I just finished The Circle by Dave Eggers. I read it because it’s orange… and because of the (book nerd) myth that orange books are the best books. And because I wanted to read a dystopia á la 1984.
Summary:
The book chronicles Mae Holland as she lands her dream job at the powerful tech company The Circle. She got the job with the help of her best friend and college roommate, Annie, one of the forty most influential people in the company. The firsts weeks in The Circle are an amazing and rewarding experience for Mae. She starts out in Customer Experience (CE), the firm’s customer service department, but then quickly climbs the company ladder. Meanwhile the company develops SeeChange, a micro-surveillance system that is a fast-spreading success. Suddenly, not only Mae’s office screens seem to amplify themselves (she starts with one and every week at the company leads to another one – one for customer services, one for social networking, one for the internal communication etc.), but also her very own life and that of her family is increasingly monitored.
Review:
I was intrigued by the topic of the book – it was claimed as „The 1984 of the internet generation“ and yes, it’s true that it deals with the exciting developments of our era with all their dark sites. But honestly, I hated the main character. The first half of the book was absolutely fine, but then Mae changed into a blind-folded career monster who is okay with sacrificing her best friends and family for her own success. The style of the book is also more suited for „young adults“ (a book category I love), which helps to simply demonstrate the technologies and their consequences. Taking all this in mind, I would give The Circle *** (from five) – so that’s a clear exception from the orange-book-myth ;).
I wish you a wonderful summer weekend – with many offline hours!
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