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| Author | Luke Davies |
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| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Publication date | 16 June 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 (Paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0345423879 (paperback edition) |
Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction is a novel by Luke Davies
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Plot lntroduction
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Candy is a novel of love and addiction; a first person account of one man's love for the two pillars of his existence, which both happen to be Candy. One is a beautiful young dancer of suburban pedigree, the other is heroin. Luke Davies brings the reader through the lives of the countless individuals ensnared by contemporary heroin addiction.
Plot summary
Candy came into his life when supply was bountiful; times were good and her arrival only made things better. Both looking for excitement they found more than they bargained for. He felt that he had found his kindred spirit, his twin: he wanted to share absolutely everything with her. He fell in love; she fell double time, for him and his addiction. Now she was a part of him, a part of his problem. In the early days of their mutual love they were on a wild ride that expanded their senses and heightened their passion for one another. Money runs out and reality kicks in. They know they have to stop before addiction sets in, no one told Candy the anguish associated with getting clean. No one told her that she was addicted after her first taste. Things fall apart, hard. Feeding their addiction consumes their every waking hour. He runs second-rate scams while Candy hocks her arse. Dreams are put off or lost forever. The day to quit is around the corner but it never comes. Detox is a miserable failure a multitude of times. Life is hard, except when they’re stoned; then life is beautiful or at least bearable. Love holds them together in a world of inescapable addiction. The only way to lose the demon is to lose one another. If you love someone let them go; they chose life over the one-way path they had been following for too long. Candy is a love story. It is also a novel about addiction. From the heady narcissism of the narrator's first days with his new lover, Candy, and the relative innocence of their shared habit, Candy charts their decline. Candy becomes a prostitute, the narrator becomes a scam artist, and smack becomes the total and only focus of their lives. But this is not just another junkie novel: Davies is a very fine writer and Candy is confronting, painful, sexy, tender and at times darkly hilarious. A remarkable novel.
Awards and nominations
Shortlisted, Christina Stead Prize for fiction, New South Wales Premer's Literary Awards 1999 Joint Winner, Best Young Australian Novelist, Sydney Morning Herald 1998 Shortlisted, Addison Wesley Longman Award for the Best Cover/Jacket D
Film adaptation
In 2006, the film adaptation, also called Candy, was released. The film stars Heath Ledger as Dan, Abbie Cornish as Candy, Geoffrey Rush as Casper, Noni Hazlehurst as Mrs. Wyatt and Tony Martin as Mr. Wyatt. It was directed by Neil Armfield and produced by Emily Sherman and Margaret Fink.
Release details
- 1998, USE, Ballantine Books ISBN 0345423879, Pub date 16 June 1998, Softcover
Sources
http://www.allenandunwin.com/Bookseller/product.aspx?isbn=9781864483390
