The Circle, by Dave Eggers: my review

The Circle by Dave Eggers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Like most people living in this century, I use social media on a fairly regular basis. But there’s always a limit. I don’t go personal very often, and for whatever reason I never bother to comment on people’s weddings, birthdays, birth of children, family members graduating, what have you. Frankly, it’s just a hell of a lot of trouble to put a half second of effort into highlighting the fact that I didn’t bother to buy a card or maybe call the person. I feel like it’s a slap in the face to damn someone with the faint approval of a “Like” for something as momentous as say, pushing a baby out or making a career change. So, if you know me and are “friends” with me in any on-line capacity, just understand that this is where I am coming from. And still, don’t expect a card 
In this way, I would consider myself a moderate user of social networking, still believing, ever so faintly, in the concept of personal privacy. Maybe it’s just me, but even while I continue to use and grow my own online presence (I mean, HOW long has Twitter been around, and I’m only now beginning to actually use it?) still, what I present to the world is merely a surface. My innermost thoughts and feelings do not make the cut for my 140 character tweets or Facebook updates, because, quite frankly, they are just not worth repeating, and more importantly, they don’t belong to other people.

Mae Holland, the protagonist of David Eggers’ novel The Circle, gets hired for what seems a dream job for a major internet company called the Circle. At first it seems great: a loose, free work space full of energy and ideas and parties and guest chefs and performances by popular artists. Every need that can be met is met by a near cult-like organization, which I have to admit does not seem far from the truth in a few corporations I’ve seen in the real world. At first she is assigned a fairly mundane task that involves getting feedback from customers, and then trying to improve upon the feedback to achieve a higher customer score. When she runs into a little trouble is when she fails to participate in a few too many “voluntary” company events. The Circle’s disappointment in her is evident, especially when they feel she is not “sharing” enough of herself. It is the Circle’s goal to create a world that is totally open and transparent, with no secrets, nothing held back from anyone. And to that end, why would someone need to hide anything from anyone? Mae takes this all to heart and turns the corner, becoming a superstar in the Circle. She rises fast and high…but at what cost?
Given my unwillingness to completely give up all semblance of privacy, I would be a lousy candidate for the Circle.
It’s not always a great book. It’s a little heavy handed and obvious, and maybe about 100 pages too long. But The Circle is still an engaging read that addresses many serious concerns about the effect of people openly letting everything out there, no matter how embarrassing or private. At its best, it is a tale that continues in the tradition of Orwell’s 1984, showing the worst of what could become of us if we continue to push for total openness and transparency. The parallels between this and 1984 are striking, in that they both involve a character who observes and undergoes a dramatic transformation in the service of either that State or a Corporation. In 1984, the enemy is Big Brother. In the Circle, the enemy is one another. The terrifying direction that things head in this novel make it similar in tone to the haunting words that close 1984: “He loved Big Brother.”
The Circle is more ethical/morality tale than pure fiction. Characters do seem light and underdrawn, mere vessels that convey the writer’s ideas about social networking. But if you are looking for a good counterpoint to the phenomenon of social networking going one step further and dominating the world, The Circle might be a good place to start.




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