The Circle - Review
Link to the author's (D. Eggers) personal website
Genre: Sci-Fi
Publication Type: Book
Tags:
- Average Age of Main Characters (21)
- Length (4 / 10)
Link to Goodreads
Blurb: When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users' personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency. As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company's modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO. Mae can't believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world--even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.
What begins as the captivating story of one woman's ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.
Review: This book isn't landing on any favourites lists, but it scrapes over the line for a recommend. This book is essentially one big warning sign that shows how privacy can be eroded by big tech companies and emerging technologies, even if the intention isn't inherently evil. This may feel pretty run of the mill nowadays, and is one of those sci-fi books I worry isn't too far away from the now. Heads up for this book: It didn't leave me feeling good after reading it. The main character (Mae) is kind of a wet blanket... Her journey never made me really feel happy, and the ending solidifed that, wrapped it in concrete and chucked it down a shaft somewhere (Fuck Francis).