poetry Prize 2000, and Totem, which won the 2004 Age Book of the Year Award. He was also awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Poetry in 2004. He has completed several residencies around the world, including at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre for the Arts, Ireland, The Australia Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Centre d'Art
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 461 reviews
September 12, 2011
Opening Line: "There were good times and bad times, but in the beginning there were more good times."
Wow this was fantastic, in a watching a beautiful car crash sort of way. Following the day to day struggles, triumphs and ultimate decay of a heroin addict and his girlfriend. It was almost impossible to look away and put this book down even though it’s graphic, horrible, depressing and often pointless. Told in the first person with vividly poetic and just plain amazing writing there’s a surprisingly innocent love story told here as well and I found myself moved by their story. Pulling for our couple and hoping that they could just get clean long enough to come out on the other side of addiction with some kind of future together.
CANDY is a love story, a horror story, and an adventure. It’s darkly humorous and sadly moving. Filled with graphic descriptions of heroin use, vein hunting, needles, sickness, numbness, the endless cycle of finding your next fix, the selling of ones soul and the constant pain. I was exhausted just reading about the kind of stamina it takes to become a full blown junkie.
The scheming and scoring and stealing, the planning and begging and the sickness when you’ve either exhausted all options or you’re trying yet again to get clean (or maybe just not use quite so much) I could feel their pain and hopelessness in particular the mind numbing details as they lock themselves in their rundown apartment and attempt to kick on their own, this is what happens to you physically when you try to come off of a serious heroin addiction and it was tough to witness.
We follow our couple over a ten year period starting in Sydney during their heady early days of first love. Its summer and the world is beautiful and new. Candy, a gorgeous aspiring actress wants to learn everything about her new love, including what its like to use heroin and despite an almost immediate overdose the wheels are set in motion, she wants more.
Through our narrators eyes we watch Candy go from aspiring actress to high paid escort to street hooker. It’s an easy natural progression that somehow seems to make sense for both of them. He remains a con, a thief and a dealer. They often talk of getting clean, having a baby. They move to Melbourne to start again, they relapse; they get married and are the coolest couple in McDonalds dressed in their wedding attire, wasted after using their wedding money to score. There are serious highs and desperate lows. From high-end apartments to slums, hepatitis and crabs, bad scams, arrests and the loss of their baby. Throughout it all they remain in desperate love with each other and heroin.
This did not end at all like I was expecting and was in fact sadder then I had thought possible. It’s haunting when everything turns blue and all that’s left is methadone, madness, loneliness, a job washing dishes and playing Frisbee in the sun.
Wow this was fantastic, in a watching a beautiful car crash sort of way. Following the day to day struggles, triumphs and ultimate decay of a heroin addict and his girlfriend. It was almost impossible to look away and put this book down even though it’s graphic, horrible, depressing and often pointless. Told in the first person with vividly poetic and just plain amazing writing there’s a surprisingly innocent love story told here as well and I found myself moved by their story. Pulling for our couple and hoping that they could just get clean long enough to come out on the other side of addiction with some kind of future together.
CANDY is a love story, a horror story, and an adventure. It’s darkly humorous and sadly moving. Filled with graphic descriptions of heroin use, vein hunting, needles, sickness, numbness, the endless cycle of finding your next fix, the selling of ones soul and the constant pain. I was exhausted just reading about the kind of stamina it takes to become a full blown junkie.
The scheming and scoring and stealing, the planning and begging and the sickness when you’ve either exhausted all options or you’re trying yet again to get clean (or maybe just not use quite so much) I could feel their pain and hopelessness in particular the mind numbing details as they lock themselves in their rundown apartment and attempt to kick on their own, this is what happens to you physically when you try to come off of a serious heroin addiction and it was tough to witness.
We follow our couple over a ten year period starting in Sydney during their heady early days of first love. Its summer and the world is beautiful and new. Candy, a gorgeous aspiring actress wants to learn everything about her new love, including what its like to use heroin and despite an almost immediate overdose the wheels are set in motion, she wants more.
Through our narrators eyes we watch Candy go from aspiring actress to high paid escort to street hooker. It’s an easy natural progression that somehow seems to make sense for both of them. He remains a con, a thief and a dealer. They often talk of getting clean, having a baby. They move to Melbourne to start again, they relapse; they get married and are the coolest couple in McDonalds dressed in their wedding attire, wasted after using their wedding money to score. There are serious highs and desperate lows. From high-end apartments to slums, hepatitis and crabs, bad scams, arrests and the loss of their baby. Throughout it all they remain in desperate love with each other and heroin.
This did not end at all like I was expecting and was in fact sadder then I had thought possible. It’s haunting when everything turns blue and all that’s left is methadone, madness, loneliness, a job washing dishes and playing Frisbee in the sun.
March 16, 2011
4.5 stars
I remember when the film Candy was released in 2006, receiving critical acclaim and rave reviews for the performances of the late, great Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish in the leading roles. Despite my interest, for some reason I never got around to seeing it. And it wasn’t until recently reading my friend Buggy’s review here on GoodReads that I discovered the film was an adaptation of a novel.
My interest once again piqued, I promptly obtained both the book and the film, then did something I would never normally recommend, and watched the film first – instant gratification and all that. I wasn’t disappointed. The performances were wonderful and the story was compelling in its tragedy. But at the end, I did pause to wonder whether I might have ruined the experience of the novel. I needn’t have worried.
The film and the novel are significantly different. While there are a couple of shared scenes, there is obviously much missing from the film and it has taken quite a significant creative/poetic license and made some major changes in the storyline. It also has a very different feel about it than the novel. In fact, in many regards I am glad I watched the film first. There was no opportunity for me to have had expectations unmet, and so there was no disappointment. I enjoyed them both as two separate entities.
But, this is a book review site, so I will leave further commentary regarding the film for another time and place. Apart from the differences in plot and vibe, the biggest surprise for me with the book is how beautifully it was written:
It’s really quite compelling to read such an ugly topic described in such beautiful prose. In no way does the author glamorise the tragedy of addiction – quite the opposite – but the writing makes the experience tolerable and by turns darkly funny and achingly poignant.
Candy reads like an autobiography, penned by an unnamed narrator, who could be any lost soul on any street corner in the world. The author takes us into the heart and mind of an addict, and exposes in raw, gritty detail the futility, waste and despair. This does not feel like a fictional account, it is far too vividly and emotionally detailed. Their journey is harrowing, confronting and just so damn tragic that it is disturbing to read.
It's a powerful novel that can make you reconsider your views and perceptions. Candy is such a novel, and I imagine it will continue to invade my thoughts for some time to come.
Thank you, Buggy, for inspiring me to read this one.
I remember when the film Candy was released in 2006, receiving critical acclaim and rave reviews for the performances of the late, great Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish in the leading roles. Despite my interest, for some reason I never got around to seeing it. And it wasn’t until recently reading my friend Buggy’s review here on GoodReads that I discovered the film was an adaptation of a novel.
My interest once again piqued, I promptly obtained both the book and the film, then did something I would never normally recommend, and watched the film first – instant gratification and all that. I wasn’t disappointed. The performances were wonderful and the story was compelling in its tragedy. But at the end, I did pause to wonder whether I might have ruined the experience of the novel. I needn’t have worried.
The film and the novel are significantly different. While there are a couple of shared scenes, there is obviously much missing from the film and it has taken quite a significant creative/poetic license and made some major changes in the storyline. It also has a very different feel about it than the novel. In fact, in many regards I am glad I watched the film first. There was no opportunity for me to have had expectations unmet, and so there was no disappointment. I enjoyed them both as two separate entities.
But, this is a book review site, so I will leave further commentary regarding the film for another time and place. Apart from the differences in plot and vibe, the biggest surprise for me with the book is how beautifully it was written:
It’s like there’s a mystical connection between heroine and bad luck, with some kind of built-in momentum factor. It’s like you’re cruising along in a beautiful car on a pleasant country road with the breeze in your hair and the smell of eucalypts all around you. The horizon is always up ahead, unfolding towards you, and at first you don’t notice the gradual descent, or the way the atmosphere thickens. Bit by bit the gradient gets steeper, and before you realise you have no brakes, you’re going pretty fucking fast.
So what did we do, once the descent began? We learned how to drive well, under hazardous conditions. We had each other to egg each other on. There was neither room nor need for passengers. Maybe we were also thinking that one day our car would sprout wings and fly. I saw that happen in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It’s good to live in hope.
There was a time, after that Indian summer of our falling in love – after we’d gone through the money Candy’s grandmother had left her, after we’d done a few scams and had a pretty good run for six months or a year – when we knew it would be good to slow down or stop and see where we were. It’s funny how difficult that would turn out to be. It would be almost a decade before the car finally came to a silent stop on an empty stretch of road a long way down from where we’d started. Almost a decade before we’d hear the clicking of metal under the bonnet and the buzzing of cicadas in the trees all around us.
It’s really quite compelling to read such an ugly topic described in such beautiful prose. In no way does the author glamorise the tragedy of addiction – quite the opposite – but the writing makes the experience tolerable and by turns darkly funny and achingly poignant.
Candy reads like an autobiography, penned by an unnamed narrator, who could be any lost soul on any street corner in the world. The author takes us into the heart and mind of an addict, and exposes in raw, gritty detail the futility, waste and despair. This does not feel like a fictional account, it is far too vividly and emotionally detailed. Their journey is harrowing, confronting and just so damn tragic that it is disturbing to read.
It's a powerful novel that can make you reconsider your views and perceptions. Candy is such a novel, and I imagine it will continue to invade my thoughts for some time to come.
Thank you, Buggy, for inspiring me to read this one.
February 9, 2017
A well written book that reminded me that tragedy happens slowly. It is full of drugs, sex, and mishap. It shows that sometimes the glue that holds relationships together can be the worst for us.
-------------------------------------
I picked this list because I had a book already on it, which is this book, and I saw a lot of others on it that I wish to read in the future. The downside, and possibly an upside, is that the list keeps getting longer every time I look at it. It'll be great to eventually read a lot of these books but it may be a list that I'll never finish. However, I hope to add more of the books to my read tag soon.
First book read in order to complete list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/477
-------------------------------------
I picked this list because I had a book already on it, which is this book, and I saw a lot of others on it that I wish to read in the future. The downside, and possibly an upside, is that the list keeps getting longer every time I look at it. It'll be great to eventually read a lot of these books but it may be a list that I'll never finish. However, I hope to add more of the books to my read tag soon.
First book read in order to complete list:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/477
July 8, 2011
My life only a few years ago, thank god I've been clean for almost 5 years now.
July 2, 2018
Candy
by Luke Davies
I've came to the conclusion if you are new in recovery from any sort of substance abuse this is definitely NOT the book to read for inspiration. In fact, in the beginning of the book, the first few chapters are what we addicts call the “Glory Days!” When drugs were fun, made everything okay, made life feel wonderful, new, exciting, peaceful. When everything from our past that hurt us could be covered up and ignored, as if it never happened. We felt joy in the company of our new using friends. I related so much in the beginning I started to fantasize about my “Glory Days”. This book was indisputably written by an author that had either been through heroin addiction or had someone close to him give every seemingly insignificant detail of what it was like, for the book portrayed, without exaggeration, the exact life of a junkie from the beginning of the book till the end. It was written painfully beautiful, executing the deepest vileness and gruesome misery that come with such a life style. The ways of finding means and ways to get more was perfectly illustrated, as well as, the extent one has to go through to not feel like they are dying from awfulness of withdrawal. The details that were formulated, extraordinarily, could easily bring haunting memories to a recovering addict. It’s amazing how an addict mind works, for even though we know to use again would mean hideous, gruesomeness for our life, our mind still misses the instant gratification that comes with the first warm, comforting, everything in life is okay again fix, and forget the misery that is bound to follow or how difficult it was to get clean in the first place once the vicious cycle has began again. I found myself jealous of the characters in the book, wanting to be there with them in my imagination, using again; THAT IS NOT GOOD FOR SOMEONE IN RECOVERY! The book is so well written it kept me intrigued ostensibly giving me no option but to keep on reading although I knew it wasn’t good for me. I read the book quickly in two sitting because I had to get to the end. I had to remember the terror of addiction and what happens so the fantasy would go away. Addicts are drawn to drama, chaos, and misery, due to the fact, for most of us, it’s the only life we knew or how to cope having started using at such an early age. Clean and sober is an abnormal state for an alcoholic or addict. When not using we feel overwhelming fear, indecisiveness, not knowing what to do or how to act; a foreign land. The ending was exactly as I knew it would be for I had lived this book. Thank you Universe for freedom from this disease, this soul diminishing affliction. If you are not an addict/alcoholic, mostly addict though, I challenge you to read this book! Society views junkies as pathetic, worthless creatures, which have no morals, boundaries, or will power. Which is the farthest, the most ignorant falsehood. It makes me sad, irritated, enraged and sometimes simply laugh when I hear people who have never lived the horrors of addiction portray their thoughts of people who have been there. If you have these thoughts or ideas, read this book, and learn what mental illness means, what addiction and alcoholism truly are scientifically, so you don’t sound so uneducated and silly when talking to someone who knows. I have no doubts after you do these things you will look at a junkie just as you would a person dying from cancer. They are both chronic, progressive, illnesses that are out to destroy, take everything you love and cherish, and ultimately take your life.
by Luke Davies
I've came to the conclusion if you are new in recovery from any sort of substance abuse this is definitely NOT the book to read for inspiration. In fact, in the beginning of the book, the first few chapters are what we addicts call the “Glory Days!” When drugs were fun, made everything okay, made life feel wonderful, new, exciting, peaceful. When everything from our past that hurt us could be covered up and ignored, as if it never happened. We felt joy in the company of our new using friends. I related so much in the beginning I started to fantasize about my “Glory Days”. This book was indisputably written by an author that had either been through heroin addiction or had someone close to him give every seemingly insignificant detail of what it was like, for the book portrayed, without exaggeration, the exact life of a junkie from the beginning of the book till the end. It was written painfully beautiful, executing the deepest vileness and gruesome misery that come with such a life style. The ways of finding means and ways to get more was perfectly illustrated, as well as, the extent one has to go through to not feel like they are dying from awfulness of withdrawal. The details that were formulated, extraordinarily, could easily bring haunting memories to a recovering addict. It’s amazing how an addict mind works, for even though we know to use again would mean hideous, gruesomeness for our life, our mind still misses the instant gratification that comes with the first warm, comforting, everything in life is okay again fix, and forget the misery that is bound to follow or how difficult it was to get clean in the first place once the vicious cycle has began again. I found myself jealous of the characters in the book, wanting to be there with them in my imagination, using again; THAT IS NOT GOOD FOR SOMEONE IN RECOVERY! The book is so well written it kept me intrigued ostensibly giving me no option but to keep on reading although I knew it wasn’t good for me. I read the book quickly in two sitting because I had to get to the end. I had to remember the terror of addiction and what happens so the fantasy would go away. Addicts are drawn to drama, chaos, and misery, due to the fact, for most of us, it’s the only life we knew or how to cope having started using at such an early age. Clean and sober is an abnormal state for an alcoholic or addict. When not using we feel overwhelming fear, indecisiveness, not knowing what to do or how to act; a foreign land. The ending was exactly as I knew it would be for I had lived this book. Thank you Universe for freedom from this disease, this soul diminishing affliction. If you are not an addict/alcoholic, mostly addict though, I challenge you to read this book! Society views junkies as pathetic, worthless creatures, which have no morals, boundaries, or will power. Which is the farthest, the most ignorant falsehood. It makes me sad, irritated, enraged and sometimes simply laugh when I hear people who have never lived the horrors of addiction portray their thoughts of people who have been there. If you have these thoughts or ideas, read this book, and learn what mental illness means, what addiction and alcoholism truly are scientifically, so you don’t sound so uneducated and silly when talking to someone who knows. I have no doubts after you do these things you will look at a junkie just as you would a person dying from cancer. They are both chronic, progressive, illnesses that are out to destroy, take everything you love and cherish, and ultimately take your life.
April 17, 2019
3- Candy is the bleak love story of two heroin addicts as they ebb and flow through life together across Australia. It is an intriguing slow burn, and although I stayed interested in the story the whole time, I didn't feel like it was pieced together well enough to deserve more than 3 stars. I felt that the ending, in particular, was shoddy. This was the first book I read about addiction and I definitely believe it satiated my interest for now.
April 25, 2020
Read it within 12 hours, I just could not put it down. Absolutely tragic read, but incredibly beautiful. You can't help but sympathize with the characters, wanting them to succeed, to move past their addiction and live the dreams they keep insisting will come tomorrow, the next week, within the next few months, if only they can kick the habit. You want to believe in them, you really do...
September 23, 2016
I don't know how you could write a book about heroine unless you lived it. I waited till I was finished to find out and always try to do that when a question concerning the authors life comes up while reading. This book takes on a long time period and I felt as though I was trying to drop heroine the whole time. My favorite quote was something that he said about football. I can't find it now because I left the book in a hut in Alaska, but it summed up the felling of caring about sports on TV.
October 25, 2010
When I pick up any book for the first time, I always open it to a random point in the middle and begin reading. I've done this for years, and it's always served as an accurate gauge to the level of writing the author is demonstrating. For the most part, every book is designed to begin with what's called a "hook," which is why most authors will always tell you in their workshops and seminars, "Always begin with action." The idea, if it's not obvious, is to suck the reader in to the point of purchase.
Regarding "Candy," I did not have this option. The first 13 pages were missing, and then another 40 or so subsequent pages, randomly torn out by the last reader. The eventual pitfall of purchasing books on Amazon, I'm afraid, and so Davies' writing was put to the random entry point test in every instance of another four or five or six missing pages. There's no complex way of saying this: Davies can write his a$$ off, and he will suck you in even under the less than ideal circumstances of omitted pages and fragmentation.
"Candy" is exactly what it says it is on the cover: a story of love and addiction. Naturally, one's mind jumps to the other two big junk novels in natural comparison, "Requiem for a Dream" and "Trainspotting," but where Selby Jr. makes the reader crawl through his poor formatting choices and Welsh culture shocks our eyes and minds with Gaelic, it's Davies that gives us the most accessible text with his smooth and dreamy prosaic style, submerging the reader in warm pools of joy and harsh junkie sickness.
Out of the three, "Requiem" still reigns king, but only in regards to its film adaptation.
Davies' "Candy" accurately conveys the junkie lifestyle, its swelling highs and desperate lows more poignantly than I've ever had the pleasure of reading. This is a story of perceived love, but mainly it is a struggle between two people and their ability to connect when chemicals aren't involved. They scam and steal and sell themselves all in the name of love, but it's a love that steadily decays them with every injection. They are aware of the consequences, yet, continue to push the proverbial envelope in the name of devotion, a devotion not necessarily to each other.
There is joy in this novel, hope that is both realized and unrealized, and by the end you've been run ragged by these experiences. "Candy" does everything a novel is supposed to, and by way of a the man-woman-junk dynamic, a few things I haven't seen before.
Great read. Highly recommend.
Regarding "Candy," I did not have this option. The first 13 pages were missing, and then another 40 or so subsequent pages, randomly torn out by the last reader. The eventual pitfall of purchasing books on Amazon, I'm afraid, and so Davies' writing was put to the random entry point test in every instance of another four or five or six missing pages. There's no complex way of saying this: Davies can write his a$$ off, and he will suck you in even under the less than ideal circumstances of omitted pages and fragmentation.
"Candy" is exactly what it says it is on the cover: a story of love and addiction. Naturally, one's mind jumps to the other two big junk novels in natural comparison, "Requiem for a Dream" and "Trainspotting," but where Selby Jr. makes the reader crawl through his poor formatting choices and Welsh culture shocks our eyes and minds with Gaelic, it's Davies that gives us the most accessible text with his smooth and dreamy prosaic style, submerging the reader in warm pools of joy and harsh junkie sickness.
Out of the three, "Requiem" still reigns king, but only in regards to its film adaptation.
Davies' "Candy" accurately conveys the junkie lifestyle, its swelling highs and desperate lows more poignantly than I've ever had the pleasure of reading. This is a story of perceived love, but mainly it is a struggle between two people and their ability to connect when chemicals aren't involved. They scam and steal and sell themselves all in the name of love, but it's a love that steadily decays them with every injection. They are aware of the consequences, yet, continue to push the proverbial envelope in the name of devotion, a devotion not necessarily to each other.
There is joy in this novel, hope that is both realized and unrealized, and by the end you've been run ragged by these experiences. "Candy" does everything a novel is supposed to, and by way of a the man-woman-junk dynamic, a few things I haven't seen before.
Great read. Highly recommend.
November 16, 2009
I have plenty of friends who I could never convince that reading a miserable book is enjoyable. However, I think that miserable books offer the chance to feel strong empathy, served up alongside pity and schadenfreude. It’s the book equivalent of sitting inside on a rainy day and watching through your window as people outside get soaked to the skin.
Candy, a gruelling ride through heroin addiction, has nary a light-hearted moment to be found. Even the very first chapter, where the narrator reminisces about happy times with his girlfriend, Candy, includes a terrifying, near-deadly overdose. And yet, while depressing, it’s also a pretty good read.
It’s structured as a series of vignettes/short stories, keeping loose the overall narrative of sinking deep into heroin addiction and then trying to climb out. It’s not a page-turner by any stretch of the imagination, but it is compelling. Inevitably, some chapters are better than others: Candy is best at its quirkiest, such as when the drug-addled characters decide to breed their own master race of cats.
Some of the novel’s more frustrating aspects are inherent: since drug addiction sucks the humanity out of you, the characters – including beautiful, personality-free Candy – are mere cardboard cut-outs. It’s difficult to care about such 2-dimensional characters. Similarly, Luke Davies’ prose is occasionally beautiful, but he describes such mundane hellishness that there’s no real showcase for his talent.
If you’re up for a harrowing read about addiction, you could do worse than to read Candy. If you like your books a little less gritty, I assume you’ve stopped reading this review already.
P.S. For the record, my favourite book about heroin addiction is Melvin Burgess’s Junk (also published as Smack), which is well-plotted with great characterization.
Candy, a gruelling ride through heroin addiction, has nary a light-hearted moment to be found. Even the very first chapter, where the narrator reminisces about happy times with his girlfriend, Candy, includes a terrifying, near-deadly overdose. And yet, while depressing, it’s also a pretty good read.
It’s structured as a series of vignettes/short stories, keeping loose the overall narrative of sinking deep into heroin addiction and then trying to climb out. It’s not a page-turner by any stretch of the imagination, but it is compelling. Inevitably, some chapters are better than others: Candy is best at its quirkiest, such as when the drug-addled characters decide to breed their own master race of cats.
Some of the novel’s more frustrating aspects are inherent: since drug addiction sucks the humanity out of you, the characters – including beautiful, personality-free Candy – are mere cardboard cut-outs. It’s difficult to care about such 2-dimensional characters. Similarly, Luke Davies’ prose is occasionally beautiful, but he describes such mundane hellishness that there’s no real showcase for his talent.
If you’re up for a harrowing read about addiction, you could do worse than to read Candy. If you like your books a little less gritty, I assume you’ve stopped reading this review already.
P.S. For the record, my favourite book about heroin addiction is Melvin Burgess’s Junk (also published as Smack), which is well-plotted with great characterization.
November 10, 2017
I really did love this book. Overall I thought this was the best book ive read. However I did see the movie before I read this book and I thought that the movie was better than the book. I did not like how they ended the book, I would have liked if they put the movie ending into the book instead.
May 17, 2023
"Okay, fuck, tomorrow. I don't care. Tomorrow we stop using."
This was literally like watching a car crash over and over again in slow motion.
This was literally like watching a car crash over and over again in slow motion.
April 26, 2016
A beautifully written train wreck. I blew through this in just a couple hours, because I couldn't turn away, I HAD to stay along for this terrible terrible ride.
I've known many Candy's in my life, I've lost many friends to Heroin.
I NEVER understood the appeal of this death sentence lifestyle. I wanted to get inside the mind of an addict. Well, this novel certainly was the epitome of what I was searching for as far as resolution and closure. I am proud of myself for never sinking into this lifestyle, despite many of my friends turning to Heroin to bury the pain of their hurtful pasts.
It was skin crawling uncomfortable, it was absolutely heart wrenching and disgusting, it was HILARIOUS, and I found myself keeling over in laughing fits during the craziest moments.
But there is absolutely nothing funny about this drug, this drug will encompass you and tear your life apart and then spit you out, a skeleton of who you once were.
I immediately ordered the movie. Because there is something about watching this train wreck romance, you keep hoping they will get their shit together, even when all the odds are against them, and you know there isn't a chance in hell they will leave this lifestyle unscathed.
I would read absolutely anything this author wrote.
I've known many Candy's in my life, I've lost many friends to Heroin.
I NEVER understood the appeal of this death sentence lifestyle. I wanted to get inside the mind of an addict. Well, this novel certainly was the epitome of what I was searching for as far as resolution and closure. I am proud of myself for never sinking into this lifestyle, despite many of my friends turning to Heroin to bury the pain of their hurtful pasts.
It was skin crawling uncomfortable, it was absolutely heart wrenching and disgusting, it was HILARIOUS, and I found myself keeling over in laughing fits during the craziest moments.
But there is absolutely nothing funny about this drug, this drug will encompass you and tear your life apart and then spit you out, a skeleton of who you once were.
I immediately ordered the movie. Because there is something about watching this train wreck romance, you keep hoping they will get their shit together, even when all the odds are against them, and you know there isn't a chance in hell they will leave this lifestyle unscathed.
I would read absolutely anything this author wrote.
June 23, 2024
My favourite book in the world. I've read it so many times. I laugh. I cry. I fall in love with the characters. This book is amazingly written and raw. Don't bother with the movie - even though it's fantastic, but the book is on another level!!!
Updated to add:
Candy is my all time favourite.Book. I don’t even know how many times I have read it, but must bs getting.close to needing another read. I think I have also bought the physical book about 7 times too, as I was constantly insisting other people read it. Unfortunately, I can no longer buy physical books as I have filled 4 large book cases and I have piles of books spread all over the house 😂
I swore I would never use an e-reader. But have to admit my Kobo has been worth every cent and then some. So next time I want to read Candy, it will be on my Kobo, along with the other few hundred books there.
Updated to add:
Candy is my all time favourite.Book. I don’t even know how many times I have read it, but must bs getting.close to needing another read. I think I have also bought the physical book about 7 times too, as I was constantly insisting other people read it. Unfortunately, I can no longer buy physical books as I have filled 4 large book cases and I have piles of books spread all over the house 😂
I swore I would never use an e-reader. But have to admit my Kobo has been worth every cent and then some. So next time I want to read Candy, it will be on my Kobo, along with the other few hundred books there.
September 24, 2011
I honestly did not want this book to end!!
It was brilliant, haunting, utterly cruel and true love story. It wracks your brain, wrecks your heart, and leaves you wanting more. There were times when I couldn't put it down, times when I wanted it to end because I thought something really really bad was going to happen, and times when I fell so madly in love that I just didn't know how much more I could handle.
This has to be one of the most real books I have read. I kind of wonder if it is real or not. Is there any truth to this story?
Told in 1st person pov you never learn the name of the man telling the story. NEVER once!! I thought we would learn it on the last page but never once. So, was it the author? Or was it just a man inside his head? A character that I fell so deeply in love with that I wonder if he is now my own private addiction.
The man telling the story is a heroin addict. He meets a nice girl. An innocent girl who he falls in love with and wants to share everything with... even his habit.
From cover to cover you learn how they lived their lives in Australia, exploring each other, and scamming the masses to get more money for drugs. Candy seems to be the main bread winner by working in a brothel. The man in the story does most of the deals or scams or sells books that he stole for a bit of extra cash.
It's a beautiful story. I recommend it to everyone. I feel this will probably replace Party Monster for me. I can't tell you how many times I have read that story and there is no way I can predict how many times I will be reading this one.
Differences between the movie and the book
The man telling the story's name is DAN in the movie and in the book they never tell his name.
In the movie they are in a swimming pool many times. I don't remember once when they went swimming in the book.
In the movie CASPER has a big part. He doesn't have a very big part in the book. He's mentioned a bit but not as much in the movie.
The little girl in the movie at the wedding is (in the book) Candy's aunt's kid. I guess that would make her a cousin.
In the movie Candy is really into art but in the book Candy wanted to be an actress.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot more but I think everyone should watch the movie first then read the book. That's the way I did it and I wasn't at all disappointed. I'm not sure how I would feel if I had done it in reverse. The poetry in this book is just unreal. You can tell that the author really put his heart and soul in this book. I absolutely loved it!! IF I could five it more stars I would. Super duper loved!
It was brilliant, haunting, utterly cruel and true love story. It wracks your brain, wrecks your heart, and leaves you wanting more. There were times when I couldn't put it down, times when I wanted it to end because I thought something really really bad was going to happen, and times when I fell so madly in love that I just didn't know how much more I could handle.
This has to be one of the most real books I have read. I kind of wonder if it is real or not. Is there any truth to this story?
Told in 1st person pov you never learn the name of the man telling the story. NEVER once!! I thought we would learn it on the last page but never once. So, was it the author? Or was it just a man inside his head? A character that I fell so deeply in love with that I wonder if he is now my own private addiction.
The man telling the story is a heroin addict. He meets a nice girl. An innocent girl who he falls in love with and wants to share everything with... even his habit.
From cover to cover you learn how they lived their lives in Australia, exploring each other, and scamming the masses to get more money for drugs. Candy seems to be the main bread winner by working in a brothel. The man in the story does most of the deals or scams or sells books that he stole for a bit of extra cash.
It's a beautiful story. I recommend it to everyone. I feel this will probably replace Party Monster for me. I can't tell you how many times I have read that story and there is no way I can predict how many times I will be reading this one.
Differences between the movie and the book
The man telling the story's name is DAN in the movie and in the book they never tell his name.
In the movie they are in a swimming pool many times. I don't remember once when they went swimming in the book.
In the movie CASPER has a big part. He doesn't have a very big part in the book. He's mentioned a bit but not as much in the movie.
The little girl in the movie at the wedding is (in the book) Candy's aunt's kid. I guess that would make her a cousin.
In the movie Candy is really into art but in the book Candy wanted to be an actress.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot more but I think everyone should watch the movie first then read the book. That's the way I did it and I wasn't at all disappointed. I'm not sure how I would feel if I had done it in reverse. The poetry in this book is just unreal. You can tell that the author really put his heart and soul in this book. I absolutely loved it!! IF I could five it more stars I would. Super duper loved!
November 3, 2011
I was forced to read this for a module at university and I hated this book. The tutor for the module told the class after we read it that she was very good friends with the author. She took an immediate dislike to myself and a friend because we didn't go down the sychophantic route like everyone else in the class and told her we hated it.
If you want to read a good drugs book(by that, I mean a total headfuck of a book) then go read 'Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs.
If you want to read a good drugs book(by that, I mean a total headfuck of a book) then go read 'Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs.
January 6, 2015
I was wary at first of another doomed and romantic heroin memoir (Dope opera) and the style struck me as a bit flouncy and breezy at first. They are soooo in love. Her first hit of hammer is soooo fantastic. She is soooo beautiful. This is a literary area that I eye critically because it is well worn territory for me and I am suspicious of tourists. Then I see the author is using his hero's romantic heedlessness to plunge us headfirst into the horrors of gear. Its unflinching, very honest, and pretty damn accurate.
What's lacking for me in the end, however, is any sort of explanation for the incredibly weak, sniveling, pretentious, amoral waste of space our hero is. Of course, heroin addicts are generally snivelling, weak and amoral, and there are rarely any exceptions. However I found him particularly unlikeable and that bothered me. Never mind his affection for great movies and literature (he points out, accurately, that Junkies are often readers and cinephiles). In the end it comes to this: mate, you are pimping your girlfriend. Of course, addiction is the ultimate form of helplessness, and that should be enough to tell us why the characters are so eagerly compelled to be as self destructive as they are. Heroin is its own reason, I suppose? Of course, all this could just be another testament to the narrative's effectiveness.
As for the rest of it: the endless cycle of addiction, the constant desire to quit followed by the horrible inability to quit, the never-ending downward spiral, the health and money woes: are all depicted with such alarming fidelity I had to put the book down. There's a fascinating bit towards the end that addresses gear as it is often produced in New Zealand and Australia, through chemical extraction from Codeine. Never heard of it until then.
In any event, non users will probably want to vomit at certain points, so be forewarned. Previous users might feel a bit itchy,filled with dread remorse and hunger, and then be grateful they passed through it.
What's lacking for me in the end, however, is any sort of explanation for the incredibly weak, sniveling, pretentious, amoral waste of space our hero is. Of course, heroin addicts are generally snivelling, weak and amoral, and there are rarely any exceptions. However I found him particularly unlikeable and that bothered me. Never mind his affection for great movies and literature (he points out, accurately, that Junkies are often readers and cinephiles). In the end it comes to this: mate, you are pimping your girlfriend. Of course, addiction is the ultimate form of helplessness, and that should be enough to tell us why the characters are so eagerly compelled to be as self destructive as they are. Heroin is its own reason, I suppose? Of course, all this could just be another testament to the narrative's effectiveness.
As for the rest of it: the endless cycle of addiction, the constant desire to quit followed by the horrible inability to quit, the never-ending downward spiral, the health and money woes: are all depicted with such alarming fidelity I had to put the book down. There's a fascinating bit towards the end that addresses gear as it is often produced in New Zealand and Australia, through chemical extraction from Codeine. Never heard of it until then.
In any event, non users will probably want to vomit at certain points, so be forewarned. Previous users might feel a bit itchy,filled with dread remorse and hunger, and then be grateful they passed through it.
August 8, 2007
this is an amazing book. it's sort of the "trainspotting" stereotypical heroin-addict book, but it's really an inside look. i feel like luke davies must have either been an addict once himself or done an inordinate amount of research to get this right. the is the finest book about love and addiction i've ever read. the two concepts are remarkably alike, and davies probes not just the love of and addiction to a drug, but the former and latter to a person, and that's what makes the book so incredibly alive. very highly recommended.
(and mara, i still need a replacement - it was one of my favorites! :) sigh. oh, well. i hope it's floating around boston somewhere, getting some good reading out of it.)
(and mara, i still need a replacement - it was one of my favorites! :) sigh. oh, well. i hope it's floating around boston somewhere, getting some good reading out of it.)
August 24, 2016
Grim but gripping true story of a pair of Aussie heroin addicts. I heard the author interviewed and just had to read it.
Sadly, it's all too believable and reminds me of In My Skin by Kate Holden, another all too real story of addiction by people you would assume would know better. Never assume.
Sadly, it's all too believable and reminds me of In My Skin by Kate Holden, another all too real story of addiction by people you would assume would know better. Never assume.
April 23, 2025
fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i’ve been meaning to read this for so long since the film is one of my favourites of all time, putting it off only because i was worried it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. i should not have been.
this is book is devastating. i’ll need to sit with it for a while in order to properly digest it- it’ll take a long time for this pit in my stomach to dissipate. i knew exactly how it would end, how these stories always end, and still felt sick with hope. i’m absolutely exhausted
i’ve been meaning to read this for so long since the film is one of my favourites of all time, putting it off only because i was worried it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. i should not have been.
this is book is devastating. i’ll need to sit with it for a while in order to properly digest it- it’ll take a long time for this pit in my stomach to dissipate. i knew exactly how it would end, how these stories always end, and still felt sick with hope. i’m absolutely exhausted
December 16, 2019
!! أدي أخرة المخدرات
January 22, 2011
23.01.2011;
Ok it's been a while since I read this & only have vague feelings and thoughts on it, feeling it was intense and tedious at the same time. Same old story of addiction and love gone wrong. Tonight I saw the film & like it or not was swayed by Heath Ledger's beautiful lips. Yeah yeah. Ok - I'm probably shallow. In the book I felt his character the typical junkie but the film portrayed his deep love for Candy, his fear, his conscience and his need to finally do the right thing and kick the habit. I could be wrong but don't remember Candy being so off the wall in the book, nor so twisted by drugs not to see his love - he tried so hard to make things right at the end - even his pitiful attempts to make a skylight at the farm, and cook the out of date frozen chicken endear him - while her breakdown(?) more aptly some kind of psychosis kind of frightened me and the hospital setting fairly threw me in a spin being shot at Greenwich Rehabilitation Hospital at Lane Cove (NSW) which happened to be one of the hospitals that my mother was in just before she died two months ago - & that is so weird, seeing a film where you were recently standing that has so many other memories and connections - it makes for major conflict in your brain.
My loyalties to each character were opposite to what I felt in the book. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing - or bad directing I'm not sure. It does enrich ones vision of things, enlarges your perspective so that not everything is black and white. There are grey areas. It makes you think twice about the author's intent, did I miss it or did the director change it?.
Ok it's been a while since I read this & only have vague feelings and thoughts on it, feeling it was intense and tedious at the same time. Same old story of addiction and love gone wrong. Tonight I saw the film & like it or not was swayed by Heath Ledger's beautiful lips. Yeah yeah. Ok - I'm probably shallow. In the book I felt his character the typical junkie but the film portrayed his deep love for Candy, his fear, his conscience and his need to finally do the right thing and kick the habit. I could be wrong but don't remember Candy being so off the wall in the book, nor so twisted by drugs not to see his love - he tried so hard to make things right at the end - even his pitiful attempts to make a skylight at the farm, and cook the out of date frozen chicken endear him - while her breakdown(?) more aptly some kind of psychosis kind of frightened me and the hospital setting fairly threw me in a spin being shot at Greenwich Rehabilitation Hospital at Lane Cove (NSW) which happened to be one of the hospitals that my mother was in just before she died two months ago - & that is so weird, seeing a film where you were recently standing that has so many other memories and connections - it makes for major conflict in your brain.
My loyalties to each character were opposite to what I felt in the book. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing - or bad directing I'm not sure. It does enrich ones vision of things, enlarges your perspective so that not everything is black and white. There are grey areas. It makes you think twice about the author's intent, did I miss it or did the director change it?.
May 11, 2012
Candy is Luke Davies putting his rhythmic poetics to prose in a study of love & addiction. Where heroin is a Goddess worshipped by lovers: Candy & Dan. It's a pretty desolate read. The characters are not likeable or sympathetic which the film by Neil Armfield corrects. We know very little about their life before addiction therefore they have never appeared innocent. The self destructive & repetitious patterns of use, use, use & the occasional attempt to get clean gets pretty mundane. But the energy is there in the prose and it kept me hooked.
The italicised passages used heavily in the second half of the novel were particularly beautiful:
Adrift. At times it seems that I am floating in the beauty of docility. Pulling the needle from my arm, I succumb again and again to the luscious undertow of the infinite spaces between atoms. My arm an estuary of light in which all rivers gather .
Also, because I love it, here is an excerpt of a passage Luke Davies provides by T.E. Lawrence's from 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', which summarises really well how afflicted these characters are by their craving for H.
'We were a self-centred army without parade or gesture, devoted to a purpose so ravenous that it devoured all our strength, a hope so transcendent that our earlier ambitions faded in its glare...'.
3.5 stars.
The italicised passages used heavily in the second half of the novel were particularly beautiful:
Adrift. At times it seems that I am floating in the beauty of docility. Pulling the needle from my arm, I succumb again and again to the luscious undertow of the infinite spaces between atoms. My arm an estuary of light in which all rivers gather .
Also, because I love it, here is an excerpt of a passage Luke Davies provides by T.E. Lawrence's from 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom', which summarises really well how afflicted these characters are by their craving for H.
'We were a self-centred army without parade or gesture, devoted to a purpose so ravenous that it devoured all our strength, a hope so transcendent that our earlier ambitions faded in its glare...'.
3.5 stars.
April 17, 2012
I liked this better when it was called "Trainspotting." But this Aussie spin on the addicted youth subgenre has its own disgusting charms. The narrator, an unnamed minor-league scam artist, and the beautiful but deranged Candy fall in love, more with smack than with each other. Love is grand, but not so grand as being high all the time. Candy supports both their habits, earning "bucketloads" as a high-class call girl coz everyone knows there's nothing sexier than a junkie twitching and scratching herself raw while she's waiting for you to finish, so she can go stick needles in the festering sores on her arms. That's a good example of the major problem with this novel: Luke Davies (who looks more like teen dreamboat Luke Perry in his author photo) can't decide whether to portray the ugly reality of heroin addiction and all the abscesses, vomiting, scabs and degradation that entails, or the doomed but glamorous romance of the die-young-stay-pretty Hollywood junkie (hence, the Heath Ledger movie). So he tries to do both and winds up neither here nor there. It's an entertaining novel -- if you're the kind of person amused by the idea of DIY crab ranches -- but if you're jonesing for serious literature, "Candy" is the equivalent of a spike full of baking soda.
Read
May 19, 2025Effing hell. Piercing but not self-indulgent. The Syd / Melb backdrop made it that much better.
A little while in I noticed the dude’s false conception of the future enabled his self-destructive drug use moment to moment. It was gratifying and a shock to read this explicitly in the last paragraphs of the novel. It confirmed to me that this was an important element to have picked up on. Obviously this way of thinking was playing out in an extreme context, however I saw myself in it, so that was a little confronting.
A little while in I noticed the dude’s false conception of the future enabled his self-destructive drug use moment to moment. It was gratifying and a shock to read this explicitly in the last paragraphs of the novel. It confirmed to me that this was an important element to have picked up on. Obviously this way of thinking was playing out in an extreme context, however I saw myself in it, so that was a little confronting.
March 21, 2024
stuck to the pages on this one. the authors writing style mimicked the state of the main character and i loved how tragic and beautifully wrong this story was. found this book at a book store bag sale and im so glad i picked it up! never knew what was coming next. definitely recommend!
September 11, 2021
An Australian Requiem for a Dream. The beauty in the ‘Truth’ chapters and the ending made this book.
July 15, 2024
I've read many books that feature the struggles of drug addiction before but none of them have hit as hard as this one. I think addiction is one of those things that is hard to understand from the outside, but this book really opened my eyes as to how heroin becomes your No. 1 concern in every single moment of your life. When you take a hit, you are planning for the next one. When you want to quit, you take a hit to celebrate. The desperation of detoxing and the knowledge that you're throwing your life to shit is only eased by another shot.
There are a lot of very tough moments throughout the novel, and I couldn't keep my eyes off it. When I wasn't reading, I kept thinking of the slow-motion train-wreck that it all is. Heroin is not romanticized, and when the narrator does romanticize it, you see the irony in it. The effects of withdrawal are treated in detail, and not glossed over as in other books. It shows you the real painful reality of being dependent on something you can't control, while making for an extremely compelling and entertaining story.
There are a lot of very tough moments throughout the novel, and I couldn't keep my eyes off it. When I wasn't reading, I kept thinking of the slow-motion train-wreck that it all is. Heroin is not romanticized, and when the narrator does romanticize it, you see the irony in it. The effects of withdrawal are treated in detail, and not glossed over as in other books. It shows you the real painful reality of being dependent on something you can't control, while making for an extremely compelling and entertaining story.
July 24, 2025
I haven't yet seen the movie & had no idea how this was going to end... I'm so glad that was the case! I was hooked from the moment I picked this book up. I felt like I was a third to their fucked up love story & I was so desperately rooting for both of them. This book really moved me - it didn't pretend to be eloquent, it was just totally raw. 5 stars !!!!!
July 16, 2024
Was just hoping to read an Australian book, not expecting to read one of the best novels I've ever read
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