Reviews

The Circle by Dave Eggers

yarnpunk's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

macloo's review against another edition

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3.0

This was a very speedy read because there's nothing to savor here, just 500 pages of dialogue (mostly) between people who are taking surveys, making decisions about online and real-world privacy, and pretty much figuring out how to turn every breath we take into data points to be analyzed by marketers. So yes, as all reviewers have no doubt said, it is a dystopian view of a very near future.

The Circle is a company undisguisedly similar to Facebook -- comparisons to Google are also appropriate. The portrayal of a kind of addiction to high ratings (97 is not good enough, so send a followup to see if you can get it changed to 100) reminded me of present-day college students, many of whom are distraught when they don't get an A.

This book gave me several things to think about -- and since I deal with many of these issues and potential futures all the time in my work, that was a little surprising. I enjoyed the ideas brought out, put forward, but this is barely a novel at all. More like an essay thinly disguised as a novel. If you demand character development or skillful use of language, this is not that kind of novel. I enjoyed it but would be hesitant to recommend it to many people.

studentealdente's review

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3.0

Kolejna książka tego autora która zmierza do niewiadomo czego. Może podróż ma nam wystarczyć ale nie jest to mój ulubiony rodzaj prowadzenia narracji.

hanbran's review

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2.0

This book is, overall, better than I thought it was going to be after the first 30 pages or so, so I'm glad I pushed it out.

Like most of Dave Eggers' work, it is well written with touches of humor, and it kept me reading. It's an interesting thought experiment, seeing the dystopian tropes we're all familiar with made very possible with technology we're all familiar with. For that, the book gets two stars.

Unfortunately, as many reviewers pointed out below, the main character is SUPREMELY unlikeable -- not in that great "love to hate" kind of way or in the thoughtful "mirror of ourselves" kind of way, but rather in the insipid, childishly selfish, and infuriatingly dumb kind of way. Even all that might be overlooked if she weren't so damn boring. When Mercer tells her she's changed and that she's become boring ever since working for the Circle, I snorted out loud in disbelief -- no way was this girl EVER interesting.

Dystopian protagonists work either because they fight against the regime or because they slowly come to drink the Kool-Aid of the regime. Mae does neither -- she's invested, hook, line, and sinker, from day one. It's even more upsetting when you realize that she's supposed to be us. Unfortunately, it doesn't read so much as a profound indictment of society as a crotchety old person shaking his fist at the young folk. He may be right, but it's difficult to take seriously when it feels like a rambling scolding.

Moreover, we get no relief from this vapid character, as nearly every other character in the book is more or less the same. Annie, Francis, the other Circlers... ugh, my skin crawled every time one of them spoke. Mae's parents are at least different from the others, but they were too underdeveloped to add much to the story, and Mercer was too heavy-handed and one-dimensional to carry his weight as a character.

The worst part is that the very important message about privacy versus security is significantly diluted because, as Eggers famously bragged, he did NO research before writing. That's all well and good for a thought experiment, but unfortunately, when your dystopian novel is supposed to a logical extension of actual current trends, and when you want your book to actually mean something to your audience, and when your audience knows more about a topic than you do, you have to do a little research about the topic. I don't mean he should have toured Google's facilities -- I mean there's no way a future version of ourselves (Mae) needs so much technology explained to her (and, by proxy, to us). Those heavy-handed moments of exposition kept taking me out of the book.

Have a little faith in your readers, Eggers -- we can understand basic tech, and we can handle an actual nuanced discussion of an important issue instead of a ham-fisted doomsday prediction.

eshj's review

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5.0

Breathtaking.
I didn't like [b:What is the What|4952|What is the What|Dave Eggers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328837457s/4952.jpg|3271214] and [b:A Hologram for the King|13722902|A Hologram for the King|Dave Eggers|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337179987s/13722902.jpg|19355962] as much as I liked this book. Yes, the story is far from being real, but who cares? I don't think it was Eggers' goal to come up with a story so close to reality, it's sience fiction. I enjoyed reading it, couldn't stop.
What I missed in Eggers' story was a more adequate description about Mae's emotions and feelings to all of this. Even when her parents were insulted by the Circle multiple times, she stayed calm and just moved along, like nothing happened. Same thing happened when Mercer killed himself, which was really predictive. Eggers' just took a jump from Mae being a unhappy and unknown employer of a small company to a Mae who's acting like a machine and couldn't care less about family and privacy.

daybringer's review

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dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I read this for a course in college. While I found the subject matter to be somewhat poignant- only moreso year by year- the story itself was boring and cliché.

fihli's review against another edition

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1.0

The Circle lacks subtlety and depth, and it doesn't bring anything new to the table. All of the concepts have been done before, and way better.
Also, the main character is incredibly naive to the point of stupidity and a doormat, but not likable or relatable.

jdvough's review against another edition

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3.0

This book started out with promise. I liked reading about the technical initiatives at the company called the Circle, a fictional amalgam of all today's and future social internet companies. But, I began to lose interest when the characters all became one dimensional and extreme to the nth degree. The Luddite was unwilling to compromise. The newbie became unwilling to question the company mission. The populace were overwhelmingly sheepish with little or no dissent. It turned what started out as an exciting work of speculative fiction and turned it into an allegory against social media.

allmybookshit's review

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3.0

I just.... can’t even give this...five stars...because the ending..... Having a character that is that easily influenced and idiotic almost seems unrealistic but also could be realistic I don’t know. I just finished it five minutes ago though I’m overwhelmed.

jencalk's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75