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A review by katiescho741
The Circle by Dave Eggers
3.0
Some of the soundbites on the cover of my edition call this book "funny" and "a satire"...but I couldn't quite work out if it was SUUPOSED to be funny or whether it was supposed to be creepy. I couldn't quite pin this book down.
I'd already watched the film on Netflix and it stays fairly loyal to the story, but makes a few changes to trim things down...it's pretty well done so I'd recommend fans of the book watch it.
Mae starts off as nervous/excited new girl; eager to please and slightly unsure of herself. As the book progresses she works her way up the ladder and becomes one of the most well known faces at the Circle. I guess she was believable in the sense that she is young and pliable.
The Circle is like a combination of Google, Amazon, Apple, and all social media...the creepiest thing was some of the ideas they had didn't sound crazy to me. The concept of eradicating anonymity on the net is really interesting- being anonymous means people can troll and bully, but being forced to put your name and personal information on social media to show you're a real person means anyone can find you or track you.
The company comes across as a cult, even more so once transparency comes in and everyone speaks like they're in an advert or on a sitcom "Why yes Mae, thank you for asking".
I enjoyed the irony of Mae's social presence and following growing but her actual social life diminishes. We find ourselves agreeing with the annoying ex; she becomes boring.
I think some of the characters could use some fleshing out...part of the problem is that our protagonist is wrapped up in her social media and so she doesn't connect with anyone, which means the reader doesn't connect either. Perhaps if Mae had been a bit more rebellious from the beginning then her story, and the ending, would be more impactful.
I found Annie to be annoying from the start. She was "wacky" and "kooky" and everyone loved her, but I found her irritating and try-hard and I had no sympathy for her at all....I think film Annie is a bit more likable.
This is a decent book that makes you think about the issues of anonymity, online presence, private business involvement in the public sector, privacy in general. The characters are lacking but it's worth a read if you enjoy technology-themed dystopia.
I'd already watched the film on Netflix and it stays fairly loyal to the story, but makes a few changes to trim things down...it's pretty well done so I'd recommend fans of the book watch it.
Mae starts off as nervous/excited new girl; eager to please and slightly unsure of herself. As the book progresses she works her way up the ladder and becomes one of the most well known faces at the Circle. I guess she was believable in the sense that she is young and pliable.
The Circle is like a combination of Google, Amazon, Apple, and all social media...the creepiest thing was some of the ideas they had didn't sound crazy to me. The concept of eradicating anonymity on the net is really interesting- being anonymous means people can troll and bully, but being forced to put your name and personal information on social media to show you're a real person means anyone can find you or track you.
The company comes across as a cult, even more so once transparency comes in and everyone speaks like they're in an advert or on a sitcom "Why yes Mae, thank you for asking".
I enjoyed the irony of Mae's social presence and following growing but her actual social life diminishes. We find ourselves agreeing with the annoying ex; she becomes boring.
I think some of the characters could use some fleshing out...part of the problem is that our protagonist is wrapped up in her social media and so she doesn't connect with anyone, which means the reader doesn't connect either. Perhaps if Mae had been a bit more rebellious from the beginning then her story, and the ending, would be more impactful.
I found Annie to be annoying from the start. She was "wacky" and "kooky" and everyone loved her, but I found her irritating and try-hard and I had no sympathy for her at all....I think film Annie is a bit more likable.
This is a decent book that makes you think about the issues of anonymity, online presence, private business involvement in the public sector, privacy in general. The characters are lacking but it's worth a read if you enjoy technology-themed dystopia.