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alternate cover for ISBN 9780385351393 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.
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I had to read this book for summer homework, but wow. I actually really liked it. It would probably have been something I would have read on my own and I really liked the questions it brought up about society as a whole. I enjoyed that it made you think.
0This book was just amazing. The ideas and concepts that Eggers writes about are so close to home about the development of technology in the world. A lot of people are complaining about the characters and their lack of likability and relatability. However, I thought that the characters were written that way to show how this new age of technology has changed the way humans think, work, act, talk and exist. The book did drag in some places, but the overall concept of the novel overshadowed it completely.
0Knew going in a little of what to expect, and this was interesting because I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own without a recommendation.
I identified with Mae, her desire for a new job and her amazement at the job and opportunities suddenly open to her. (I didn't realize until over halfway that Mae was the same age as I, and that was a surprise, for some reason.)
I definitely see some of the points being hammered home here: technology creeping into every aspect of life, an app for everything imaginable, being tracked and under surveillance, the extent of behavior done because of social media and the pressures of having a presence online that has relationships with other people in the same medium....
What was startling to me was how there was a logic being presented (a 'reason' for instituting something new) that I often agreed with. Or at least found myself nodding along, hard pressed to come up with a counter argument. Obviously, being under complete surveillance streaming live all of your actions and conversations is just one solution to a problem of dirty politicians. But arguing that the people have a right to know the schedules, plans, and decisions made by an elected official? Yeah, that was obviously something desirable.
Secrecy leads to misinformation and keeping a secret from your family/friends will result in pain--for 99% of cases, I'd agree. But again, posting 16+ cameras around the house (or wearing one around your neck) so that at any given moment, anyone can access the feeds and see what's going on... an extreme choice.
Sharing is caring--on the playground so the other child's feelings don't get hurt, not broadcasting or posting on social media.
Privacy is theft. By this point, I felt that there was no hope for Mae. I was disappointed at how much she changed from the beginning to end.
But I enjoyed this story and liked what issues were brought up, making me think even more about how I use the internet and how that relates to our social culture.
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