The Circle
INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER - A bestselling dystopian novel that tackles surveillance, privacy and the frightening intrusions of technology in our lives--a "compulsively readable parable for the 21st century" (Vanity Fair). 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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Community Reviews
3.5 stars!
I have mixed feelings about this book - mostly that I like the idea (even if some of it felt a bit like Old Man Yells At Sky to me), but I didn't like the execution. I love dystopias, and this kind of tech surveillance stuff is super interesting to me. I loved the idea of a tech company taking over stuff in the name of ~security as opposed to a political figure as you normally see in dystopias.
What I didn't like was the main character. She was boring, annoying, unsympathetic, and I mostly wanted to punch her in the face. She was so vain and only cared about how she looked to other people and I was just like ??? but why should I care about her story? Also, the idea of people just going along with all these things seems like a stretch. Yes people are into new tech and stuff, but when it gets into privacy issues, I don't think (hope) people would just be like YAY LET'S DO IT!
Also, I really wasn't into the random sex scenes. It just made little sense in the context of everything else imo.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, the execution of the story was sloppy. I never felt like I got to know any of the other characters except maybe one or two of them. The final ~cliffy was completely resolved off screen after so much build-up, so I felt super cheated. Everything was wrapped up in a few sentences and I was left being like ??? What just happened. That was probably the disappointment. We were racing towards a big blowout or confrontation or something and instead we got "so this happened a few weeks ago and it's all good now."
So overall, I really liked the idea and at first, I was even considering a 5, but given all these issues, I would say an overall 3.5 is generous.
I have mixed feelings about this book - mostly that I like the idea (even if some of it felt a bit like Old Man Yells At Sky to me), but I didn't like the execution. I love dystopias, and this kind of tech surveillance stuff is super interesting to me. I loved the idea of a tech company taking over stuff in the name of ~security as opposed to a political figure as you normally see in dystopias.
What I didn't like was the main character. She was boring, annoying, unsympathetic, and I mostly wanted to punch her in the face. She was so vain and only cared about how she looked to other people and I was just like ??? but why should I care about her story? Also, the idea of people just going along with all these things seems like a stretch. Yes people are into new tech and stuff, but when it gets into privacy issues, I don't think (hope) people would just be like YAY LET'S DO IT!
Also, I really wasn't into the random sex scenes. It just made little sense in the context of everything else imo.
Finally, as I mentioned earlier, the execution of the story was sloppy. I never felt like I got to know any of the other characters except maybe one or two of them. The final ~cliffy was completely resolved off screen after so much build-up, so I felt super cheated. Everything was wrapped up in a few sentences and I was left being like ??? What just happened. That was probably the disappointment. We were racing towards a big blowout or confrontation or something and instead we got "so this happened a few weeks ago and it's all good now."
So overall, I really liked the idea and at first, I was even considering a 5, but given all these issues, I would say an overall 3.5 is generous.
" I bought this book because I wanted to make sure to read it before watching the movie and I was interested in the movie because I love Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. I have yet to watch the film but, sadly, I am hoping it is a lot more interesting than the book.
I will say, the concept is incredibly fascinating. It reminds me of the illuminati stories. How we are always being watched whether we like it or not and how technology is slowly taking over the world.
The book however, was so detailed that it was almost boring. It explained everything about the company and didn't even get interesting until 3/4 through the book when she meets ""Ty"", who she doesn't even know by that name yet. I didn't really understand the shark bits and pieces, I guess it was supposed to be a type of drowned out metaphor, but again the book was actually very boring, I am sorry to say. Really wasn't what I expected it to be at all."
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