So there's been a while since my last post because there's been a few difficult months that I'm sure I one day will be ready to share but until then...
As my mid-twenties crises I joined a book club. The first book we read was The Circle by Dave Eggers. I will not explain the story line in detail but basically a girl starts working for a company that is called the Circle which is in a way controlling social media. As you might imagine this book raises a lot of questions about what is public and what isn't. Before you continue reading you should know that this post will have lots of spoilers, not because that will actually change much when you read it since it is a very predictable book.
Let's start of with the way the book is written; the language was extremely poor. I enjoy reading books where you can almost see the people and places in front of you but in this book there wasn't much to go on. It also bothered me that there was no chapters. I know that is a pet peeve but I need to be able to put the book away in a specific point. I guess the author might want to show that things never stop which the Circle definitely shows since staff are expected to be active even after working hours.
The characters didn't really develop much and it became quite obvious what was going to happen with them. It was even obvious that Kalden was Ty, I mean who else would be able to walk around in secret without people not being suspicious especially when they are meant to know everything. Kalden didn't actually contribute to the story much apart from the small part that showed that sometimes we have something in mind but in the hands of others it can turn into a monster.
The main character, Mae, is very much any 24 year old girl (I would know). She is stuck in a crappy job that she really hates and then gets a great chance at this big company. Anyone who has worked hard for a career would be over the moon. Of course she does her best to achieve the goals and become the best because we tend to have a need to prove ourselves. She is willing to do anything to be the best and gets caught up with it. She turns into someone who we so easily can become, a person who doesn't have a personality anymore because her insecurity forces her into doing what gives her external validation, something that the Circle is obsessed with. You are only accomplished when you're popular by the public.
As much as I can relate to Mae I have to admit that I am Mercer too; a person that doesn't want to be a part of all of these things that are driving people to doing anything for attention. All he wants is to do his job and live his life but since this is something the public can't accept it drives him to the edge, literally. I think Mercer is representing anyone who has sometimes been sick and tired of going on Facebook to see all these happy posts because we know that it is fake. No one's life is perfect and when that truth comes out, like it does with Annie, we are too ashamed to face it. No one wants to show their bad sides but with the Circle nothing is hidden.
So what do I think the message is in this book? Well, it strongly reminds me of 1984, just not as well written. It's seen from different perspectives though since the Circle becomes some sort of all mighty state that knows everything about everyone. We can clearly see though that this doesn't make anyone happier but instead makes them empty. The only time any sort of feelings are expressed is when Mae is in the bathroom because then she can actually afford showing her true self. The book also very clearly show that even if we have all the information about people it doesn't mean we know everything because we will never have 100% of the knowledge. When people are watched they don't give the full story and as the book even mentions about Annie, we should be able to read her mind when she's in a coma. Absolute power doesn't make the world better, it makes us accountable to what is happening and even though Bailey is trying to tell Mae that it wasn't her fault that Mercer died she is the one to blame. Her knowledge and need to prove the newest inventions killed the only genuine character in the book and I guess that's the most important message we can get from the book; taking over everyone's minds and encouraging to share every point of our lives will just drive us nuts and it will destroy the parts of us that actually are real.
I did enjoy the book to some extent. It definitely raised a lot of questions about my own online presence. I'm intrigued to see how the film is because the book does had a lot of potential, it just wasn't executed all that well.
As my mid-twenties crises I joined a book club. The first book we read was The Circle by Dave Eggers. I will not explain the story line in detail but basically a girl starts working for a company that is called the Circle which is in a way controlling social media. As you might imagine this book raises a lot of questions about what is public and what isn't. Before you continue reading you should know that this post will have lots of spoilers, not because that will actually change much when you read it since it is a very predictable book.
Let's start of with the way the book is written; the language was extremely poor. I enjoy reading books where you can almost see the people and places in front of you but in this book there wasn't much to go on. It also bothered me that there was no chapters. I know that is a pet peeve but I need to be able to put the book away in a specific point. I guess the author might want to show that things never stop which the Circle definitely shows since staff are expected to be active even after working hours.
The characters didn't really develop much and it became quite obvious what was going to happen with them. It was even obvious that Kalden was Ty, I mean who else would be able to walk around in secret without people not being suspicious especially when they are meant to know everything. Kalden didn't actually contribute to the story much apart from the small part that showed that sometimes we have something in mind but in the hands of others it can turn into a monster.
The main character, Mae, is very much any 24 year old girl (I would know). She is stuck in a crappy job that she really hates and then gets a great chance at this big company. Anyone who has worked hard for a career would be over the moon. Of course she does her best to achieve the goals and become the best because we tend to have a need to prove ourselves. She is willing to do anything to be the best and gets caught up with it. She turns into someone who we so easily can become, a person who doesn't have a personality anymore because her insecurity forces her into doing what gives her external validation, something that the Circle is obsessed with. You are only accomplished when you're popular by the public.
As much as I can relate to Mae I have to admit that I am Mercer too; a person that doesn't want to be a part of all of these things that are driving people to doing anything for attention. All he wants is to do his job and live his life but since this is something the public can't accept it drives him to the edge, literally. I think Mercer is representing anyone who has sometimes been sick and tired of going on Facebook to see all these happy posts because we know that it is fake. No one's life is perfect and when that truth comes out, like it does with Annie, we are too ashamed to face it. No one wants to show their bad sides but with the Circle nothing is hidden.
So what do I think the message is in this book? Well, it strongly reminds me of 1984, just not as well written. It's seen from different perspectives though since the Circle becomes some sort of all mighty state that knows everything about everyone. We can clearly see though that this doesn't make anyone happier but instead makes them empty. The only time any sort of feelings are expressed is when Mae is in the bathroom because then she can actually afford showing her true self. The book also very clearly show that even if we have all the information about people it doesn't mean we know everything because we will never have 100% of the knowledge. When people are watched they don't give the full story and as the book even mentions about Annie, we should be able to read her mind when she's in a coma. Absolute power doesn't make the world better, it makes us accountable to what is happening and even though Bailey is trying to tell Mae that it wasn't her fault that Mercer died she is the one to blame. Her knowledge and need to prove the newest inventions killed the only genuine character in the book and I guess that's the most important message we can get from the book; taking over everyone's minds and encouraging to share every point of our lives will just drive us nuts and it will destroy the parts of us that actually are real.
I did enjoy the book to some extent. It definitely raised a lot of questions about my own online presence. I'm intrigued to see how the film is because the book does had a lot of potential, it just wasn't executed all that well.
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