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A review by kellylizbeth
The Circle by Dave Eggers
5.0
Full disclosure: I'm an avid Eggers fan, from Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius to The Wild Things. Even if I weren't, I'd be enthusiastic about this latest story: a novel that reads like it started as a game of "what if" speculating on what the tech and social media revolution hath wrought (or would, if it continued to progress uncontested by the business community, government and citizens of the world). It's a hyperbolic and oversimplified yet compelling answer to those whose reaction to the steady blurring of lines between public and private in the digital realm is "so what?"
Whether you believe The Circle merits comparisons to 1984 and Brave New World from a literary perspective, it does prompt similar questions about our future as a society that submits voluntarily to an ever-growing degree of surveillance - and ultimately, control - by an entity that presents itself as the gateway to utopia. At what point do we pass the proverbial point of no return - and have we already sealed our fate as shark food?
Finally - scrolling through reviews on Goodreads, I've seen criticisms that the plot is too far-fetched and the characters too blind and naive to be realistic. I get it - Eggers borrowed so heavily from real life to construct this novel that people expect it to feel more true-to-life. But those who nitpick the liberties the author took to advance the plot aren't seeing the forest for the trees. It's a work of fiction, not an an almanac. He's not saying "this is going to happen," but he wants to lead readers to a place where they actually think about what might happen in real life - a worthier outcome than many of today's bestselling authors aim to achieve.
Whether you believe The Circle merits comparisons to 1984 and Brave New World from a literary perspective, it does prompt similar questions about our future as a society that submits voluntarily to an ever-growing degree of surveillance - and ultimately, control - by an entity that presents itself as the gateway to utopia. At what point do we pass the proverbial point of no return - and have we already sealed our fate as shark food?
Finally - scrolling through reviews on Goodreads, I've seen criticisms that the plot is too far-fetched and the characters too blind and naive to be realistic. I get it - Eggers borrowed so heavily from real life to construct this novel that people expect it to feel more true-to-life. But those who nitpick the liberties the author took to advance the plot aren't seeing the forest for the trees. It's a work of fiction, not an an almanac. He's not saying "this is going to happen," but he wants to lead readers to a place where they actually think about what might happen in real life - a worthier outcome than many of today's bestselling authors aim to achieve.