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A review by macloo
The Circle by Dave Eggers
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.
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.