Candy

by Terry Southern & Mason Hoffenberg
One out of Five Stars

I’m trying desperately to understand Candy. Written in 1958 by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg, I could easily look up original reviews and analysis of the book and piggy-back onto them; that would be the easy route, and the one which would best serve to illustrate my intelligence, but would also be a cheat – I either got it or I didn’t.

Candy Christian is a beautiful, sexy, naive young woman who, unfortunately for her, has no problem attracting the attention of the opposite sex. She is a young lady who feels it is her duty to satisfy the needs of these men, if their claim is that they need her. Rather than seeing that she is being taken advantage of, she feels it’s her duty to give them what they want; and that’s the naive part of Candy. What we witness in Candy is this young woman going from one perverse sexual encounter to another – but why?

I’m assuming there’s an underlying message behind Candy’s story that I’m failing to grasp, and I’m hoping there is, because if there isn’t, I can’t quite understand why we’d want to go on this journey with her. There is no character development. It’s not like based on her experiences Candy grows, shaking off her innocence, maturing into and understanding the true nature of her relationship with the opposite sex and what they expect from her; and, it’s not that many of the sex scenes described in the book don’t border on the ridiculous, which they do. As such, Candy is one of those books, a fast read, that leaves you wondering why it exists at all.

*Now time to look up the history of the book.

According to a cursory search, Candy now makes sense. It was nothing more than a pay-day, if we’re to believe co-author Mason Hoffenberg; a book written for a pay cheque from a publisher who specialized in erotic novels. Candy wasn’t written for any greater or specific purpose but to titillate, and surprised both authors when it unexpectedly became a success.

While 1958 readers may have found it exciting, and while I enjoyed Terry Southern’s novel Blue Movie, which was also highly erotic, I have to say, Candy really doesn’t stand the test of time – not even as an erotic novel.

Also avoid the 1968 movie, starring Ewa Aulin as Candy Christian and featuring such heavyweights as Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, James Coburn, John Huston, Walter Matthau, John Astin and Ringo Starr, as a Mexican gardener. If that doesn’t give you an idea how bad it is I don’t know what will.