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A review by matthewcpeck
The Circle by Dave Eggers
3.0
Dave Eggers's 2013 novel is a bit of a departure, a work of ominous speculative fiction set in Silicon Valley (set to be a film in 2016). It imagines a near future where a colossal tech company - the Circle - has subsumed all rivals to become the primary channel for all financial and social interaction on the internet. On the strength of a referral from a big-shot "Circler" who happens to have been her college roommate, Mae Holland lands a plum job at the company's sprawling, utopian campus. It's a new, cleaner, nicer world with astounding perks, brilliant colleagues, and an emphasis on radical freedom of information that just might rid the world of crime and suffering. Right??
As one can probably guess, the situation grows more sinister, even as Mae's professional stature skyrockets - which involves fully pledging herself to the Circle's vision of transparency, and attaching a camera to her chest to livestream all of her daily activity. "The Circle" is an often terrifying book, with elements of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The titular company is an obvious hybrid of our beloved Facebook , Twitter, Apple and - most of all - Google. So it's not that difficult to imagine the events in this book as a natural extension of these companies' lust for data-gathering, combined with consumers' affection for convenience, gadgets, and instant validation.
The book falters in its execution, however. Perhaps other readers will be as frustrated as I was with Mae's lack of concern, right off the bat, with new Circle technology that clearly has disturbing ramifications. Any whisper of doubt is pushed aside a little too easily. In fact, there are only two characters, out of many, who serve as out-and-out dissenters in this book. I would expect a writer of Eggers's sensitivity to have a touch more faith in humanity. And there is the tone, which wavers between psychological realism and wild satire. It's bogged down throughout by stilted, flavorless, and redundant dialogue. Instead of a 491-page novel, "The Circle" might have been more efficient in its impact as a short story, or an episode of "Black Mirror". Flaws aside, though, this is a work is a vision of a frightening possibility, with philosophical questions that are pertinent to our time. It's still worth reading - or you can just wait for the movie.
As one can probably guess, the situation grows more sinister, even as Mae's professional stature skyrockets - which involves fully pledging herself to the Circle's vision of transparency, and attaching a camera to her chest to livestream all of her daily activity. "The Circle" is an often terrifying book, with elements of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The titular company is an obvious hybrid of our beloved Facebook , Twitter, Apple and - most of all - Google. So it's not that difficult to imagine the events in this book as a natural extension of these companies' lust for data-gathering, combined with consumers' affection for convenience, gadgets, and instant validation.
The book falters in its execution, however. Perhaps other readers will be as frustrated as I was with Mae's lack of concern, right off the bat, with new Circle technology that clearly has disturbing ramifications. Any whisper of doubt is pushed aside a little too easily. In fact, there are only two characters, out of many, who serve as out-and-out dissenters in this book. I would expect a writer of Eggers's sensitivity to have a touch more faith in humanity. And there is the tone, which wavers between psychological realism and wild satire. It's bogged down throughout by stilted, flavorless, and redundant dialogue. Instead of a 491-page novel, "The Circle" might have been more efficient in its impact as a short story, or an episode of "Black Mirror". Flaws aside, though, this is a work is a vision of a frightening possibility, with philosophical questions that are pertinent to our time. It's still worth reading - or you can just wait for the movie.