I bought this book second hand as l saw it was written by Terry Southern, who l know from such films as 'The Magic Christian' (starring Ringo), 'Easy Rider', and 'Dr Strangelove'). He has a satirical piss taking style that l like and can identify with, and 'Candy' was also advertised on the cover as being banned upon it's release in 1958 (so of course l had to give it a go and read it). Southern wrote it under the name of 'Maxwell Fenton', and there were sex scenes a plenty, but to these jaded and unshockable eyes, it wasn't that outrageous. Supposedly based on Voltaire's 'Candide' (one of my favourite books), Candy Christian is 18 year old, sexy, innocent and naive, who is repeatedly taken advantage of (mainly in sexual ways), by just about everybody that she comes into contact with. She on the other hand, always sees the good side of everything and deludes herself concerning their motives towards her. It's comedic and would have pushed boundaries back in the 1950's, but l don't consider it any worse than some of Tom Sharpe's books, which l find much funnier (and also dirty). I'm glad that l have read this, but would recommend some Tom Sharpe stuff instead of this if there had to be a choice, especially 'Riotous Assembly' and 'Indecent Exposure', which deal with Apartheid in South Africa (they're a lot funnier than that sounds). Don't let the TV series of 'Blot On The Landscape' put you off, the books are much better.
toodle pip
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