Eggers, Dave "The Circle"

Eggers, Dave "The Circle" - 2013

Ever wonder how 1984 goes on in 1985 up to today. Read this book. We all know about it, we are on Facebook, Google+, read Blogs etc. There are thousands of different kinds of information about us out there.

To start with my review, this is not going to be my favourite dystopian novel, that is still and probably will be for quite a while "The Handmaid’s Tale". "The Circle" does have its points, though, and maybe will be seen differently in the not so far future. It is, however, a reflection of the fears we have in our digital age. "Nineteen Eighty-Four", was worried about too much transparency already, whatever George Orwell feared has happened in a similar if not quite so bad way, we are transparent, even if we don't sign up with Facebook, Google+, Whatsapp or whatever social network we might prefer.

The book is written quite simple and you can read it in no time, maybe the author wanted to reach a wide readership which I don't blame him for but some of the characters could have been a little more three-dimensional, the plot a little more varied, with a little more suspension.

Granted, the slogan "Secrets are Lies. Sharing is Caring. Privacy is Theft." is catching and a lot of the "activities" (like "smiles" and "frowns" sound awfully familiar but I still think we are not there where the author wants us to go. And I doubt we ever will.

Not a bad read, a good idea, certainly an idea we should follow up but I'm not sure whether this is the right approach. I am sure a lot of people will agree with the worries of this book but it's a little more sci-fi than dystopian for my liking. I am sure the author will get a good movie deal for this.

From the back cover:

"The Circle is the exhilarating new novel from Dave Eggers, best-selling author of 'A Hologram for the King', a finalist for the National Book Award.

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 America - 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."