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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
Guess you could call this our generation's 1984. While it's an exaggerated version of Google with some Facebook spread in, it's not too far off. Made me think about some issues as a programmer and the virtual world that we are all creating.
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not like this book at first. The main character was annoying, and the introduction felt a bit derivative. However, as you read through the book, you find nuggets of interesting concepts and complex moral dilemmas. Eventually, you realize that the introduction was intentionally off-putting, and it helped serve the plot and its themes. It is worth reading, especially as we increasingly reevaluate our approach to technology and social media.
fucking awful. 1984 for stupid people and misogynists. the writing and the concept were on a kindergarten level AT BEST. was incredibly predictable and just reproduced shitty conspiracy theories. would give 0 stars if i could.
O livro é meio parada em grande parte, mas é legalzinho!
Dystopian near-future page turner, thinly veiled book about Facebook but was pretty interesting to read since it had been written in 2013 — now that so much tech in the book has actually been created
Overall I was disappointed by the main character — a young impressionable woman who spends the whole book bumbling around taking orders from men and believing whatever they say when I felt like she should’ve been a little less dumbo and shallow. Her absolute lack of personality and unflinching naïveté make it difficult to read … I hope and pray we left female characters like this back in the early 2000s.
Overall I was disappointed by the main character — a young impressionable woman who spends the whole book bumbling around taking orders from men and believing whatever they say when I felt like she should’ve been a little less dumbo and shallow. Her absolute lack of personality and unflinching naïveté make it difficult to read … I hope and pray we left female characters like this back in the early 2000s.
tense
medium-paced
I will confess that I love Dave Eggers and his ability to write about any subject out there. Therefore, I'm able to look past the repetitive use of the word "algorithms" which he uses to explain the more delicate technologies that The Circle creates and the fact that someone with a red pen in their hand didn't catch a few misspellings, and come to the conclusion that this book fills me with anxiety, fear, depression, anger, dread, exasperation... But all in a good way, of course! I feel those feelings in the way that any work from the pantheon of dystopian literature should make someone feel. Am I upset with the ending? Yes. Do I have reason to be? Yes. Does it have anything at all to do with the style of writing? Absolutely, definitively, no! There was no other way for this to end.
The thing that sets this book's concept and characters apart from 1984 or Brave New World or Hunger Games, - the world it's describing and creating - the setting is not 100 years from today, it's not decades from today, it's not a made up land or universe...It's. Right. Freaking. Now. And Right. Freaking. Here. And you can feel it everywhere as we live and breath, not just in this book's pages. I mean, come on, I am currently writing a review, that will link up to my Facebook page that my connections can see and judge upon at their will and whim! They can decide to click the thumbs up or downvote or comment about my idiocy as they see fit. And I will take that criticism or feedback and it will slightly affect my mood and the way I feel about myself if only for a short moment. And I'm offering myself into it! Gah! I am but a cog in the inevitable wheel of social technology!
I love how this book scrutinizes the line between trying to prevent misbehavior and the complete absence of privacy that using technology in this way would promote. Every time The Circle proposed a new idea I simultaneously thought, "Oh my god that would be so helpful in order to eliminate/promote (fill in the blank)" and then immediately of the Benjamin Franklin Quote: "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." I don't think that any of the characters in this book are inherently evil - maybe the dude with the shark knows that the goal is POWER and TOTAL DOMINATION, but the others? I think they all see only the good and no reason to shine a light at all upon the bad.
I mean, dude, it sucks. There's murderers out there. Kids are abducted. Wars are waged. People steal. Would I prefer that my entire life from the moment I step out of the shower in the morning until I tuck myself in to bed at night be broadcast and searchable? I really don't know that I would. Is that selfish? Instead of keeping thousands upon thousands safe and holding those who would do them harm accountable, I want my privacy? What about those that say, "If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear." Can you still say that if the safety of children would depend on people bearing witness the next time you come down with Montezuma's Revenge. Think about the people in your distant past and the secrets they may keep and how they might reflect on you, out of context. Think about being intimiate with your signifcant other whenever you want - other people being able to watch and judge you if they really wanted to.
It's just insane. It scares me, and I know that while some of the things that The Circle accomplish are impossible, some of them really are not. And even those things that seem impossible - are they really? Some of the folks I know get upset when they're not wished a happy birthday on Facebook. Once per week, I see someone complaining that no one has been responding to their posts when they're feeling low and need some affirmation that they're a good person. I myself have been known to ask for the kind thoughts of others in order to boost my mood a bit. I feel a bit of withdrawal when I don't have immediate access. In fact, my lack of access to Facebook since getting a new job has limited my "social" interaction quite a bit. We're becoming dependent on all of the social networking and technology and applications. I'm like a drooling dog every time I hear a ding sound out from my cell phone, I reach for it automatically and without thought and sometimes even though I know it may be considered rude.
I know all of this. I see it all and I can see the future of all of these things. Still, I won't be unplugging any time soon. I hope you smile at this post. If you frown, I'll know it.
The thing that sets this book's concept and characters apart from 1984 or Brave New World or Hunger Games, - the world it's describing and creating - the setting is not 100 years from today, it's not decades from today, it's not a made up land or universe...It's. Right. Freaking. Now. And Right. Freaking. Here. And you can feel it everywhere as we live and breath, not just in this book's pages. I mean, come on, I am currently writing a review, that will link up to my Facebook page that my connections can see and judge upon at their will and whim! They can decide to click the thumbs up or downvote or comment about my idiocy as they see fit. And I will take that criticism or feedback and it will slightly affect my mood and the way I feel about myself if only for a short moment. And I'm offering myself into it! Gah! I am but a cog in the inevitable wheel of social technology!
I love how this book scrutinizes the line between trying to prevent misbehavior and the complete absence of privacy that using technology in this way would promote. Every time The Circle proposed a new idea I simultaneously thought, "Oh my god that would be so helpful in order to eliminate/promote (fill in the blank)" and then immediately of the Benjamin Franklin Quote: "Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." I don't think that any of the characters in this book are inherently evil - maybe the dude with the shark knows that the goal is POWER and TOTAL DOMINATION, but the others? I think they all see only the good and no reason to shine a light at all upon the bad.
I mean, dude, it sucks. There's murderers out there. Kids are abducted. Wars are waged. People steal. Would I prefer that my entire life from the moment I step out of the shower in the morning until I tuck myself in to bed at night be broadcast and searchable? I really don't know that I would. Is that selfish? Instead of keeping thousands upon thousands safe and holding those who would do them harm accountable, I want my privacy? What about those that say, "If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear." Can you still say that if the safety of children would depend on people bearing witness the next time you come down with Montezuma's Revenge. Think about the people in your distant past and the secrets they may keep and how they might reflect on you, out of context. Think about being intimiate with your signifcant other whenever you want - other people being able to watch and judge you if they really wanted to.
It's just insane. It scares me, and I know that while some of the things that The Circle accomplish are impossible, some of them really are not. And even those things that seem impossible - are they really? Some of the folks I know get upset when they're not wished a happy birthday on Facebook. Once per week, I see someone complaining that no one has been responding to their posts when they're feeling low and need some affirmation that they're a good person. I myself have been known to ask for the kind thoughts of others in order to boost my mood a bit. I feel a bit of withdrawal when I don't have immediate access. In fact, my lack of access to Facebook since getting a new job has limited my "social" interaction quite a bit. We're becoming dependent on all of the social networking and technology and applications. I'm like a drooling dog every time I hear a ding sound out from my cell phone, I reach for it automatically and without thought and sometimes even though I know it may be considered rude.
I know all of this. I see it all and I can see the future of all of these things. Still, I won't be unplugging any time soon. I hope you smile at this post. If you frown, I'll know it.
The ending felt rushed. The concept is very logical.
Hmm... A few disjointed thoughts:
-I find it hard to believe that Mae would immediately agree to everything that she did. She never even questioned anything. She certainly appears brainwashed, but wouldn't that require a bit more effort on the Circle's part? I didn't feel that was realistic.
-Francis... just, why? The book spent a lot of time on Mae's sex life when I would have liked to hear more about the Circle, or more about the public's reactions to the new developments.
-Getting rid of anonymity online will magically create common civility online ahahahahahahahaha. Ha. Ha.
-Does Mae not have any friends other than Annie, either at the Circle or elsewhere?
-Mae goes on and on about wasting her life working at the utility company for what, two years? Her job really did not sound like the nightmare she saw it as.
-Ty was not supposed to leave campus ... but why?
-The politicians who went "transparent" -- just not believable for me. Nope.
-Bailey and Stenton seemed interchangeable to me, although they were supposed to be quite different.
-Wow, Mae never seems to deal with any difficult customers. Really...
Minus the dystopian factor, if I want to read about difficult/extreme work situations I'd rather read Bond Girl or The Devil Wears Prada or, for nonfiction, Nickel And Dimed. If I want to read a dystopian novel, I'd rather read The Handmaid's Tale. Eggers had so much to work with but this book felt disjointed and unrealistic and ended very suddenly. It kept me reading to see what happened but overall it was disappointing.
-I find it hard to believe that Mae would immediately agree to everything that she did. She never even questioned anything. She certainly appears brainwashed, but wouldn't that require a bit more effort on the Circle's part? I didn't feel that was realistic.
-Francis... just, why? The book spent a lot of time on Mae's sex life when I would have liked to hear more about the Circle, or more about the public's reactions to the new developments.
-Getting rid of anonymity online will magically create common civility online ahahahahahahahaha. Ha. Ha.
-Does Mae not have any friends other than Annie, either at the Circle or elsewhere?
-Mae goes on and on about wasting her life working at the utility company for what, two years? Her job really did not sound like the nightmare she saw it as.
-Ty was not supposed to leave campus ... but why?
-The politicians who went "transparent" -- just not believable for me. Nope.
-Bailey and Stenton seemed interchangeable to me, although they were supposed to be quite different.
-Wow, Mae never seems to deal with any difficult customers. Really...
Minus the dystopian factor, if I want to read about difficult/extreme work situations I'd rather read Bond Girl or The Devil Wears Prada or, for nonfiction, Nickel And Dimed. If I want to read a dystopian novel, I'd rather read The Handmaid's Tale. Eggers had so much to work with but this book felt disjointed and unrealistic and ended very suddenly. It kept me reading to see what happened but overall it was disappointing.