Well, that was an uncomfortable experience. I am not sure I have ever read a book while saying, "Nope . . . un-uh . . . OMG NO!" every single page. This is not me saying that it was bad, just that every action, every suggestion, every idea presented made me squirm.This book is less story and more about social media and technology taking over our lives. The characters in the book are brainwashed lemmings who are led to believe that giving up their privacy is the most important thing in the world. Every breath must be tracked. Every opinion must be tabulated. Big Brother anyone? I thought the concept of the book was interesting, but I am not sure the delivery was all that great. The main character's actions were very unbelievable and her progression through the course of the story, far fetched. The overall "story" was more about presenting little anecdotes of where we could be headed as a society than presenting a cohesive and moving narrative. If it was presented better, I may have left with this book in my memory as a cautionary tale I must heed. Instead, I am just kind of, "Meh, some food for though, but my brain is still hungry"The book is worth checking out, especially if you have an interest in cyber-thrillers or how social media is taking over our world. But, don't go in expecting to be blown away by the writing.

As a novel this huge piece of work has almost too many faults to name, but Eggers imagination and style makes the experience of reading or listening to it a special kind of pleasure. Filled to the brim with fledgling discussions of privacy, freedom, fairness, democracy, and control, the novel has in its DNA all the previous great works who have posed the questions What is privacy and is it good? and What is democracy and is it good? and What is personal freedom and is it good?This is a long but easy read because it brings us a glimpse of a world many of us have only heard about and yet cannot help but be intensely curious about: the campuses of the technology giants like Google or Facebook. The company in this novel is called The Circle, based loosely on what is known of the more famous real life companies. We have heard enough, perhaps, to know Eggers is not making all of this up: the campus, company structure, and internal reporting requirements are drawn (and undoubtedly exaggerated) from life. But the mania and mindthink of bright young things anxious to gain approval in a large, successful, innovative, and fast-moving company is perfectly believable.Eggers creates a character, Mae, who unwittingly is drawn into becoming the voice of the company philosophy. Her answers to carefully-posed questions by the company leadership become soundbites and her not-well-thought-out responses are said to exemplify what humans really want. Her soundbites are then clipped and pasted to the walls of the media space created by the company as though to she expressed the unfettered will of all the people, when in fact, Mae had been groomed, prodded, bullied, corrected, corralled into making the utterances that became an command that could not be challenged. I enjoyed Eggers imagination and willingness to engage the important subjects of technology, privacy, education, and democracy but grew weary before the end. This may be a great book for teens who may have a larger appetite for the glamour of high technology campuses and need a point hammered home by a thousand blows. Part of the story is that of Mae developing a crush on someone she does not really know, as well as instructive incidents ill-considered sex with someone she doesnt even like. These ring true, as does the celebrity side of Maes meteoric rise to stardom at The Circle.Certainly the questions at the heart of Eggers book are not merely for teens. The pace and direction of our lives leaves little doubt that technology has changed concepts of privacy, celebrity, and participatory democracy. These are issues we need to consider now. Opting out of the whole system is not really a possibility. In Eggers book, the person who tried to opt-out did not end well and he ended early. Eggers also points out that our politicians are not going to do this for us, being bought as it were by corporate interests. This is up to reasonable people taking reasoned positions and fighting like hell.

The Hook - The story goes like this. I run into a guy who used to be in my non-fiction book group, one who I miss for his eclectic reading and bold opinions. We catch up on whats happening in his new career, prior insurance man turned security tech in a large company, so much more exciting than my retirement. I mention how the loss of privacy in my daily life due to the use of social networking and the Internet bothers me and that I wonder at where we are heading. He immediately says Have I got a book for you! His son, a college student working as an intern for a government agency with hopes to become an agent of some sort was required to read The Circle. When I was a student in the LPN program we were required to read Coma by Robin Cook. I hoped the relevancy was as easy to connect between my required reading and this would be agents assignment to read The Circle. Thanks for bearing with me as the path to a book is explained. The Line - Knowledge is property and no one can own it.The Sinker - OMGoodness. I have never hated a book as much as The Circle and continued to read. I dont swear but I wanted to. It is like a contemporary 1984 only oh, so much worse. The world depicted here is scary, plausible, and even probable and I want to keep the circle open before its too late. And yet, isnt technology and the social world it allows, wonderful? With the circle closed it would be possible for true equality; everyone would have the best health care, equal access to services. There would be no kidnapping, no rape, pedophiles would be identified in a snap, criminals couldnt hide, missing children would be a thing of the past and so much more. But whats the price? This circle should remain unbroken. Oh, and did I mention that The Circle could have been a contender to win The Guardians Bad Sex Award in the year it was written?Im glad Ive given up on stars as this one defies me. At least I can now say I have read Dave Eggers.

A possible present day dystopian novel involving a young girl, Mae, as the protagonist who starts in a dead end job, is divorced, has two parents, one of which is not well, and is also separated from her very best friend Annie. Annie works for the 'Circle', the number one internet management company in the world. When Mae is hired at the 'Circle' with the help of her friend Annie, life-changing experiences lead her into a different world, a world we could all envision ourselves in someday.My thoughts, the book was long for me, over 400 pages, drawn out, with a very unexpected ending. I'm not trying to say this in a negative fashion. I enjoyed the book. The story was made into a movie and I am looking forward to seeing it.

Suffering is only suffering if it's done in silence, in solitude. Pain experienced in public, in view of loving millions, was no longer pain. It was communion. Dave Eggers, The Circle(***1/2) A solid, just not great social network dystopia. Imagine FB::Google::Amazon take over the world. There is nowhere left to hide. No secrets. No privacy. No down time. In fact, "SECRETS ARE LIES, SHARING IS CARING, PRIVACY IS THEFT." While it is interesting, and does seem to mimic some of the warnings of Brave New World, 1984, Neuromancer and even elements of Ghostwritten. In the end, it just isn't Eggers' best work. It is at once more superficial, more clean, more predictable than I would have liked.Don't get me wrong, I think Eggers is a genius. I think he has an amazing energy and impeccable timing. He seems to deliver a novel or book at almost exactly the perfect moment for publication. He is a nifty zeitgeist surfer. He catches the waves easily and seems to ride every wave of the literary ocean. Impossible? I know, but his production is large, his interests varied, his fingerprints are everywhere. I guess the problem (for me) is that Dave Eggers is almost the exact opposite of Mark Twain. Mark Twain failed twice at both printing and publishing, but wrote amazing and important works. I think Eggers (with his McSweeney's success, his amazing ability to adapt, his tendency to swim with the currents, to be infinitely relevant, completely likable) is able to do almost everything ... except make me completely love his writing or get drunk off his prose. I always finish his novels/books neither surprised, awed or completely fed. I just feel the need to go read something else, something with heft that isn't looking to the future or the past, left or right, and actually doesn't really give a flying-F if you 'LIKE' it.