The Circle by Dave Eggers

Brief synopsis (no spoilers)

Mae got a job at the Circle through her friend Annie, who is in the Gang of 40- the brain trust of the company. The Circle, as a whole, tasks itself with collecting all of the world's information into one place, and making it all public. Mae is hired into the Customer Experience team, and grows into a more integral part of the company.

Category

Fiction, bordering on Sci-Fi

Why I chose this book

Recommended by the library

My personal opinion (the review)

Terrible book. It has a fun plot, and led me through a great many deep internal monologues about privacy and information. But the language was terrible, the adult content was terrible, and the relationships between the characters was just painful. Not a single character was believable- they were all extremely something. Extreme Luddite, totalitarian, extreme capitalist, completely transparent, etc. Because the characters weren't believable, my gut reaction was, "this author has an agenda, and it'll be found in the longest lecture, whenever it appears". Whether or not that's the case, that's my perception, and sure enough, there was an extensive dialog about 2/3 of the way through, that is mostly a lecture. I believe that the author's views are AGAINST the lecture, but the agenda was still clear and present. Don't waste your time or money on this book.

Warnings
Language: Yes, many uses of the F-word, spread throughout
Violence: No
"Adult" situations: Yes, a few
Death: Yes

Movie rating equivalent

R, for language and sexuality

Protagonist description

Mae is a woman in the right place, at the right time

Point of view of story

Third, focused on Mae

Book length

Medium-long

Story flow

Riveting

Grammar and spelling issues

None

Character connection (no spoilers)

No, thanks