The Circle, by Dave Eggers

[Amanda]

I am reading The Circle for Week 6: A book being released as a movie in 2017.
I grew up near the Silicon Valley and have lots of family and friends who work in the tech industry. I thought this book would be an interesting look at that world with a nice twist.

[Juliette]

I read this book for the "book being released as a movie in 2017" category, after reading several good reviews. I was a bit disappointed by the writing and found the main character quite annoying... not a bad book, but I expected something better.

[Sarah]

I'm listening to this on audio right now, also for the week 6 task. It's certainly captivating. A book that keeps coming to mind along this vein is The Word Exchange which is absolutely brilliant.

[Charlston]

Like my fellow readers before me, this is my week six book. I've been looking forward to this for a while. And with Sara saying it reminds her of the Word Exchange I am even more excited - I loved that book! Happy reading all.

[Anastasia]

I am joining everyone here in reading this for week 6. The blurb reminds me of Julia Roberts in the movie The Net.
It will be interesting reading an updated version of this type of thriller.

[Anastasia]

Whoops, it was Sandra Bullock.

[Anastasia]

Half way done and loving this book. Nothing has really happened but I can see the story building up to it.
The trailer for the movie also looks excellent. Tom Banks and Emma Watson are in it. So crushing right now.

[Anastasia]

There are some links to 1984. The obvious being Big Brother watching us with new technologies that are more intrusive. In this book it is a large company, not the government trying to control societies every thought and action.

I like how David Egger has a strong main character who knows what she wants from life, who does not need outside validation to make her feel good. She then changes slowly through others twisted logic and group think into a weak person who needs to be constantly told by others she is good. She was willingly brain washed into being a person who seeks outside validation.

It is a great distopia that draws on our own societies desire to use social media tools to the determent of our own relationships. I like how he makes references to youtube, facebook, twitter and societies habit of following celebrities every move and copying them. He is also pointing out our recent tendency to give up our freedoms under the guise of safety. Finally I am reminded of Star Trek, " Does the good of the one out weight the good of the many?"

Did anyone expect the book to end the way it did? Do you think that Mae is a good representation of today's generation? The ones that have grown up with facebook, twitter and cell phones.

[Pam]

I had planned on reading it before seeing the movie but that didn't work out! I saw the movie last weekend. I still plan on reading the book this summer. Curious how the two compare, especially the ending.

[Ann]

I thought the book was ok but could have been fleshed out a little more. I'm still planning to see the movie.

[Maple]

I read this for my Mega Challenge, from the "best of 2013 GR" list. I loved this book! It's crazy how realistic and believable this is. Like, this could be our future 8| More and more people are using the FB, Twitter, IG, etc. "Live" feature, and my iPhone 7 came with a live feature in the camera app. How long until everything we do is constantly monitored live on social media, whether we want it to be or not. *dials down on the conspiracy theories*.

The status of the Circle in the book reminded me of Taco Bell in Demolition Man. Super kudos to you if you get this reference!

I am really eager to see how the movie turns out.

4/5

[Charlston]

This is also my week 6 book. I liked it in the way that you like something very disturbing that you could imagine coming to be. Unsettling. Like some of the others here, I did find the main character a little annoying, but not enough to not enjoy the book. I’ll be really interested to see the movie.

[Joan]

I read this for the 2019 challenge prompt #36 - A book featured on an NPR Best Books of the Year list. I think I over-hyped it in my head before I read it. I liked it up until Book III. There were parts of Book III I liked but I didn't think (view spoiler)[ Mae could fall into things that easy with being so connected to parents and Mercer that were so anti The Circle. But I guess history has proven how people fall into cults and under Hitler for example and do horrible things so I guess it isn't that much of a stretch. (hide spoiler)]

I saw the movie and the movie changed everything that I didn't like about the book so I thought the book was much better. I did like the idea of it and you can see how maybe our society could go down that path.