Jobs at the Circle were highly sought after, prestigious and offered the best pay and perks in the industry. Mae had been bored and uninspired in her previous job working for the municipal government in the small town where she had grown up. The protagonist in The Circle is Mae Holland a bright young woman from the Central Valley of California whose close friend Annie had risen to a senior rank in The Circle and was able to get her a job at the world famous, cutting edge company in Silicon Valley. The Circle is the name of a private company which is a thinly disguised version of Google. The concerns Eggers warns us about in The Circle are indeed of greater relevance today than when he wrote the book. Though it was published in 2013, the issues surrounding the ever-increasing influence of google, facebook, social and info media are still very much in the news, and this book continues to be very relevant. I actually listened to rather than read The Circle and found the audible version to be an entertaining and acceptable way to experience this book – but it precludes highlighting or taking notes as I listen, so this review is my overall impressions.
My Impressions: Really interesting, fun, easy, thought-provoking read. Eventually she begins to rise in the hierarchy of The Circle, and agrees to serve as an example of complete honesty and transparency in her life, which creates new challenges. As she works to become integrated into the culture, she sees that its demands of total engagement, total commitment, and total transparency have unexpected impacts on her private life, but she chooses to adapt to their demands in order to earn and deserve her membership in this ideal community. Summary in 3 sentences: Mae Holland is excited to be hired by the most prestigious tech company in Silicon Valley and as she becomes acquainted with the company, the culture, the perks that come with the job, she feels like she is in heaven. I was impressed with an interview I’d heard with Dave Eggers, and additionally after listening to Yuval Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, warning about the insidious and ever increasing power of the tech world over our lives, I was intrigued by this book.
Why this book: I talked some of my friends in my literature reading group into reading this with me when I failed to get the whole group to agree to read it.
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