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A review by rachd24
The Circle by Dave Eggers
3.0
Check out my full review of the book and movie here:
https://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2017/08/18/review-the-circle-book-movie/
I’d heard about this book for quite a while before I finally decided to pick it up, the final push being the release of the movie adaptation, of the same name, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.
Originally published in 2013, Eggers book strikes at a time when the plot of The Circle really isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, which makes it both an incredibly interesting read, and a genuine concern for the future.
The plot of the book is enticing, as it plucks a young woman from relative obscurity, working a standard 9-5 job, and throws her into the exciting world of exploding tech start-ups, where you can earn a small fortune by being a social media influencer, and where attending on-site concerts is considered part of your job.
Mae is a difficult character, who is not only hard to like, but difficult to get to know, because it seems as though she has so few opinions or beliefs of her own. This makes it easier for Eggers to convince us that she follows along blindly with whatever she is told to do, but it also makes her feel less real, and we empathise with her less. This lack of personality may be intentional, to show an essentially brain-washed culture, but it let the book down, because she is so one-dimensional.
Both the movie and the book were exhausting to read and watch at times. The level of activity demanded by The Circle, the idea of always being “on”, the notion that privacy is no longer a good thing or a basic right, that privacy is corrupt and wrong, and therefore full transparency is the only way to live. That’s just scary as hell!
Overall, I found the book to be reasonably enjoyable, but, it wasn't quite what was expecting, and I felt so many of the ideas didn’t seem fully developed, and certain interesting sub-plots ultimately amounted to nothing.
The Rating
3.5/5
https://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2017/08/18/review-the-circle-book-movie/
I’d heard about this book for quite a while before I finally decided to pick it up, the final push being the release of the movie adaptation, of the same name, starring Emma Watson and Tom Hanks.
Originally published in 2013, Eggers book strikes at a time when the plot of The Circle really isn’t beyond the realms of possibility, which makes it both an incredibly interesting read, and a genuine concern for the future.
The plot of the book is enticing, as it plucks a young woman from relative obscurity, working a standard 9-5 job, and throws her into the exciting world of exploding tech start-ups, where you can earn a small fortune by being a social media influencer, and where attending on-site concerts is considered part of your job.
Mae is a difficult character, who is not only hard to like, but difficult to get to know, because it seems as though she has so few opinions or beliefs of her own. This makes it easier for Eggers to convince us that she follows along blindly with whatever she is told to do, but it also makes her feel less real, and we empathise with her less. This lack of personality may be intentional, to show an essentially brain-washed culture, but it let the book down, because she is so one-dimensional.
Both the movie and the book were exhausting to read and watch at times. The level of activity demanded by The Circle, the idea of always being “on”, the notion that privacy is no longer a good thing or a basic right, that privacy is corrupt and wrong, and therefore full transparency is the only way to live. That’s just scary as hell!
Overall, I found the book to be reasonably enjoyable, but, it wasn't quite what was expecting, and I felt so many of the ideas didn’t seem fully developed, and certain interesting sub-plots ultimately amounted to nothing.
The Rating
3.5/5