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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
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.
This sucked. Eggers is boring and beats you over the head with his metaphors. Book contains several different metaphorical plot-lines, all but one of which are quite obvious in nature, yet he continues to bore you with them, and then near the end explains them in excruciating detail. The metaphor that wasn't obvious was just stupid. The fish tank... I mean come on what was even the point of that.
Furthermore, all the women were empty shells, and all the men were like some sort of super-super-genius or something. This must be the most sexist book I have ever read.
Furthermore, all the women were empty shells, and all the men were like some sort of super-super-genius or something. This must be the most sexist book I have ever read.
I wanted the protagonist--Mae--to be more three-dimensional, but as I kept reading it seemed to me that her personality was replaced with the same two-dimensional superficiality we see with folks obsessed with social media. Which would be a great construct, but I just don't think she was ever really fully realized.
For a novel to span 500 pages, I expected a bit more substance in her character's growth and the characterization of the world around her. Instead, things continue to escalate and as all of her real-life connections are lost, they're replaced by scores of "friends" from the online world.
I enjoyed the idea of the novel. Unfortunately, I didn't find much of it believable. Some of the ideas about access and connection are relevant social commentary, but the plot crams it down your throat through radical company keynotes rather than organic self-actualization.
Truly, I was disappointed by the ending, which is the primary reason for the two-star review. Without spoiling anything, I just didn't buy into the rationale, and it had a very Twilight-Zone-esque feel to it.
For a novel to span 500 pages, I expected a bit more substance in her character's growth and the characterization of the world around her. Instead, things continue to escalate and as all of her real-life connections are lost, they're replaced by scores of "friends" from the online world.
I enjoyed the idea of the novel. Unfortunately, I didn't find much of it believable. Some of the ideas about access and connection are relevant social commentary, but the plot crams it down your throat through radical company keynotes rather than organic self-actualization.
Truly, I was disappointed by the ending, which is the primary reason for the two-star review. Without spoiling anything, I just didn't buy into the rationale, and it had a very Twilight-Zone-esque feel to it.
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Have you ever been so mad at a main character you wanted to hurl the book across the room? Mae is that main character, newly hired at THE place to work; The Circle. She finds herself in the center of the technology universe. The Circle allows people on one website to have one profile that links all their data; health, financial, even political. Group idealism trumps personal desires; transparency in all areas makes privacy the new moral bankruptcy. (You will be assimilated.)
There were a couple of spots that kind of cracked the believability groove I had going, but overall not a bad book. Especially if you want to explore the dystopian side of excessive technology.
There were a couple of spots that kind of cracked the believability groove I had going, but overall not a bad book. Especially if you want to explore the dystopian side of excessive technology.
DNF at 30%. Couldn't bring myself to care what happened to any of the characters.
Oh man, this book was disappointing. The whole idea of technology taking over really isn't too unrealistic in today's world, so I was looking forward to reading it. Unfortunately, it fell flat.
The invasiveness of it all, the obsession with having everything online, and the way Circlers would cry about not getting enough validation through whatever social media outlet was creepy -- which again, isn't too unrealistic except for the fact that it seemed like we WEREN'T supposed to find it creepy...
Apparently we were supposed to be on Queen Mae's side through the whole story, despite her being boring and extremely dislikable. The only good character was Mercer tbh.
I predicted the ending early on, even though it still didn't make a whole lot of sense.
I'll probably still see the movie when it comes out. I'm hoping it takes the story from a different angle and turns out better.
The invasiveness of it all, the obsession with having everything online, and the way Circlers would cry about not getting enough validation through whatever social media outlet was creepy -- which again, isn't too unrealistic except for the fact that it seemed like we WEREN'T supposed to find it creepy...
Apparently we were supposed to be on Queen Mae's side through the whole story, despite her being boring and extremely dislikable. The only good character was Mercer tbh.
I predicted the ending early on, even though it still didn't make a whole lot of sense.
I'll probably still see the movie when it comes out. I'm hoping it takes the story from a different angle and turns out better.
This book was personally unsatisfying to read but very important to anyone living in this modern world.